Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was a formative program for Adult Swim back during the network’s infancy that a return to this show’s world feels poignant in a way that it wouldn’t be for a lot of other series. The animated series started as a humble, tiny production, but the bulk of the cast has gone on to find incredible success in such a way that this homecoming feels rather star-studded now. Series creators, Erik Richter and Michael Ouweleen were smart to end Harvey Birdman when it was still on the top of its game, but they’ve also found the perfect moment to bring the series back. The superhero-turned-lawyer turns his litigious powers towards a megalomaniacal President and finds himself facing his biggest case to date.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at General presents the very best of what made the original series so much fun in the first place, but finds a deeply prescient new angle to frame these characters around. In honor of the show’s return, we spoke with Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter about bringing back this world, Stephen Colbert’s tour de force performance, and if there could be more Birdman in the future!

DEN OF GEEK: What inspired you to return to this world? Was this something that you guys had been thinking about for a while and just looking for the right occasion?

MICHAEL OUWELEEN: We had been doing little projects together, along with Rich [Ferguson-Hull] the director, since Harvey Birdman ended, but I don’t think that we ever thought that we’d do Birdman again. So (Mike) Lazzo from Adult Swim asked us to do something like a special, but the plan was never for it to be a Birdman special. He asked to just come up with something and then we’d do it. We threw a bunch of ideas around and then weirdly my boss, Christina [Miller], who helps run Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, was like, “Harvey Birdman, Attorney General! It’s right there, you idiots.” So I texted Erik about it, but it took him a few times before he realized that I wasn’t joking.