Popular DC’s Legends of Tomorrow character Beebo gets his own Christmas special tonight on The CW! Titled “Beebo Saves Christmas,” the special shows us what the Legends themselves might have watched in their world at holiday time, with Beebo (voiced by Ben Diskin) working alongside his friends in the “Bo” world to save Santa (Ernie Hudson) and Christmas itself! Beebo loves cuddles, but wait until you see how much he lo-lo-lo-loves the holidays!
To promote the special, KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne was able to speak with the voice actor himself – Ben Diskin, who has lent his vocal talents to such high-profile projects as Codename: Kids Next Door, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Muppet Babies, Stitch & Ai, Young Justice, the new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, and Hey Arnold!
Ben first got the role of Beebo when he was part of a “loop group” – a group of voice actors who supply voices for any characters in the background of a scene. The head of the loop group came to Ben with a request: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was looking for a voice actor can do a “cute and cuddly voice for, like, a stuffed animal character.” Ben sent off an example of what he could sound like, and then he was brought in for a separate session just for this character. This character, of course, was Beebo, and the recording was for the early Legends of Tomorrow episode “Beebo, The God of War.”
Beebo was an instant hit, and that particular episode was one of several that solidified Legends in fans’ hearts. The character even appeared in Part 5 of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. But did Ben have any idea Beebo would resonate in the way he did?
“I had no idea,” he says. “I thought that this character was going to be a one time thing, and it was just gonna be some random little one-off role, and then that would be the end of it. And then they just kept bringing him back. It didn’t dawn on me that the character was actually popular for a while; probably over a year after I’d already been doing it.”
Flash forward to a few years later, and Ben’s agency was calling him telling him that The CW wants to make a Beebo Christmas special. “My reaction to that was doubt: What are they going to do for a Christmas special? He just says ‘I lo-lo-love you’,” Ben recalls. “Then they said ‘we have a script, and we’ve written the story, and we have the character fleshed out for Beebo. So, you want in?’ And I was like ‘YESSSS!’ I’m flabbergasted that this was even made in the first place!”
“Beebo Saves Christmas” introduces audiences to other “Bo”s that populate Beebo’s world, including his friends Fleabo and Turbo. “I think that they represent feelings that people have during the holidays,” Ben explains. “Fleabo has the depression, the anxiety of, like, ‘ugh, Christmas, here we go with the holidays!’ And then you have like turbo who’s constantly going back and forth all over the place, she has to deal with her kids, and like all sorts of problematic things that a mother would have to go through. It feels like these are different aspects and different viewpoints of the holiday season itself, with Beebo being like ‘it’s Christmas and everything is magical, and that’s how it’s supposed to be!’ I really like the idea of bringing in these other Bo characters instead of just being like he’s the one and only Bo character. It’s like like no, it’s the species, and these are all of the other Bo’s, and it’s a town, and I like the fact that they expanded on it.”
In addition to new characters, there’s also new and original music in “Beebo Saves Christmas,” including an earworm of a title song that will stick with audiences for weeks. Did even Ben Diskin get it stuck in his head as well?
“Not only did I, but so did my wife,” Ben admits. “I recorded this at home in a sound booth, but you can hear what I’m saying outside. For a long time, we were both walking around going ‘I lo-lo-lo…. Oh, dang it! Not again!’ But it’s at least a cute song. If I’m gonna have anything stuck in my head, at least it’s something cute and funny.”
And for our last question: What does Beebo love more: cuddles, or Christmas?
“Oh my gosh, why would you make Beebo choose!” Ben exclaims. “I would say cuddles, because you can have cuddles at Christmas or any time. Cuddles are universal!”
“Beebo Saves Christmas” airs tonight (December 1) at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.
Interesting trivia for comic book fans: Did you know the voice of Beebo is also the voice of Spider-Man’s enemy Venom? It’s true! Ben Diskin did the voice of Venom for two animated series and a video game! “It still catches people off guard even though my job is to do different voices and different characters,” Ben says, with a wish: “I really hope somebody draws some fan art of a Venomized Beebo or just Venom holding a Beebo. I would be very happy for that!”
