Talk about a Canadian celebrity lineup — no, not Will Arnett or Cobie Smulders, although they’re cool, too. But neither is as nationally beloved as the characters they voice for the goofy animated series Super Team Canada: a past-his-prime hockey player and an anthropomorphized Niagara Falls, two members of a gang of C-list superheroes tasked with saving humanity.
The series, which has been renewed for a second season, was created by brothers Rob and Joel H. Cohen, who grew up in Calgary and moved to Los Angeles to pursue their television dreams. Having achieved a lineup of Emmy awards, the Cohens felt it was time to work together on a Canadian project. What they came up with was a team of highly mediocre heroes teaming up to fight low-ambition bad guys set on committing low-stakes crimes, like raiding a maple syrup reserve or unleashing evil Wayne Gretzky clones.
The short episodes are highly unserious and full of inside jokes — in one episode, the problem at hand is Canadian bureaucracy — and star Arnett, Smulders and Kids in the Hall’s Kevin McDonald, along with some up-and-comers. It’s co-produced by Vancouver animation studio Atomic Cartoons and Bell’s Crave network, as well as Arnett’s Electric Avenue.
The Narwhal caught up with the Cohens for the Moose Questionnaire, to learn about their enduring love of the Rocky Mountains and other ways they appreciate the natural world.
Illustration: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. All opinions are the subjects’ own.
What is the most awe-inspiring natural sight that you have seen in Canada?
Rob: I would say it’s a tie, quite honestly. Niagara Falls, I think, is incredible. And where we grew up in Banff. I just think the Canadian Rockies and the foothills going into the Rockies are one of the greatest things on the planet.
Joel: I’m sure many of your other interviewees have said the same thing — the northern lights. I used to work a lot at a summer camp that was a little remote and a little bit north, and I would see the northern lights almost every night and it was never disappointing. Five out of five stars on Yelp for the northern lights.
And what is the most awe-inspiring sight you’ve seen outside of Canada?
Joel: Only because it’s first to mind, I’ve been to Joshua Tree National Park, and it’s spectacular. I’ve never seen a Joshua tree anywhere but there.
Rob: When I was in Kenya, we went into this valley that was a crater, and [there were] animals naturally walking around. You could also see Lake Victoria and that, I remember, just made a huge impact because of what’s going on around you. But you also realize — this is the cradle of civilization. You’re standing right in the middle of it. So it was pretty impressive.
Rob and Joel Cohen grew up in the Rocky Mountains, which Rob calls “one of the greatest things on the planet.” Photo: Leah Hennel / The Narwhal
Choose three iconic Canadian animals and pick one each to kiss, marry and kill.
Rob: There’s no question that I want to marry a loon. I would love to wake up to that sound. I would kiss a grizzly, just because it’s always going to be exciting. And what was the third one? Kill? I have to say gophers, just because they tore up our neighborhood as children.
Joel: One time I was driving in Lethbridge — it’s as glamorous as it sounds — and I saw this incredibly fat porcupine waddling across the road. I am going to choose that same porcupine for all three of those: kiss, marry, kill. That defines our relationship over time. I pulled over, we got talking. One thing led to another. And then the killing [was] a gentle mercy kill at the end of its life. It was full of tears. We had a wonderful relationship.
Name a person or group doing something meaningful for the environment that everyone should know about.
Joel: There’s a group I really like in L.A. called Heal the Bay. The ocean here is so horribly, disgustingly polluted and these people, all volunteers, try not only to do what they can to help heal the bay, but also are really good about publishing grades for different parts of the ocean. So if you’re going to take your kids to the beach, you know which part of the coastline is healthy.
Rob: My answer is slightly weird, but I actually think Parks Canada as an entity does a really, really good job taking care of the Canadian environment. I’ve been impressed whenever I’ve spoken to anybody that works for Parks Canada, just the diverse terrain Canada has, and they’re all seemingly experts at it. So I was very impressed with them.
Name a person or group that could help mitigate the climate crisis if they really wanted to.
Rob: Well, obviously any world leaders, like the current occupant of the White House, the prime minister of Canada. Any of the legit world leaders are the ones that could absolutely do it. I would also say corporate leaders, but there’s too much disinterest or corruption, which is sad.
Joel: Mine’s the same. But I’ll just say, we have such a giant — particularly in the U.S. — billionaire class. There’s lots of horrible things they can address their attention to, but the environment is certainly one of them. If they really wanted to, people could.
Outdoor cats. Yes or no?
Joel: I don’t believe in cats. I’ve yet to see a cat, and if I did, I would consider it some sort of dog in disguise. I don’t think they exist, nor should they.
Tell us about a time that you changed your mind about something. It can be environmental, but it doesn’t have to.
Rob: I would say I changed my mind about wind farms, because I didn’t think that they were going to generate that much power or really be that functional. And now I’m a big fan, no pun intended. I think they’re great. Especially in countries like Canada, where you have these huge, craggy, windy areas, why not use them to maximize generating electricity?
Tell us about a time that you tried to change someone else’s mind about something.
Rob: I was writing on a show years ago, and had been there for months, and a guy found out I was Canadian, and had an actual meltdown and thought I was a spy because I seemed American. He thought that I had been infiltrating the United States and I had to convince him that we were basically like Americans, but not exactly, and that made things worse. So I just gave up, because he was clearly too stupid to talk to. But I tried.
Rob Cohen says he changed his mind about wind farms. He used to think they wouldn’t produce much electricity. Now, he’s ”a bag fan, no pun intended.“ Photo: Leah Hennel / The Narwhal
You have to choose. Rocky Mountains or Great Lakes?
Rob: Easy, Rocky Mountains.
Joel: I agree, Rocky Mountains. But I do tip my hat to the guys in marketing for calling them the Great Lakes. I mean, they’re good lakes. But I just like the boldness of declaring them Great Lakes. Whoever made that choice, I respect the choice.
Researchers at Yale University, the France-based Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society and other institutions have found women tend to be more concerned about climate change than men. Why do you think that is?
Joel: I have two daughters that are young women. They’re very concerned, but then I just attribute it to their generation. Rob, your son seems to be pretty hip to the environment and conscious of recycling and the value of it. I hope it’s more generational than gender-based, but at least somebody’s concerned.
If you could dip a toe off of Canada’s coastline, what ocean would you pick?
Joel: Pacific. There’s no question.
Rob: I would say the Pacific. But I’m going to add that when I have done that in Nova Scotia, I just thought it was incredible. Thank God I have two toes, so I’ll say both. But if I have to pick one, it’s the Pacific.
What’s a beautiful or useful thing that you’ve owned for a long time?
Joel: Does it have to be a physical possession? I’ll say memory. How about that? That’s very esoteric. It’s nice to be able to remember things you’ve seen, places you’ve been.
Rob: A very beat-up tape measure that our dad gave me as a kid that is incredibly, incredibly small, but it’s come in handy over the decades.
What is the farthest north that you’ve ever been, and what did you do there?
Joel: I was once in Fort McMurray. I was working at this summer camp, which I referred to earlier, and we had to go pick up our boats at a dealership there. So I drove up there to get the boats. I think that’s the furthest north I’ve ever been.
What is one way you interact with the natural world on a daily basis?
Joel: I’m a big hiker. We’ve had these horrible fires in L.A. that you might have heard of. [They] really changed the face of all these wonderful, amazing hiking areas. But, normally, I would hike four times a week in the Santa Monica Mountains. There are really amazing trails, even some waterfalls, little creeks. So that was something I used to do, and would love to do again once those come back.
Rob: Yeah, when I walk the dog, there’s some great hikes. They go deep, deep, deep into cactus fields and weird water reserves built in the 1920s. I try to do that a couple times a day. The dog is irritating, so I will take the dog out and try to burn her out.
If you could ask one person, alive or dead, their thoughts on climate change, who would it be?
Joel: I’d love to ask somebody like 100 years in the future to tell us how they solved it. Or they live in a hellscape of nothing because we didn’t solve it. But I’d love to know what the future is in that sense.
Rob: I think somebody like Einstein would be an interesting person to speak to, even though that was not their specialty, just sort of using their brain on a problem that is seemingly easily resolved. I think that would be a great conversation.
Another choice. Smoked salmon or maple syrup?
Rob: That’s a tough one. I would pick smoked salmon because I could eat more of it without feeling sleepy.
Joel: I feel like there’s giant smoked salmon lobbies and maple syrup mafias that are going to lead to bad results from this. But I’m going to go maple syrup. I feel like maple syrup has got more diversity to it, and you could pour it on everything. I think you could always use your maple syrup, whereas smoked salmon — there’s going to be some times you don’t want the smoked salmon.
Who in your life has had the greatest impact on your connection to nature?
Rob: I would actually say our son, because living in L.A. it’s very challenging to find some nice, clean patches of nature. So, especially during COVID, we would just try to find anything we could to introduce him to it.
Joel: Shocking Rob, I might say our mother. She, for whatever reason, chose to live in all these weird small towns in B.C. [such as] Chemainus [and] Sooke. Her forcing us to go to those places to visit her, and then you consequently get to see places, Crofton or Salt Spring Island, which I didn’t really know and have since really come to love. She’s just opened up a lot of those worlds by chasing her wherever she’s living on the globe.
Whose relationship with the natural world would you most like to have an impact on?
Joel: I’d say my kids. One of my daughters is less willing to go for a hike, but my other daughter is very willing to go for a hike. But I would love to expand their viewpoint and just make them feel more comfortable. Not that they’re uncomfortable or scared, but I wish they just felt more adventurous sometimes to go explore the natural world.
Rob: I don’t know if it counts as a person, but I would love to force the United Nations to go as an entity, some amazing place every six months that is a natural wonder that’s threatened, and then say, “Don’t blow it.” And then, “What are you guys going to do to fix it?” I think that is the only way to really help the global problem.
Would you rather be invited to visit David and Victoria Beckham at their Muskoka, Ont., cottage, or Harry and Meghan Sussex at their B.C. oceanic escape?
Joel: I think they’d both be fine. I just think the company might be a little bit better with the Beckhams, for my tastes, than Harry and Megan. And luckily enough, we’ve been to both those areas, and actually are going to Muskoka again this summer. So we certainly know Muskoka, but I’m going to choose to hang out with David Beckham over Harry and Meghan.
Rob: I agree.
Camping. Yes or no?
Joel: As a concept, yes. Sure, I’m down. Let’s do it.
Rob: Yeah, camping is great. I haven’t done it in a long time, but I love it. And I don’t know if they still make it, but there’s nothing better than heating up one of those disgusting chickens in a can and then getting rid of it, because you know it’s poisonous. I just love the feeling.
