Michael Cusack (animator)

Michael R. Cusack is an Australian animator, writer, producer, director, musician, and voice actor. He is known as the co-creator, co-star, and co-leader of the Adult Swim animated series Smiling Friends (2022–present), in which he voiced the characters Pim, Allan, and various others. He is also the creator of the Adult Swim animated series YOLO (2020–25) and the Hulu animated sitcom Koala Man (2023).

Michael Cusack
Cusack in March 2024
Born	Dapto, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations	Animator writer producer director musician voice actor
Years active	2012–present

Early life

Cusack was born and raised in Dapto, New South Wales, and later moved to Melbourne.^[1]

Career

Cusack became interested in animation in his 20s and taught himself Adobe Flash using online tutorials. He uploaded his content to his YouTube channel and Newgrounds account. He created and portrayed Lucas the Magnificent, a parody of New Atheist "neckbeards", in live-action YouTube videos and on Twitter, beginning in 2014; he later stated that the character led to him meeting and befriending American animator Zach Hadel, as Lucas the Magnificent stated that he wanted Hadel to animate the intro of Lucas' potential Let's Play show.^[2] They began to collaborate online, then later in person when Cusack traveled to meet Hadel in Burbank, California.^[3]

Cusack wrote, directed, animated, produced, and starred in the Rick and Morty special episode Bushworld Adventures, a parody of the series that aired on Adult Swim in 2018 as part of the network's April Fools' Day tradition.^[4] The success of Bushworld Adventures led him to create YOLO and Smiling Friends for the network, the latter alongside Hadel.^[5] He also voiced Knifey in the video game High on Life,^[6] Nugget in the television film The Paloni Show Halloween Special, and Mammon in the online series Helluva Boss.

Personal life

Cusack continues to reside in Melbourne although he regularly divides his time between Melbourne and Los Angeles, California, U.S.^[1][7]

Works

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Bushworld Adventures	Various	Writer, director, producer, animator, compositor
2018	Fresh Blood: Koala Man	Koala Man, Damo, Darren, various
2020–2025	YOLO	Lucas the Magnificent, various	Creator, director, writer, executive producer, animator, storyboard artist
2022–present	Smiling Friends	Pim, Allan, various	Co-creator, director, writer, storyboard artist, storyboard revisionist, art director, character design supervisor, designer, animator
2023	Koala Man	Koala Man, Liam, Damo, Darren, various	Creator, co-developer, writer, executive producer
2024	Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy	Servo	Mini-series
2025	Big City Greens	Jim Owner	Episode: "Flexed"[8]

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2022	High on Life	Knifey	Voice

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Question for Ted	Various	2 episodes
2012	YOLO	Sarah	Short
2013–2015	Weedheads	Various	2 episodes
2014–2016	Damo and Darren	Damo, Darren, various	5 episodes
2014	YOLO 2	Sarah and Some Crazy Happy Woman	Short
2018	OneyPlays	Himself	1 episode
2018	Shrek Retold	Donkey	Animator
2019	The Cyanide & Happiness Show	Aladdin	1 episode
2021	Smiling Friends: Free Draw	Self	Adult Swim special
2022	The Official Podcast	Self	Podcast, Guest
2022	The Create Unknown	Self	1 episode
2023–2024	Helluva Boss	Mammon	2 episodes
2025–	Crocodile and Cube: In The Studio	Crocodile	3 episodes