1927. Prohibition is in full effect across the city of St. Louis. Anthropomorphic cats run amok delving into crime, mystery, and of course the charmed life of speakeasy owners. This is the setting for the webcomic LACKADAISY created by Tracy J. Butler in 2006. The synopsis reads:
When prohibition grips the United States in 1920, Atlas May sets his eatery, the Little Daisy Café, as the front for a successful successful speakeasy called the Lackadaisy. Situated at the mouth of a network of limestone caves, the speakeasy can only be accessed from the Café by those showing a pin in the shape of a Clubs card suit. With easy access to illegal alcohol and a steady clientele, business burgeons, and the Lackadaisy becomes a premier establishment.
In 1926, however, Atlas is mysteriously killed, and management of the Little Daisy and the Lackadaisy falls to his widow Mitzi. Patronage at the Lackadaisy gradually falls off, bringing it to the brink of collapse, with only a handful of its original crew remaining and doing their best to keep the business alive. There is a band that plays at the club, and one of the members is a rumrunner, which brings the characters into conflict with others who distill their own whiskey and moonshine.
The comic features a wily band of characters from all walks of life, which you can check out in full here. But to name a few, we follow Rocky Rickaby – a chaotic bundle of idiotic brilliance who’s either plucking away at the strings of his violin (or fiddle) or crafting some outlandish plan to run illicit alcohol operations for Lackadaisy. Calvin “Freckle” McMurray, Rocky’s cousin, is dutiful momma’s boy…who also is an unstable ball of rage once he has a firearm in hand. The widowed Mitzi May is determined to return the Lackadaisy to its former glory at all costs alongside her team including Dorian “Zib” Zibowski and Viktor Vasko. The late Atlas’ goddaughter Ivy Pepper has also joined the frey, whether be running the register to the Cafe to dancing the night away at the speakeasy to running alcohol or flirting with the boys (including a certain Freckle).
The comic comes to high praise since its release, winning multiple comic awards. However, in March 2020 the release schedule for new pages took a backseat as a Kickstarter launched for an animated pilot based on the comic, directed by Fable Siegel and produced by Iron Circus Animation. Funded in full and also supported by Patreon supporters, the animation was made by a crew of more than 160 skilled artists across the world and released officially on YouTube March 29, 2023. As I’m writing this, it’s been trending via YouTube and social media platforms, and sits at over 800K and climbing. With a 27+ minute runtime, this pilot features beautiful animation, excellent sound design, and amazing voiceovers from quite a few big names in the business – just to name a few of the praises of the project.
As a fan of the webcomic and a supporter of the Kickstarter campaign, I was over the moon to see the final product of years of hard work from the team bringing this story to life. It’s one of the best indie pilot releases I’ve seen and I’m truly hoping that we’re able to see more of Lackadaisy in this animation medium. Because WOW THIS PILOT IS PHENOMENAL!
Seeing the interactions between Rocky, Freckle, Ivy as well as the rest of the cast featured was so wonderful, seeing how well they flowed together in the story, even amongst the chaos of the chase and gunbattle that ensues during their night shift to run alcohol for Lackadaisy. Rocky’s jazzy musical confidence alongside his poetic verses from musical theater was a highlight for his character. Seeing the range Freckle displays, from his timid stances to his raging battle mentality when pushed into the fight to even his caring nature both for his cousin and Miss Pepper. Oh god don’t get me started on Freckle and Miss Pepper – I’ve been shipping these babies for year and seeing the crush on screen in animation form just sent me. Even the “villians” – Mordecai, and the siblings Serafine and Nicodeme Savoy – are written and displayed so beautifully in the short that we feel fully invested in everyone’s character. Highly recommend!
With the pilot now released, Tracy stated in her thank yous to everyone that the comic is working to resume. Hopefully we hear more exciting news in the future for the story of Lackadaisy. I will say the world would be foolish to not pick this series up for circulation. The fans are diving in headfirst to the pilot and loving every second of it. There’s so much potential for excellence here – let’s see what the future holds.
PS: I’ve watched the pilot…six times now since it’s release. It released yesterday. I’ll keep watching it too ❤ it has my heart! I missed my kitty babies and I’m so excited to see them come to life in such a way.
*~Mae's Corner~* 