Award-winning indie studio will launch its first original animated series with a digital-first rollout built for the social media era, premiering November 19 on YouTube

LOS ANGELES, CA — October 22, 2025 — Independent studio Wonkybot Entertainment, best known for its award-winning cinematic podcast series including breakout hits Tara Tremendous and Origins Unknown, has released the official trailer for its upcoming adult animated comedy series The Swines, premiering November 19 on YouTube.

The new trailer, which follows the release of the teaser last week, offers a deeper look into the outrageous world of Oinkersfield — a town (and planet) entirely populated by pigs — and the hilariously dysfunctional family at the heart of it all. 

The six-episode series marks the debut of Wonkybot Animation, the studio’s newly formed division dedicated to building original animated universes. In addition to The Swines, Wonkybot is currently developing an animated feature film based on the property, as well as future projects inspired by several of the company’s 17 fiction podcasts — including the supervillain musical comedy Dr. Epicopolis & 1102 and the beloved supernatural hit Spooky Troop — as part of Wonkybot’s growing slate of interconnected, creator-owned worlds.

Created, written, and directed by Stewart St John (Disney’s Seventeen Again, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Sabrina: The Animated Series), The Swines is a serialized, down-home comedy inspired by St John’s life growing up in a large, eccentric, and diverse family – Black, White, gay, straight – where love outweighed differences and humor was the glue. “My mother always called our household ‘God’s favorite sitcom,’” says St John. “The Swines is my way of channeling that chaos and comedy into a world of snout and pigheaded drama. It’s satire with heart — and a little oink.”

The push into animation represents a major milestone for Wonkybot, founded in 2016 as an incubator for St John’s enormous library of original characters and universes. The company first proved the power of universe-building with the launch of the ‘Tremendous Universe’, beginning with the hit podcast Tara Tremendous – which shot to #1 on Apple Podcasts, attracted millions of downloads worldwide, became a live stage musical featuring Micky Dolenz and Broadway great Annie Golden with songs composed by St John and music partner Michael Plahuta, and is now in development as a live-action feature film from a script by St John, shooting in Australia in 2026.

With a background that’s always blended entertainment and technology – from creating the first mobile soap opera for Sprint Vision phones that synchronized storylines between the web and mobile devices that became a first in the industry – St John has continued to pioneer new ways to deliver story worlds directly to audiences. That same boundary-pushing approach defines The Swines.

Unlike traditional series designed solely for long-form viewing, The Swines was conceived from the start as a multi-platform experience. Each episode is structured to live both as a complete story and as a collection of short, shareable moments tailored for YouTube Shorts, Tik Tok, and Instagram Reels – giving audiences a continuous stream of fresh, character-driven clips between episodes.

“It’s a show made for the social-media generation,” says St John. “Fast, funny, and built to live where the audience already is.”

The approach reflects a broader shift toward digital-first commissioning, with Wonkybot embracing the same behavioral and algorithmic insights driving today’s fastest-growing platforms – but applying them through the lens of original, character-driven storytelling.

Set on Hog Heaven Ranch, the story follows ex-Swine Corps vet Jack Swinefill and his free-spirited wife June as their peaceful life is upended when their Hollywood son Sebastian St. Piggleton (voiced by St John) returns home with his posh partner and a plan to reclaim the land he’s inherited — igniting a family feud of epic, pork-sized proportions.

The trailer showcases the show’s distinctive visual style, which draws directly from St John’s original sketches and drawings, re-imagined by art director Michael Plahuta using a modern pipeline of creative tools. The result rivals big-budget studio productions in both quality and scope while maintaining Wonkybot’s hallmark independence and handcrafted touch.

As a self-financed mini-studio, Wonkybot retains creative control of the IP, the same business model the company used for their audio-first strategy.

“YouTube gives us the freedom to build The Swines from the ground up — directly with fans, on our own terms,” says Todd Fisher, Wonkybot co-founder and executive producer. “We’re investing our own time, resources, and heart to prove that a small, independent studio can create something that captures the attention of audiences and partners alike. The trailer is our invitation for the world to join us at the start of the journey.”

The Swines leads the rollout of the broader “Swineverse,” which includes companion books like Lipstick On A Pig: How A Stuck-Up Attitude Can Manifest Your Best Life (October 2025) and The Swines: The Official Guide to Oinkersfield’s Most Outrageous Family (Spring 2026), plus a feature film currently in development for 2026.

Wonkybot will also launch a new in-character podcast spin-off, Lipstick On A Pig with Annie Greyhog, featuring one of the characters from the show in a real-world podcast.  It debuts shortly after the series premiere on the Wonkybot Podcast Channel – bringing the studio’s storytelling full circle.

“We see the YouTube rollout as a deliberate first step — the same way we introduced Tara Tremendous as an audio series before it grew into a larger universe,” says Michael Plahuta, the show’s art director and Wonkybot co-founder and executive producer. “It lets us test the audience, build directly with fans, and keep complete creative freedom. If the right streamer or network wants to expand the IP with us, the door is open.”

Wonkybot is represented by Phillip Rosen and Taylor Condit of Rosen Law Group.

The official trailer is available on youtube.com/swinesofficial and Wonkybot.com/TheSwines.

About Wonkybot

Founded in 2016 by writer/director Stewart St John, producer Todd Fisher, and artist/composer Michael Plahuta, Wonkybot Entertainment is an independent studio dedicated to creating bold, original, character-driven universes across animation, film, TV, publishing, and music. Known for its cinematic audio franchises (Tara Tremendous, Spooky Troop, Origins Unknown), the company has produced hundreds of episodes heard in over 170 countries. With The Swines, Wonkybot expands its storytelling into animation, blending humor, heart, and innovation to redefine what small studios can do.