Colbert’s new Trump series

OurCartoon

minute short featuring a cartoon Trump. At that point, the show was still angling its comic tone towards a Clinton victory.

Then gradually, the evening’s political reality set in.

That animated short, titled Trump Begins: The Dawn of the Donald, depicted the soon-tobe president-elect as a comicbook supervillain whose quest for office was sparked by “having his ego bashed by Barack Obama” at the 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner, as Luecke put it.

Trump Begins was “our last Trump jab”, Luecke says. “Obviously, a half-hour after it played on TV, things changed.”

Trump has been a major boon to The Late Show, of course, both comedically and in the ratings. In 2016, Colbert’s new show was still trying to find its comedic footing. Steering hard towards the presidentelect seemed like the best way forward – and figuring out how to spoof Trump with animation was part of that plan.

The Late Show had featured Colbert doing short, joke-driven interviews with its animated candidate Trump during the campaign, but Trump Begins “was kind of the spark in my mind: ‘Wow, we could do something more with the cartoon,’” Licht says. “We could really tell a story.”

What has anchored them going forward is the raw and unfiltered Trump himself.

“For it to work, it has to be based in some kind of reality,” Licht says of Our Cartoon President’s humour. “There’s a researcher that makes sure the writers’ room is aware of the latest stories and any kind of glimpse into what his behaviour is.”

The Our Cartoon President producers see the animated show as an extension of Colbert’s brand – but just how much is the Late Show host involved in the Showtime series? Colbert is certainly a fan of TV animation, including his work on Robert Smigel’s SNL TV Funhouse shorts.

“Stephen has a very full plate with the daily late-night show, but he’s really having fun with the cartoon,” Licht says.

“I can say: His fingers are involved in every step of it, but his fingers are not underneath it, if that makes any sense.

“He touches every part of it.”