Hulu Animayhem was one of the biggest hits of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, thanks in large part to its fun, quick interactions and must-have swag (everyone wanted that backpack!) — and for 2024, they returned in (what at least felt like) a bigger and better way.
The brand once again took over the parking lot space just behind the San Diego Convention Center, this year for a factory-themed experience. The Animayhem characters, including characters from Futurama, The Simpsons, American Dad!, Family Guy, Hit Monkey, The Great North, and beyond took over the factory, to create some animated antics for attendees to explore.
Attendees were first led into a holding space before beginning their journey inside the inner-workings of the factory. As you proceeded forward, there were plenty of fun interactions for attendees — including an American Dad! Operation-like game in which you worked with a team to attempt to put Roger the Alien’s insides back together in the correct order while being timed; a Solar Opposites scanning station in which a machine read your stress level and provided you with a corresponding Goobler; and a Family Guy cutaway gag station that played a famous scene from the series’ 25-year-history.
Other standouts included a Hit Monkey game in which you competed against other attendees to see if you were the chosen one by each lightly pulling on a katana. The one who could remove it, in a sort of twist on The Sword & The Stone and Arthurian legend, received a ticket redeemable at the end for a special katana-shaped box full of Hit Monkey pins.
On a hot day, sometimes the best swag is just something to drink or munch on — and Hulu offered both. For The Simpsons, there were toxic-green donuts (with sprinkles for extra toxicity?). On the drinks side, there were light beverages in the Family Guy and Great North area, but possibly the largest set piece in the activation was a giant Slurm, complete with Slurm juice for you to taste test.
Overall, compared to last year, it felt more of a cohesive walk-through, with the entire activation enclosed. While last year’s Futurama ship provided a fun backdrop for anyone to see even without doing the activation, we really enjoyed that it felt more immersive once inside the activation since you couldn’t see out in most spots. We were also huge fans of the almost choose-your-own-adventure portion of the offsite — thought the line for a particular show looked long? You could skip it and jump ahead, meaning you weren’t stuck in a long line for something you weren’t interested in.
The workers also seemed to be in character and having fun. We had particularly great interactions with the female Bender dancer by Futurama, as well as the team working the American Dad! Operation game. It’s often the little things that truly elevate an experience at Comic-Con, and the Hulu team (working with Campfire and 3CS) did a great job working in plenty of fun easter eggs throughout for fans of Hulu’s Animayhem series, while still keeping it accessible to fans.
I’ll admit — it’s been probably ten years since I’ve seen an episode of Family Guy, and I don’t watch any of the other series from the activation, but getting a chance to step into that world made me want to delve deeper. That’s what a good offsite is meant to do: Allow you to experience a series or film in a unique way, so that you’re left hungry for more. And on that note, it might finally be time for me to watch Futurama.
And of course, there’s the swag. Given how hugely popular last year’s backpack was last year, the team did a similar cartoon-style fanny pack this year. Attendees also received their choice of a set of Solar Opposites or Futurama pins — and depending on if they completed the activations and/or won, possibly also walked away with the previously mentioned Solar Opposites Goobler and Hit Monkey pin set. Overall, that’s quite the haul. Add in fun interactions, some snacks, and shade, and that’s all a win in our books.
The lines throughout the week were often a few hours long, but considering how much you received for your time, we think it’s very much still a net positive. Hulu, if you’re listening, we really hope this one keeps coming back.
