A Pilot So Good, It Doesn’t Make You Feel Like a Furry For Watching: A Review of Lackadaisy.
SPOILERS FOR THE LACKADAISY PILOT
If you’ve ever watched Disney’s ‘The Aristocats' and thought I’d love to see this done as a St Louis, found family gang rivalry story, then you’re in luck.
We are first greeted by an old American theatre stage, complete with a bandstand, red curtains and stage-lights, upon which a well dressed cat plays the violin and performs an abstract poem for the audience (us). From this moment I was intrigued, as were 7.8 million others at the time of writing.
Based on the webcomic of the same name by Tracy J Butler, the pilot (published here on YouTube) follows a group of alcohol thieves who work for the Lackadaisy Speakeasy in Prohibition-era St Louis, except it’s populated by anthropomorphic cats.
At first glance, the piece seems indistinguishable from some other animated YouTube pilots we’ve seen before, like Hazbin Hotel or Hellava Boss. But the feline feature plays a surprisingly good violin solo with your heartstrings.
Despite only being around 20 minutes long, the pilot is able to present you with around 10 characters, most of whom are flushed out, have complex motivations, unique design from one another and enough relatable character traits to keep them memorable. Such as Rocky’s arrogance and musical talent, Ivy’s pragmaticism and mechanical skills, and Freckle’s timid disposition and role as ‘the muscle’.
The cast’s voices are all without fault, feel true to the Prohibition-era, and fit the character’s designs well. Hazbin Hotel’s Michael Kovach, Horimiya’s Belsheber Rusape and Tokyo 24th Ward’s Lisa Reimold star as the titular tomcat three, Rocky, Freckle and Ivy (although Ivy is a girl).
SungWon Cho also delivers a cold, calculated performance as Mordecai, the sophisticated suited villain (as we all expect of the internet’s favourite VA). He’s also by far the coolest character, accompanied with a mysterious clockwork motif that makes the black cat seem that much more dark, sleek and mysterious.
The show also sets itself apart with some truly astonishing visuals. It looks incredibly well made, albeit the slightly visible line art on certain characters. The backgrounds are a feast for the eyes, and really place you centrefold in the glamour and glitz of 1920s Missouri. The saying 'I could watch it on mute' rings as true as a bell on a cat’s collar.
On the negative side, the dialogue feels slightly lacking. Whilst some of the jokes had me chuckling, including all the clever cat jokes they threw in there (Like the characters being afraid of water, loud noises etc.), others were a little predictable, and left characters characters (namely Mordecai’s lackeys) feeling quite plain. Though I am being harsh on this, as expecting all characters to be fully 3-dimensional in a pilot episode is a stretch.
Another criticism of the piece is the character 'rage' moments, which happened twice between two different characters in the already short pilot. This felt a little lazy, progressing the story by having two contrasting characters act the same way. It seemed Freckle’s moment where he went crazy is part of his character, which I did like. On the other hand, Rocky’s throwing of dynamite felt a little random, it was alluded to that he was shaken from the gunfire, but it still felt a little dull, but I still love Rocky and his musical poem as the beginning of the pilot.
Overall, Lackadaisy seems like a labour of love, by a team that seems to really care about their very unique project, and I for one look forward to see what they come out with next, bearing in mind a few things may need smoothing out along the way.
