Bubble UK: “Stinking Thinking” Gives British Animation Much-Needed Adult Edge

Nowadays, British cartoons are being limited to cutesy babysitter fodder or television commercials, and that’s why it’s refreshingly awesome to come across something like “Stinking Thinking”. Stinking Thinking is a British animated web series for adults, from TV Writers Jack Noddings and Oli Hudson, which centers on three flies chatting banter while dining on manure.

While the premise seems rather low brow, it’s actually a dry humoured, down to earth and witty series with very relatable discussions. It’s supported with a unique minimalist animation style, which while limited in movement, retains a visual identity of its own. There’s a charm to it’s laid back pacing, natural organic conversations, and overall simplicity. To learn more about this series, I recently had a chat with Jack, Oli, and the show’s co-star Patrick Whitelaw:

JAMBAREEQI: So, Oli and Jack, how did you two both get into animation?
OLI: Jack and I both went to Film School together, and after film school, we were looking for ways to use those skills in some way. I started doing music videos for Universal Music as a way into that, I was coming up with ideas that were quite complicated and no one had the budget to do them in live action. So, it was kind of perfect to do those things through the freedom of animation, to have your imagination completely free, and not so encumbered by budget or actors. We did loads of weird animations for people like Tupac and The Cardigans, so that’s how I got into animation. When you start thinking of ideas with an animation background, it feels quite quite comfortable to see them in animated form.

JAMBAREEQI: And where did the idea for an animated slice of life show about talking shit eating flies come from?
JACK: Patrick is a big part of the story here, he had told me about Rick & Morty’s Donkey Dick Defence, I watched that animation and I thought “Yeah! I Could do that”. The mouths didn’t move, it was really basic, and it was just two people talking really. I was like, we could think of a short simple idea and could do that quite effectively. The Shit eating flies was an idea attached to that, I can’t remember where it actually came from, it was just part of the thinking process.
OLI: But also, our background is in TV writing, which is usually very plot or story driven, so we wanted the freedom to have these characters talk about whatever they wanted to talk about.

JAMBAREEQI: So, Patrick helped get things started, but how did he end up in the show as a voice actor?
JACK: Patrick is the only actor I know, we chat together a lot, and I liked the way he spoke.
PATRICK: I like to think that Rod is just a hyper version of myself, a goofy dumb Australian.
OLI: When Patrick and I were talking about it, he asked me “How do you want me to do this?” and I replied “Just do you! Just be yourself”
JACK: And he’s done a marvelous job!

JAMBAREEQI: Now, can you explain the creative process behind an episode of “Stinking Thinking”?
OLI: It’s certainly different to what we normally do, because we normally write an episode and work with producers to adapt it that way. But this time, we wrote these scripts, recorded them, weren’t that happy with them, and recorded them again. Then it came to actually animating, editing, and developing them quite considerably through the animation process. So, several phases, I’d say.
JACK: The scripts we wrote, they’re unrecognizable from what is on screen. Through animation, we can do what we want; like switch lines and effectively mess around with it.
OLI: I remember Jack sent me an episode, and I was like “I don’t remember three caterpillars playing guitar and someone shoving their hand up his arse?… I don’t remember recording any of this?”

JAMBAREEQI: Haha! So How would you best describe the comedy style for “Stinking Thinking?”
JACK: It’s like harnessing a profound message and having it delivered by idiots. You know? Stupid people trying to be smart.
OLI: I’d say it has a surrealist and absurd edge to it, with the ridiculous stuff that does happen.
JACK: There are no zingers necessarily. It’s a little bit surreal and odd, but it’s grounded too.
OLI: It’s like the TV show Adam & Joe, where people were just having fun, not taking themselves seriously, and creating stuff on their own. I hope that freedom to do whatever you want comes through “Stinking Thinking”.

The Free spirited anarchy of “The Adam & Joe Show” highly inspired Oli & Jack

JAMBAREEQI: So what other TV shows would consider to be major inspirations for “Stinking Thinking”?
JACK: Reality TV has always been an influence on me because it does have these characters who talk about really serious dramatic things in a stupid way. Both Oli and I also love Peter Cook, so I guess the Pete & Dud stuff is an influence too.
OLI: Larry David and Seinfeld as well, just that will to take a subject and dissect it, based on very differing personalities.

JAMBAREEQI: Yeah, I can see that in the show. “Stinking Thinking” is very comedy-drivenen, but episode 3 included an almost dramatic moment that showed Rod’s tragic backstory. Are you hoping to pepper in more moments like this to flesh out the characters?
JACK: Yeah, definitely. When I watch a show, I’m not watching it because it’s specifically a comedy or drama, I like the merging of those two genres.
OLI: Charlie Chaplin has been a big influence on us in some ways, because the aim is to make a film that makes you laugh AND cry. I just feel like that’s lost in alot of British comedy, where they tend to be so gag based that they lose out on the tragedy of comedy sometimes.

JACK: There’s always a part of ourselves in the show too. When we’re doing “Stinking Thinking”, we’re doing it for ourselves, and we don’t have to answer to anyone. When we’re pitching for TV companies, we’re filling a quota of what they expect. Rod’s backstory came out of the question “What would be something that someone wouldn’t let us do”?, just putting an emotional moment in something that’s basically stupid and silly.

JAMBAREEQI: So, what kind of audience would you say that “Stinking Thinking” is aimed towards?
JACK: Oli and I have always said to eachother “If someone ever asks us this question, we’ll just say Bryan Adams, so Bryan Adams is our target audience for this show. Bryan Adams, if you’re reading this, this show is for you.

JACK: On a serious note, it’s really hard to say. I mean, my grandmother loves this show, I have no idea why! So, we’re open to any audience, we’re not picky.

JAMBAREEQI: One thing is for certain though, based on the mature content, “Stinking Thinking” is for older audiences. So what would you say sets it apart from other adult cartoons?
OLI: It’s British.
JAMBAREEQI: Yeah, we don’t have enough adult cartoons in this country nowadays!
JACK: That was a big thing, these shows don’t really exist in England. In America, Adult Swim churns them out and they’re all amazing. But I think the animation sets us out, it has a different feel and look than the sort of animations coming out right now. I think having those emotional moments alongside slapsticky shit eating jokes sets us out aswell.
OLI: I think it’s about how long it takes to make a show in this country, which means that British shows rarely reference stuff that’s happening today, and a lot of our country’s shows end up feeling quite dated because of this. With American shows, it feels like they are able to write an episode about something that happened last month, and so they are able to be a lot more more contemporary or on the pulse. I think that’s what’s so exciting about us! Because we’re making “Stinking Thinking” ourselves, we can actually talk about stuff that’s happening worldwide, and reference relevant stuff. Whereas if you’re writing a show that takes 3 or 4 years to get on TV or online, it ends up feeling like it’s already passed it.
JACK: Being topical is something we really want to do, but not like talking about Trump in a political way, instead talking about the stupid things and small details surrounding him. Like, we were always really obsessed by the fact that Obama only smoked one cigarette a day, that was interesting to us, and the part of topical humour you didn’t really hear about.

JAMBAREEQI: I see and what kind of future are you hoping for “Stinking Thinking”?
JACK: I think we’d like to do something on a slightly bigger budget or outsider characters coming in.
OLI: We want to build the world a bit more.
JACK: Yeah, because we do see it as a very big world, like a city of insects with their own jobs. Episode 4 brings that in with the caterpillar band, so we want to build on that.
JAMBAREEQI: And because you’re wanting to expand this universe, are you hoping to bring in guest actors into the show?
JACK: Yeah, everybody wants to be in it. The thing is, we did all the voices ourselves, and there’s a charm to that I’d like to carry that on. I mean, Patrick has got array of amazing voices.
JAMBAREEQI: Interesting! Anyway, thanks for chatting about the show with me.

I really encourage you all to check out “Stinking Thinking”, it’s a dry, witty, and weird show that deserves attention. The UK needs more adult cartoons, I feel like Oli & Jack’s show could certainly fill that void, and I’ve linked episode 1 below: