Living the Dream. (L to R) Javone Prince as Des, George Gendi as Ray, as in Living the Dream. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
Hot off the heels of the recent Netflix UK animated show Alley Cats being announced for 2026, the streamer is back with another new animated project titled Living the Dream, with the project announced at the Manchester Animation Festival during Netflix’s “State of the Animation Nation” panel by Julio Bonet, Director of Animation Series at Netflix.
The new adult-animated series follows best friends Des and Ray, two self-proclaimed “cool guys” from London who should have made it big by now but haven’t—at least not yet. Stuck working low-paying social media jobs at an eco-conscious start-up called Ecofood, they juggle awkward office romances, questionable HR decisions, corporate chaos from their Los Angeles bosses, and Ray’s dad’s constant disappointment. Life could be worse, but it could definitely be better.
It’s created by George Gendi, who is best known for his Cartoon Network series Apple & Onion, which ran for two seasons and multiple shorts. He also cut his teeth working on The Amazing World of Gumball, also for Cartoon Network, serving as a storyboard artist on the first season. George returned to the United Kingdom in 2022 and began developing this new show with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, which entered full production last year.
Living the Dream. (L to R) George Gendi, creator and voice of Ray, Javone Prince, voice of Des, in Living the Dream. Cr. Courtesy of Tom Harrison/Netflix © 2025
The half-hour adult animation will consist of eight 25-minute episodes and hails from Warner Bros. Animation’s Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, with production handled by Boulder Media, based out of Ireland, the team behind Danger Mouse and two Netflix projects: Captain Fall and Cat Burglar.
Alongside Gendi, who also provides voice talent, the writing team includes Phoebe Walsh (After Life), Ellie White (The Other One), Joe Parnham, and Joe Markham. Executive producers include Sam Register (Looney Tunes Cartoons, Teen Titans Go!), Sarah Fell (The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball), and Daniel Lennard (The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe).
In typically dry Gendi fashion, the creator joked in Netflix’s press materials, “If living the dream is being asked for a quote for a press release to announce my new show and then at Netflix’s request, trying to make it more cheeky/funny and then doing that countless times because none of them are good enough, then I’ve made it. Anyway, let’s see if they let me use this one.”
Netflix has not yet announced a release date, but with production underway, expect the series to debut sometime in 2026.
Who’s in the voice cast for Living the Dream?
The voice cast assembled for the series comes from across the UK, the US, and Canada, with most hailing from Britain, including England and Wales.
- Javone Prince (PhoneShop, 3 Little Birds)
- Julia Davis (Sally4ever, Gavin and Stacey)
- Ali Shahalom (Muzlamic, DMs Are Open)
- Tom Stourton (Stath Lets Flats, Daddy Issues)
- Ellie White (The Completely Made Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin, Ellie And Natasia)
- Ambika Mod (This is Going to Hurt, Netflix’s One Day)
- Lisa Gilroy (The Studio, Netflix’s Running Point)
- Chris Diamantopoulos (The Sticky, Netflix’s Blood of Zeus)
- Stavros Halkias (Bugonia, Tires)
- Kevin Eldon (Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, Rings of Power)
- Doon Mackichan (Good Omens, Ludvig)
- Charles Dale (Bergerac, The Crow Girl)
- David Dawson (This Town, The Last Kingdom)
- George Gendi (Gumball, Apple & Onion)
Are you looking forward to checking out Living the Dream? Let us know!
