'Santa Inc.': Sarah Silverman And Seth Rogen To Star In Animated Comedy Series About The First Female Santa Claus

Sarah Silverman is getting animated once again.

The actress, who famously starred as Vanellope von Schweetz in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph film franchise, has been cast as an ambitious elf in a new HBO Max series called Santa Inc., which also has Seth Rogen on board to voice jolly ol' St. Nick himself. But Silverman's character has her sights set on the Christmas throne: she wants to become the world's first female Santa Claus.

HBO Max has ordered an eight-episode, half-hour animated series Santa Inc. from Lionsgate and showrunner Alexandra Rushfield. She developed and is a writer on the Hulu original comedy Shrill, and she was also a writer/producer on shows like Parks and Recreation, Love, and Friends From College. Rogen's Point Grey Pictures will produce the series. Here's the official description:

Santa Inc. is the story of Candy Smalls (Silverman), the highest-ranking female elf in the North Pole. When the successor to Santa Claus (Rogen) is poached by Amazon on Christmas Eve, Candy goes for her ultimate dream— to become the first woman Santa Claus in the history of Christmas.

Silverman seems absolutely perfect for this role, and she's been doing voice work for a long time. She has credits on Bob's Burgers, Crank Yankers, The Simpsons, Futurama, Robot Chicken, and more. Unlike her most famous character, this one won't have the same restrictions that she would if this were under the Disney umbrella. HBO Max doesn't have that family-friendly reputation to uphold, and Suzanna Makkos, the executive vice president original comedy and animation there, has evidently been having very specific dreams about this type of show for quite a while. "I have long dreamed of a taking a beloved holiday tradition and adding a feminist agenda and some R rated comedy and when I read this script from Ali, with Seth and Sarah attached to voice, I knew that it was a perfect fit for us at Max," she said.

Rogen as Santa is amusing to think about – especially since he played the character in a 2014 YouTube video alongside his old pal James Franco and current late night talk show host Lilly Singh. (Rogen also appeared in the underseen holiday movie The Night Before, which I will take any opportunity to plug because of Michael Shannon's hilarious performance.) Here's Rogen as Santa:

There's no word yet about when we might see this show, but HBO Max launches on May 27, 2020.