Bonnie and Braw Cartùns Lines Up The Rejects with Rick Mischel

Bonnie and Braw Cartùns has lined up the adult animated series The Rejects, created by John McEwan-Whyte and co-produced with Rick and Morty executive producer Rick Mischel.

The series, now in paid development with Screen Scotland and OUTtv, will be written by Julie Bower (So Awkward). It will be a Canada-Scotland co-production with Mischel’s Artists Animation Studio.

At the heart of the story is Dr. John Watson, reimagined as a brilliant yet insecure openly gay ex-military doctor whose heart gets broken by Sherlock Holmes, prompting him to assemble a new team of overlooked legends to stop a threat even Holmes couldn’t handle. Watson leads a rag-tag group of forgotten legends such as Tantor the Elephant, Friar Tuck and the Lady of the Lake on a cross-time quest to solve the mystery.

Sophie Kennedy Clarke (Philomena, The Crucible) will voice the Lady of the Lake, a magical woman who develops anger issues after King Arthur makes an unwanted pass and then runs off with her sword.

“The Rejects is everything we look for at OUTtv: sharp, funny and unapologetically queer,” said Philip Webb, COO of OUTtv. “It’s a subversive reimagining of misunderstood or overlooked characters through a queer lens that celebrates their individuality and outsider status. We aim to platform LGBTQ+ creators from all over the world, so we’re incredibly proud for this to be our first Scottish project and to be working alongside industry-renowned partners and talent to bring this brilliant project to our global audience.”

“I grew up obsessed with heroes—then realized most of them were rich snobs ignoring the far more interesting sidekicks,” said McEwan-Whyte. “The Rejects is my love letter to the overlooked. It’s also a bit of a manifesto: Scotland doesn’t just have to be the backdrop for other people’s stories—we can lead. My goal with Bonnie and Braw is simple: make Scotland the home of bold, original IP. We want to be Scotland’s Disney. And this is just the beginning.”

Mischel commented, “When John showed me this project, the originality and humor jumped off the page. It’s funny, heartfelt and something our animators will really love working on.”

“Scottish EDGE is pleased to have invested grant support into John McEwan-Whyte and Bonnie and Braw Cartùns—one of two Scottish film-and-television-sector businesses supported in the latest funding round,” added Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE. “This is the first time EDGE has supported businesses working in this sector as we look to expand our engagement with world-leading animation being developed in Scotland. The judges were hugely impressed by John’s achievements to date and his exciting and ambitious plans for the future!”