UK Q&A: Ed Tracy Talks To Us About “Sticky”

Ed Tracy’s Sticky is a ray of hope that adult animation in the UK is more than just a dream. Featuring a stacked cast, a silly aesthetic, and funny dialogue, this franchise could have exactly the ingredients needed to provide good recipe for UK’s answer to South Park. 

 

(Bubbleblabber) How did you develop the premise for Sticky?

(Ed Tracy) Initially, I was thinking of ideas with characters restricted to a particular time, place or group of characters. But I soon realized that the most successful animated sitcoms are the ones that have a simple premise; a family or a group of friends. It is an easier pitch that everyone can relate to.

I would get bored if the characters were stuck in the same situation each episode. The format of Sticky was geared around the exploration of different ideas and concepts, changing situations each episode. The creative prospects this format presents are very tantalizing. It will hopefully stay fresh and fun to make many more. It really would be a dream come true if we got to make more episodes. The world of commissioning television programmes is notoriously unpredictable so I am trying not to raise my expectations too high.

What went into creating the characters and how did you select who would voice each of them.

Tom Hardy is an old friend and he suggested we do a comedy film together. We have previously made short comedy projects so I knew he could play a range of funny characters. He loved Fonejacker, the show I created with Kayvan Novak. Sticky was the first project to present itself as something that could be right for Tom to get involved with.

We had a good laugh making Sticky. It was surreal to hear Tom perform the bonkers stuff in Sticky. I think other performers may have balked at some of the material. Tom clearly has a sense of humour and a career because he agreed to the script without hesitation. Much of that is due to the brilliant writing from Steve Burge and the team of writers we assembled. Tom performs two characters in this episode, the unexpected one being the main baddie called “Professor Nerp”. It would be great fun to dream up, even more, characters for him to play in future, so fingers crossed we get to make more. A comedy film with Tom remains a tantalizing prospect!

I have wanted to work with Javone for years. He’s a great friend, as are Kayvan and Tom. I met Charlotte Riley and was so happy when she said she was interested in being in the show. I knew she’d be hilarious as Ziggy! I think secretly she’s my favourite character.

Arthur Darvill makes an appearance in Sticky as the teacher. He starred in a short film I directed called CAPTCHA which I made when I wanted a bit of a break from comedy. It’s a “dieselpunk” sci-fi thriller and will be released on FilmFour in January. It couldn’t be more different to Sticky! He’s from Birmingham and we had fun finding which particular Brummie character he could play.

I count my lucky stars for how many brilliant performers agreed to be in Sticky. People like the massively talented Tom Davis, Tony Way, Amy Shiels, Liam Hourican, Jarred Christmas. My happy list goes on.

 

What was your inspiration for the animation aesthetic and for which studio did you work with to achieve the desired look?

The animation style I created for Fonejacker was achieved by manipulating photographs. I do all my own animation and design until the projects get a budget and we can afford a team to help me. Fonejacker has been kindly compared to the animations Terry Gilliam made in one of my all-time favourite films Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

In Fonejacker the animated character’s faces often only had one or two expressions. It suited that show perfectly but once I set my sights on creating a scripted comedy then I knew that I had to evolve that style.

I had developed the animation style for Sticky with the intention that I can pull together an amazing cast. Sought after performers are very busy so I needed to be able to piece the show together like a jigsaw, recording each person separately.

I produced Sticky with my own company Too Tall Productions. After about a year of creating test clips, I finally cracked the style. We then hired a small team of designers and animators to work on the pilot episode. My year’s worth of tinkering meant that we had many designs all ready to use, enabling us to produce one episode of Sticky in three months. For the pilot episode, Sticky’s main characters each have about 80 poses. A massive jump from the two each in Fonejacker!


Adult animation produced in UK isn’t as affluent as compared to the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world. Do you hope Sticky will be the start of helping local adult animation content “breakthrough?”

We cannot compete with the budgets of American television but we can try to surpass them in terms of creative innovation.

Fonejacker was predominantly animated. It was sold around the world, including to Comedy Central in America. It won us a BAFTA and stands as something of a British animation success story.

That show started life on my laptop, as did Sticky. I think that having fewer budget forces you to be more creative when bringing content to life. Also, I think that if the audience can see that you’re making them laugh with limited resources then they somehow root for you more.   That was certainly the case for Fonejacker, hopefully for Sticky too.

I love collaborating with other writers and comedians. I hope Sticky will be one way for a few of us Brits to express ourselves.

What are some of your favorite animated shows either growing up and/or what is currently airing/streaming?

The animations that Terry Gilliam made for Monty Python were a huge influence on me growing up. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was the first film I ever bought.

I recently bumped into the director of that movie, Terry Jones. My friend and I told him we were huge fans of his work. “You’re loved!” said Steve, who was over from the States to record his role as Bobby Bustanut in Sticky. Terry smiled bashfully. He’s a flippin’ national treasure!

Another favorite influence was the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comics. I think they turn conventional storytelling on its head. In the space of a few frames, the story goes from a dingy living room to a multi-million-pound movie set. And brilliantly funny to boot.

When I make my animations I think there is no excuse to stick to the rules. If you are not blowing the doors off conventional storytelling then you are not using the tools to their fullest potential.

 With Sticky available on iPlayer, what is your take on the growing television trend of people getting content on streaming services versus linear television? 

I have not had the television plugged into my house for about seven years. My children have grown up with only streaming services and DVDs. This is my gift to them! Having zero adverts in their life growing up is a blessing, and they’d rather read a book or draw than watch Tv.

If I ever watch regular television then I waste my time channel hopping. Now I waste my time searching the streaming services instead. I am better off slamming in a Blu-Ray.

Watch Sticky via BBC iPlayer here. 

Read our review of the pilot episode of Sticky here.