Draft:Todd Chavez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Todd Chavez is one of the main characters in the American adult animated tragicomedy BoJack Horseman. For the majority of the series, Todd resides in a fictionalized version of Hollywood, Los Angeles, living with titular character BoJack Horseman, a former television star now seeking relevance. From season four onwards, Todd would live with his friend Mr. Peanutbutter, BoJack's former agent Princess Carolyn, and eventually resides with his girlfriend, Maude, at the end of the series.

Quick facts Todd Chavez, First appearance ...
Todd Chavez
BoJack Horseman character
First appearance"BoJack Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Story, Chapter One"
Last appearance"Nice While It Lasted"
Created by?
Voiced byAaron Paul
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationHead of daycare at VIM Management
Family?
NationalityAmerican
Close

Role in BoJack Horseman

Todd Chavez, a human,[a] is the cheerful housemate of the pessimistic BoJack Horseman.[1] His relationship with BoJack develops as the series goes on, with the latter originally acting dismissive of Todd, but soon coming to realize how much he cares for him.[2] He will often star in the C-story of an episode, getting into outlandish hijinks that are usually not explained to the audience, occurring somewhat in the background;[3] however, he would get his own spotlight in the fourth season episode "Hooray! Todd Episode!".[4] The storylines given to him are usually some of the series' most outlandish.[5] Todd possesses many talents, including songwriting, business skills, and television production.[6] Despite often being characterized as unemployed,[5] Todd has worked multiple different jobs throughout the series, and has even created his own successful businesses on several occasions.[7] At the end of the series, Todd ends up working as the head of daycare at his friend Princess Carolyn's management company.[8] He became a much more prevalent character from the third season onward, giving background on his sexuality and developing his characteristics.[9] Having the surname Chavez, Todd was originally speculated to be of Latino descent,[10] but it was later revealed in season six that Chavez is derived from Jorge Chavez, the step-father of Todd; Jorge had married Todd's mother around the time of his birth, and raised him as his own, eventually giving him the surname.[11]

Character

Creation and design

Todd was conceived early into the series, with him being partially based on series creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg's friend Kevin, who would often find himself the center of schemes, an attribute Bob-Waksberg describes as "lovable".[12] His surname, Chavez, was taken from a childhood friend of Bob-Waksberg, who also had the name and a similar personality to Todd.[10] Production designer Lisa Hanawalt noted that Todd's character went through around ten different revisions before she settled on his final design.[13] It was difficult to find the perfect design for him because, as a human character, he, like Diane, had to be designed in such a way that he wouldn't stand out too much juxtaposed to the series' anthropomorphic characters.[14] Laying the foundation for his hipster personality, original ideas for his character included being part of a drum circle and living a "surfer dude" lifestyle.[15] Bob-Waksberg disliked Todd's original design, with him placing heavy emphasis on changing it between production of the pilot presentation and the first episode—the original design was considered too complex, with much more definition on his jaw, nose, and eyebrows than expected, and a studio note was given to the animation team to make him "less dreamy".[16] He is often utilized in much more cartoonish situations by the animation team, with his zany personality adding onto the storytelling potential of his antics. An example is the season two episode "Still Broken", where Todd has a sub-plot of tracking down a missing dollar bill to get food from a vending machine, separating himself from BoJack's generally more depressing and realistic storylines.[3]

Voice

A young man wearing a grey-ish shirt faces the camera, speaks into a microphone.
Todd Chavez is voiced by Aaron Paul

Todd's voice is provided by Aaron Paul.[17] Paul was given a script that summarized the concept of the series, not seeing any of the animation or the series' art style; he instantly knew he liked the series, citing it's "smart" writing and representation of Hollywood.[17]

Personality

Todd's personality is one of a "couch surfing dude", living a stereotypical Los Angeles hipster lifestyle.[12] He often finds himself the center of unusual, often adventurous, scenarios, and doesn't let that faze him.[12] He is the polar opposite of BoJack, ignoring the opinions of others and living life to it's fullest. instead of worrying about his public image like BoJack so often does.[12] Despite his foolish appearance, Todd has occasionally shown himself to be intellectual, often in the form of epiphanies during moments of crisis.[3] There is practically no malice in BoJack and Todd's relationship, with Todd appreciating BoJack for who he is, despite them having completely opposite backgrounds; he allows himself to be abused by BoJack throughout the series, until he can no longer take it and eventually departs from BoJack's home later in the series.[3]

Sexuality

The sexuality of Todd is not explored in the first two seasons of BoJack Horseman.[5] Throughout season three, Emily, Todd's "sort of high school sweetheart", plays a larger role in the series, explicitly showing that Todd has never a serious interest in pursuing her romantically, but agrees to date her after she asks him to, despite not holding the same admiration for her that she does for him.[5][18] In the third season finale, "That Went Well", Todd is asked by Emily if he is gay. Todd says that he isn't sure of his sexuality, telling her he thinks he "might be nothing", hinting at asexuality.[19][20] Critic Kayla Cobb of Decider noted that, despite not outright confirming it, the interaction might make Todd the first television character to ever explore asexuality.[18]

Reception

Aaron Paul has noted that Todd is one of BoJack Horseman's most popular characters, with multiple people shouting "hooray!"—one of Todd's catchphrases—when they see him in public.[21]

Notes

  1. BoJack Horseman takes place in a universe where humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist.

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI