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Set in St. Louis during the height of prohibition, Lackadaisy focuses on the titular speakeasy and its employees as they struggle to keep their business afloat (and stay alive) amid conflicts with dangerous gangsters and deadly rivals. Created by Tracy J. Butler in 2006 as a webcomic, the Eisner-nominated Lackadaisy fuses, fuses a period crime-thriller with a charming and beautifully illustrated sense of style. Embracing an anamorphic design that recalls the work of Walt Disney and Don Bluth, the comic is a stunning piece -- and has only increased in notoriety thanks to an animated pilot that went online earlier in March 2023.

Directed by Fable Siegel (The Midnight Gospel), the pilot -- used to garner attention for crowdfunding aimed at funding a full season -- was a rousing success upon release. At the time of this writing, it's already earned over $1,000,000 from online backers, with a full season now in the works.

The animated short Lackadaisy, based on the webcomic of the same name, has finally landed its first public screening since its successful YouTube release.

A press release from Los Angeles' Secret Movie Club reveals it will be hosting a screening of Lackadaisy at LA’s Secret Movie Club Theater on Aug. 2, followed by a Q&a with the crew. The animated short was released earlier this year and has become a viral sensation, garnering nearly 10 million views.

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"One of the key missions of Secret Movie Club is have working moviemakers come to the theater to do Q&a's with our audience on how they are getting work made, seen, and distributed," opens the press release. It continues, saying, "One of the biggest success stories of 2023 so far is how the filmmakers of the expertly animated Lackadaisy...

(Welcome to Animation Celebration, a recurring feature where we explore the limitless possibilities of animation as a medium. In this edition: "Lackadaisy.")

Since its inception, the Animation Celebration column has been a way to showcase animated feature films across a multitude of genres, specifically with projects that utilize the medium for adult audiences. Animation offers limitless possibilities for creators choosing to work within the medium and advancements in technology have increased the accessibility for independent animators to create and distribute their own work without needing the backing of a big studio. One of those examples is the ridiculously impressive pilot for "Lackadaisy," which has already amassed over 5 million views since it was uploaded to YouTube on March 29, 2023.

The pilot was directed and produced by Fable Siegel and is based on Tracy J. Butler's award-winning webcomic of the same name. "Lackadaisy" is a prohibition-era crime series featuring anthropomorphic cats. Set in St.