Caitlyn Bairstow Talks Joining the Gigantosaurus Dino-Family

Over the last week, a whole new clutch of baby dinoaurs have hatched onto the scene in Gigantosaurus. This comes on the heels of the introduction of Plink, Plonk, and Plunk, three new dolphin-like ichthyosaurs that live in the lake and first surfaced in the hit kids' series on March 29. Plink is played by Caitlyn Bairstow, best known for her work on Mega Man: Fully Charged and Spy Kids: Mission Critical. With voice actors being some of the busiest performers in show business over the last year due to physical productions shutting down for the pandemic, Bairstow has been swamped in the time since her Gigantosaurus appearance.

By now, Gigantosaurus has been running for 50 episodes, and we talked with Bairstow about joining the show. First off -- what's it like coming into a series that's well underway, with existing relationships, during the pandemic?

"It kind of is nice to kind of come into a show that already has a lot of the groundwork set," Bairstow told ComicBook. "They spend a lot of the first couple episodes and season really setting the groundwork for the tone and the pace and the energy of the show. So when you're kind of coming in late in the game, it's pretty easy to pick up the flow. We were very luck in Vancouver before the pandemic, because we normally do ensemble recording, so all of us record together go through the episode, like a play almost. So you come in, and it's so established, the feeling of the show, that it's kind of pretty easy to kind of pick up on everyone's energy and kind of fit right into the world with them. So I definitely felt like you see how the main kids -- they understand their character so well. So for me and the my Gigantosaurus siblings, it was pretty easy to pick up on the energy and fit right into the world."

Bairstow has her share of geek stuff, whether it's anime dubs or appearances on My Little Pony and Hatchimals, but she says it's those interests that have helped to give her a different behind-the-scenes perspective.

"I'm like a huge nerd, and I was a fan of stuff like My Little Pony and stuff before I even got into this industry," Bairstow said. "So as I came in, it was so interesting to be like, 'ah, this is all stuff I used to consume as just a fan and a regular consumer, and now I get to kind of be on the inside and see what that life is like, and what it's like to bring life to these types of shows.' So like with Gigantosaurus, I had seen a bit of it before I even got to audition for it. It's the perfect age for my nephew, and so I had seen a bunch of it. It's so cool to kind of be able to become a part of stuff that I used to kind of watch growing up. And also now my nephew and people younger than me are now watching as they grow up."

But while she "gets" Gigantosaurus, Bairstow has struggled with the content aimed at the youngest audiences in the past. Happily, her experience on the show has convinced her that she can pull it off.

"I tend to find preschool was difficult," Bairstow admitted. "I struggled a lot with preschool when I started because it's this very beautiful, sweet spot of being kind and open and honest without sounding condescending in a way. So it was difficult for me at the start and I was very happy when I got to Gigantosaurus. Because I'm like, 'Yes, I can do it. I can do preschool. It makes me so happy.' I tend to find my kind of sweet spot of work. I often end up feeling like I'm the spunky girl in the boy group. So I've done a bunch more kind of actually cartoons like Mega Man and Spy Kids. So I kind of feel like I fit into that mold. So getting to play in preschool was very fun for me because it was out of my kind of booking area. So I was really excited to be a part of this."

Gigantosaurus is available to stream on Disney Now.