Lackadaisy is a 2023 American adult animated gangster comedy short film based on the webcomic of the same name by Tracy Butler. It was directed by Fable Siegel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Butler, and follows the rivalry between the titular Lackadaisy and Marigold gangs: two bootlegging groups who are smuggling alcohol during the Prohibition era in 1927. It was the first film released by Iron Circus Comics.
Butler debuted the Lackadaisy webcomic in 2006, receiving accolades from various comic book and literature award ceremonies. The concept for the webcomic was inspired by her research of St. Louis' history, interest in jazz music, and sketches of characters she drew back in high school. The Lackadaisy webcomic received attention for its resemblance to the art styles of Walt Disney and Don Bluth. With the concept of a Lackadaisy short film being in Butler's mind for years, she developed its pitch and reached out to animator Fable Siegel, who had a background in self-styled comics and various animated series. Butler also connected with Iron Circus Comics publisher Spike Trotman, with Siegel giving Butler's pitch to Trotman at a Comic Arts Los Angeles festival.
The short film based on Lackadaisy was announced in 2020 through a Kickstarter campaign, with the intention to produce a ten-minute animated short. The funds raised nearly four times its budget, extending its production. With more than 160 artists involved, Lackadaisy emphasized visual imperfections, using details created by various animators and cleanup artists. The short film features visual influences from Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and impressionist styles, as well as its storytelling being inspired by Don Bluth's works. Butler and Siegel balanced human and feline characteristics in the characters, using occasional feline behavior throughout the short film.
Lackadaisy was released to YouTube on March 29, 2023, and was crowdfunded through a Kickstarter campaign. It was met with widespread critical acclaim for its animation style, storytelling, characters, and historical accuracy. The short film was compared to Hazbin Hotel as a pilot episode, and caught the attention of Ralph Bakshi, Tyson Hesse, and Lilly Wachowski. The first season of the web series based on the short film is currently in development, with co-production from Glitch Productions.
Plot
In a feline-populated St. Louis, during Prohibition in 1927, bootlegger Roark "Rocky" Rickaby performs his violin while reciting his poetic memoir to the Mississippi River. After finishing his recital, Rocky joins up with his cousin Calvin "Freckle" McMurray and their close friend Ivy Pepper to dig up a coffin loaded with whisky from one of their suppliers. Just as they load the bottles into their car, they are ambushed by the rival Marigold gang consisting of former Lackadaisy member Mordecai Heller and the Cajun Savoy siblings: Nicodeme (Nico) and Serafine. In the ensuing chase, Freckle disables Marigold's car with his Tommy gun, and Mordecai forces them off the road and into the Sable mining quarry.
As Rocky runs off, Ivy is left to repair the car while Freckle holds off Mordecai. Nicodeme and Serafine, on the other hand, attack Ivy and the car. Rushing to aid Ivy, Freckle loses his cover, and Mordecai is able to land a shot. Rocky wanders the quarry and manages to rig a steam shovel to drive itself while he maniacally hurls dynamite to drive the Marigold gang away. With an explosion, he stops Mordecai, who was about to shoot Freckle. Rocky also gives Ivy time to repair the car. Rocky accidentally causes a flood by destroying a water tower. While the trio escapes, Mordecai aims his gun at the group, but decides not to fire after seeing Ivy as she drives.
At the Lackadaisy speakeasy, the owner, Mitzi May, expresses her laments to the portrait of her deceased husband, Atlas, as she recalls how big their business used to be. She meets with her employees and her guest, Sedgewick "Wick" Sable, the owner of the quarry. She asks him for financial help, though he politely refuses to maintain his public image to the community. Rocky, Freckle, and Ivy return with only three bottles intact from the fight. Mitzi expresses displeasure with the short amount recovered and states she is happy they came back safely. Rocky and fellow musician Dorian "Zib" Zibowski play music with the band on stage. Ivy teaches a dance to Freckle, during which Mitzi reminisces about how thriving the club was in Atlas's time.
Mordecai calls his superior, Asa Sweet, and reports his and the Savoys' failure to recover the supply, and that one of their suppliers has crossed them to sell to Lackadaisy. Sweet suggests that they may need to tie up this loose end before the government catches wind of their operation.
Voice cast Michael Kovach as Roark "Rocky" Rickaby, a compassionate yet somewhat unhinged bard-like violin player and rum-runner eager to prove himself. Belsheber Rusape as Calvin "Freckle" McMurray, Rocky's timid cousin who is prone to sudden outbursts of madness, especially when a gun is in his hands. Lisa Reimold as Ivy Pepper, an educated and confident female cat; as well as Freckle's love interest. Ashe Wagner as Mitzi May, widow of Atlas May and the new owner of the Lackadaisy speakeasy. SungWon Cho as Mordecai Heller, a stoic, cold, and calculating gunman who used to work for Lackadaisy before joining the Marigold gang. Bradley Gareth as Sedgewick "Wick" Sable, a noble business tycoon and the owner of the Sable Quarry. Valentine Stokes as Dorian "Zib" Zibowski, the laid-back but disheveled lead saxophonist and clarinetist in the Lackadaisy band. Jason Marnocha as Viktor Vasko, a short-tempered Slovak with an eye patch who currently tends the Lackadaisy bar and Mordecai's former partner. Benni Latham as Serafine Savoy, Nicodeme's trigger-happy sister. Malcolm Ray as Nicodeme Savoy, Serafine's musclebound brother.
Background
Tracy J. Butler debuted the Lackadaisy webcomic in July 2006. When she lived in St. Louis for some time, she owned a 100-year-old house and researched its history, as well as the neighborhood and history of St. Louis itself. Combined with her interest in jazz music and the characters she drew back in high school, this led to the conception of Lackadaisy.
The webcomic is set in St. Louis during the Prohibition period in the 1920s. It centers on the Lackadaisy, a speakeasy hidden in a cave beneath the Little Daisy Cafe. Being a "gang of scoundrels", the speakeasy is led by former jazz musician Mitzi, "quixotic rumrunner" Rocky, "unassuming muscle" Freckle, and "dancing fast-talker" Ivy, who deal with the tribulation of the bootlegging business themselves. Lackadaisy features anthropomorphic cats in a "jazzy, sepia-toned crime story" form themed on action and adventure with a fusion of comedy and crime.
The webcomic won five awards at the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards in 2008, and was nominated for the Eisner Award for "Best Digital Comic". It was also noted for its resemblance to the art styles from animated films of Walt Disney and Don Bluth. Prior to the short film's announcement, Lackadaisy received international distribution through Ingram and various Amazon best-selling titles. It also earned awards from the Lambda Literacy Awards and Harvey Awards. As of March 2020, Lackadaisy was subscribed by over 1,600 users on Patreon.
Development Butler had the idea of a traditionally animated film in her mind since age 10 or 11. When she seriously considered developing a pitch for Lackadaisy as an animated project, she first reached out to animator Fable Siegel, which she described them as having a background in self-styled comics. Butler had been a veteran animator who worked on Ben 10, Adam Ruins Everything, Wacky Races, and Hazbin Hotel. They had a connection for years through artistic circles online and various conventions, as well as spoke and exchanged books multiple times through respect for each other's work.
Butler also admired Iron Circus Comics publisher Spike Trotman, in which the former commented in a March 2020 interview with Comic Book Resources that the latter's work was "the talk of the town." Their connection led to them working on pitching Lackadaisy as an animated short film. In December 2019, Siegel attended Trotman's table at Comic Arts Los Angeles to give her the Lackadaisy pitch, which led her to crowdfund the project, offer the first two volumes of the webcomic in print, and a series of mini comics and artwork for fans.
Production Overview Lackadaisy was written by Butler and Siegel, with the former writing and producing the story, and the latter directing and editing the short film. It was executively produced by C. Spike Trotman, with cinematography by Sara Fisher. Music credits include "Sunset Rose Cocktail" written by M. Gewehr and "Feathers N Fringe" from StockMusic.com. The theme music was composed by Sepiatonic, a Portland-based music company that specializes on electro-vaudeville music.
Similar to the webcomic series, Lackadaisy is based on the speakeasy of the same name hidden in a cave beneath the Little Daisy Cafe, where moonshine and music are prominent in the middle of Prohibition. Characters consist of "gangsters, flappers, crooked cops, rumrunners, and wide-eyed ingenues who are all, literally, jazz cats." The short film specializes on slapstick humor in a tone relating to adult animation, with BJ Colangelo of Slashfilm describing Lackadaisys characters, dialogue, music, and plot points as reminiscent of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Publishers Weekly described the short film as a "screwball adventure", while Brandon Zachary of Screen Rant considered it to be "gangster-influenced".
While Lackadaisy lasted for three years in production, the community supporting the project remained up to date weekly with concept sketches, animation tests, AMA's, and Patreon live-streams. According to the creators, more than 160 "skilled artists across the world" became part of the short film's production. The COVID-19 pandemic was taking place at the time, which made Butler feel like production for Lackadaisy would be impossible at times. Upon its release, Butler, Troutman, and Siegel described Lackadaisy as a refinement that still satisfies readers of the webcomic, bringing its comic story elements into a "concise overview of tone, character, conflicts and setting" that stands on its own.
Animation
In an interview with Cartoon Brew in April 2023, Siegel described the animation style of Lackadaisy as stylistic but practical. Instead of cutting out visual imperfections from draftsmanship, a core element of hand-drawn animation, the crew preferred showcasing the animators' and cleanup artists' details while not distracting audiences from the shot's focus. They compared the approach to stop-motion animation, where details including thumbprints and fabric ripples are retained.
Siegel stated that the audience would recognize the short film as drawings while being immersed in the story as a whole, comparing it to a puppet show. This approach allowed Siegel to be less stringent when giving notes on a demanding animation process, arguing that perfectionism is a poor goal when creating art. Siegel noted that adding construction lines to the animation was more labor-intensive than leaving them out. They compared the approach to the animated film Wolfwalkers (2020), where imperfect lines represent a character's internal state. Siegel expressed an appreciation for dirt and revealed that they used a fake "paint boil" to "simulate vinyl paint on cels".