SDCC 2019: Owen Dennis and Madeline Queripel share the origin of Infinity Train

Next month, Cartoon Network will officially launch its new original series, Infinity Train. It tells the story of a young girl named Tulip who finds herself stuck on an infinite train that leads to adventure and peril. When SYFY WIRE caught up with series creator Owen Dennis at Comic-Con, he told us about the unusual genesis for the series.

"I came up with the idea in 2010 when I was flying overseas," recalled Dennis. "I woke up on the plane and I was sort of disconcerted about it. And I was like, 'this is a weird feeling!'"

Supervising director Madeline Queripel worked with Dennis on Regular Show. She also shared a moment from Dennis' flight that influenced the series.

"You said you woke up and you were just surrounded by people asleep with glowing screens in front of them," added Queripel.

According to Dennis, the series had nearly a decade of gestation before it became a series. He pitched it to Cartoon Network in 2012, and he had a short pilot in 2016 that became an online sensation. It took an additional three years to get the show ready to launch. However, when it came to casting Ashley Johnson as Tulip, Dennis' decision was made very easily.

"Ashley was my person that I was like 'she should be [her],' and that was after I had played The Last of Us," said Dennis. "I was making the pilot and figuring it out. I was thinking that voice acting was coming up soon, 'so who am I gonna get to do that?... I guess I’ll do auditions.' Until I played Last of Us and was like 'there it is! That's Tulip. Got it.'"

Infinity Train debuts on Cartoon Network on August 5. Check out the full video for more details about the show!