Cory Stillman
Creative Director and Writer Grace Davis has worn many hats over the course of WondLa‘s evolution on Apple TV+. She began as a development executive with Skydance Animation in 2018, and over the last seven years, has never lost sight of the powerful themes of identity, belonging, and connection that drove the Tony DiTerlizzi series upon which the show is based.
“From the very beginning, our team felt it was a story that could truly speak to audiences of all ages, the way the best animated stories do,” says Davis.
By the time Davis became the series’ full-time Creative Director in 2021, Davis had developed a profound connection to the source material, and was eager to shepherd DiTerlizzi’s vision along via bold and expressive animation.
“Bringing WondLa to life in animation meant we had the opportunity to expand its scope into something truly epic,” says Davis. “We designed the series from the ground up as a three-season journey, which gave us the space to deepen relationships, explore the mythology, and let audiences fully immerse themselves in Orbona.”
That three-season arc is now nearing its conclusion, with the third and final season currently underway. After season two pulled off an impressive set of narrative twists and turns, including the reveal of Eva Eight’s backstory and her profound connection to the Heart of the Forest, Davis is eager to answer audience’s burning questions, even if she remains tight-lipped on spoilers for season 3.
“This final chapter brings the journeys of all our characters to a satisfying conclusion, both emotionally and thematically, and in ways we’ve been building from the very beginning,” says Davis. “As bittersweet as it is to say goodbye to WondLa, I’m so excited for audiences to see where it all leads.”
Check out our full conversation with Grace Davis below, as we dive deeper into season two of WondLa and learn more about her creative contributions to the sprawling series.
Hi Grace! Can you tell us more about how you and your team at Skydance first identified Tony DiTerlizzi’s WondLa as a book series ripe for adaptation?
Absolutely! I was fortunate enough to begin working on WondLa back in 2018, when I first came on as the development executive. From the very beginning, our team felt it was a story that could truly speak to audiences of all ages, the way the best animated stories do. We were drawn to its themes of identity, belonging, and connection, and we knew that Tony’s unique world of Orbona could really come alive in animation.
At the center of it all is Eva Nine, who is such a compelling protagonist because she’s the only person who can bridge two divided worlds. I personally was so drawn to a hero who’s superpower is that she can connect with those she shouldn’t be able to understand, which felt both aspirational and necessary for today.
You’re not supposed to have favorites, but WondLa was always the project I felt most deeply connected to. So when I was asked in 2021 to come on full-time as the series’ Creative Director, it felt like the most natural and exciting next step. It’s been an incredible journey to shepherd the story from those early development days all the way to the screen.
Considering DiTerlizzi’s illustrations already offered readers an image of what this world looked like, how did you work to pay tribute to the original text while also differentiating this animated adaptation?
What was most important to us from the start was honoring the heart of Tony’s work and the reason he wrote WondLa in the first place. We always wanted our adaptation to stay true to that spirit and to the integrity of his characters.
At the same time, bringing WondLa to life in animation meant we had the opportunity to expand its scope into something truly epic. We designed the series from the ground up as a three-season journey, which gave us the space to deepen relationships, explore the mythology, and let audiences fully immerse themselves in Orbona. For us, it was never about re-inventing what Tony created, but about paying tribute to it while building a cinematic experience that could carry those themes across an epic arc.
Are there any other key changes from the source material that you felt were necessary for television?
One of the biggest changes we made from the books was expanding Eva Eight’s arc. In Tony’s original story, she plays a meaningful role in the second book, but her journey is fairly contained. For the series, I saw an opportunity for her to become a true dramatic and thematic foil to Eva Nine. Where Nine had MUTHR, Rovender, and Otto, Eight was forced to survive alone. That contrast let us explore nature versus nurture in a very direct, emotional way. Even though she’s a clone, she developed an entirely different value system because no one helped her.
For me, that made her almost a shadow version of our protagonist—the person Eva Nine might have become without her found family. But I’ve always felt she also deserved empathy. She’s tough because she had to be and she is the hero of her own story. In the writers’ room, the joke was I was the ultimate Eight ‘stan,’ and it’s true! I might be biased, but I honestly think she’s the standout character of Season Two.
WondLa is suited for young viewers, but it also deals with some heavy themes. How do you tackle such complex topics while also translating them for a universal audience?
One of the things I’ve always loved about WondLa is that it never talks down to its audience. Yes, it’s a story that’s perfectly suited for young viewers, but it’s also unafraid to wrestle with big, complex themes. Our approach was always to ground those ideas in character and emotion rather than exposition.
And honestly, that’s one of the things I love most about animation as a medium. It gives you this incredible freedom to present really profound ideas in ways that feel imaginative, visual, and accessible. If you’re watching as a child, you can get swept up in the wonder and adventure. If you’re watching as an adult, you can recognize the deeper layers about finding your place in the world and choosing your family. That’s always been our goal: to create something universal and timeless, where the story resonates no matter where you’re coming from.
Do you have a favorite episode from the show’s second season?
That’s such a hard question because I truly love every episode, but if I had to choose, I think Chapter 9: Family stands out for me. It’s where we reveal Eva Eight’s backstory, and Jeanine’s performance as young Eight is absolutely perfect and devastating.
I also have such a soft spot for Chapter 14: Heart. The sequence where Eva connects with the Heart of the Forest is one of the most visually stunning moments of the season, but it also carries incredible existential weight because it’s the culmination of so many questions we’ve been asking. The episode’s writers, Bob Snow and Christian Maeghales, gave me the freedom to shape and polish how the Heart would speak to Eva. I loved the idea of it echoing her own voice back to her, almost lulling you into underestimating it as an entity, until that final line, ‘I’m here to save you,’ reveals it as something deeply sentient and profoundly emotional.
Season two ends on an exciting cliffhanger. What can fans expect in the show’s third and final season?
I can’t give away much about the third season, but what I can say is that answers are coming. This final chapter brings the journeys of all our characters to a satisfying conclusion, both emotionally and thematically, and in ways we’ve been building from the very beginning. As bittersweet as it is to say goodbye to WondLa, I’m so excited for audiences to see where it all leads.
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