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ᵗʳᵃˢʰ ᶜᵃᵗˢ is a developing series about a group of townies struggling to change their hedonistic ways in the underbelly of a seemingly-picturesque college town.
The pilot episode of this hand-made, cut-paper stop-motion animated series is complete and will screen soon! ᵗʳᵃˢᴴ ᶜᵃᵗˢ is animated in Los Angeles & created in part by filmmakers & artists spanning across timezones and borders - each episode is loosely based on dumb stuff that happened in college during the mid 2010s.
MEET THE GANG
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ᵗʳᵃˢʰ ᶜᵃᵗˢ exists in a universe where there are no humans, but plenty of humanoid animals, aliens, robots, and even living objects that are normally inanimate in our world - living in a society that is otherwise similar to ours. While the world of ᵗʳᵃˢʰ ᶜᵃᵗˢ won't exist solely as an allegorical text to our world, there will be some themes of class solidarity and resistance to the powers that be made to fit the strange and dynamic characters and setting which in some ways mirrors our society. ᵗʳᵃˢʰ ᶜᵃᵗˢ aims to examine the culture of New England college towns while also capturing the essence of the early 2010s.
The run down house on West Elm Street just down the street from private West Elm University is home to the main characters of ᵗʳᵃˢʰ ᶜᵃᵗˢ. "Roommates" doesn't quite accurately describe the relationship these characters have - their dynamics are more familial and since many of them are older than college students, their house is more like a commune than a dorm room.
The world of these characters is relatively small: they frequent the bars, restaurants and stores around the university community, interacting with patrons and employees, and they don't explore much farther beyond these places. They interact with students as well but rarely visit campus, fraternities or sororities because as townies they aren't welcome there. However, they have been known to occasionally crash a sorority or frat event.
ON JULY 30 2023, TRASH CATS:PILOT HAD IT'S PUBLIC DEBUT ON CHANNEL 101!
MORE SCREENINGS
Fang Dangler
This is Fang Dangler
Fang is a simple artist who struggles with motivation and staying on track. He's easily distracted and doesn't often think critically ‑ and makes poor decisions that result in unfortunate situations for him.
While he can be anxious
and neurotic, he's also kind hearted, extroverted and loved by many.
However, he becomes aggressive and overly competitive when he drinks. He loves going to bars and buying rounds for his friends, which is why he's often broke.
WHO ARE THEY?
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Ham Sandwitchson
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He secretly wants to be a more professional and well‑rounded individual but feels stuck in the role of "life of the party". He was once enrolled in college but was unable to keep up with the workload and lacked the attention span needed to pass his classes.
This is Ham Sandwitchson
Out of everyone in the house, Ham is the most well‑adjusted. At 31, he's the oldest cat in the house. He's a trickster who will often talk his way out of trouble.
He's clever and lazy, often tricking others into doing tasks for him. He'll often take charge of a situation and try to change the outcome in his favor as long as it doesn't take too much effort. He acts as the leader of the house, and despite his usual selfishness, he occasionally shows that he cares about his friends during moments of clarity.
While his bravado and generally outgoing personality are at the forefront, he also has a softer side he doesn't often reveal. He secretly worries about his future and lack of direction, understanding he can't con his way through life forever. He's Smokey's love interest, and they have a solid relationship but his constant pranks and cons sometimes irk Smokey.
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This is Smokey Bear
Smokey is a drab, introverted "Daria" type who is generally dissatisfied with her life, especially professionally. Like Fang, she's an artist but has yet to have any success in this endeavor and as a result she lacks
faith in herself and the profession of artistry in general.
She feels more like a hamster in a wheel than a cat and is pessimistic about the future. While the household is left‑leaning politically, Smokey is the most
militant and often expresses her displeasure of "the system" and disdain of others who don't share her political ideology. She's the most responsible of the group, (although that isn't saying much) and is the only one who makes weak attempts to get a "real job" despite the fact that she hates working and being a "cog in the wheel".
Smokey Bear
She's only really happy watching Real Housewives and getting stoned with her housemates, who she cares deeply for, or when she's alone with her love interest Ham, who oddly thinks her dark sense of humor is hilarious. Smokey will occasionally manipulate others or act as an accomplice in one of Ham's many cons, but most of the time she wants what's best for her housemates. This desire often leaves her irritable and frustrated because she holds them to a standard they can never reach, but she loves them anyway. She secretly hates her negativity and wants to change, but doesn't know how, and is worried there's nothing else to her personality. So she keeps it up hoping it makes her seem more interesting
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Whiskers Rye
This is Whiskers Rye
Whiskers is a beautiful and social cat who loves partying, concerts and festivals. She's a headstrong "dirty hippie" or "wook" type whose mantra is 'peace, love & feminism', but usually she's anything but peaceful, and can get carried away easily.
Despite having a lot of suitors outside the house, she loves being independent and isn't interested in relationships or commitment of any kind, and those inside the house respect
this and maintain a platonic friendship with her. Whiskers is probably the smartest of the group and longs to be taken more seriously, but her wild and outgoing personality make it hard for even her housemates to see her as more than just a literal party animal.
She enjoys being the center of attention and will sometimes lead on suitors only to break their hearts later. She's respected for her ability to drink others much larger than her under the table. She's the youngest (in her mid‑twenties while everyone else is in their late twenties and early thirties). Kind and loving to her housemates, she will often act as the mom of the
group and is close with Smokey despite their personality differences.
Whiskers browses through different hobbies and interest like flipping through the pages of last week's campus zine. Also a college drop‑out, she knows she has the potential to do something substantial with her life, but just can't commit or make a decision with too much weight, and she's having too much fun to care.
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Brendan Litebeer
This is Brendan Litebeer
In most contexts, aliens would imply a mysterious outsider, but in this world aliens are an everyday occurance and their existence is mundane. Brendan is your everyday, run‑of‑the‑mill stoner, a common space cowboy. He loves video games and spends most of his time either online, smoking pot, eating fried mac‑n‑cheese bites or doing all three activities simultaneously.
Like the others in the house he is usually
unemployed but he's often recruited by Ham, along with Feng, to do errands for the house. He gets along great with Bill especially, but has trouble maintaining conversation and is often spaced out. He was enrolled in college at one point but he overslept and forgot to go to class the first day, so he didn't bother continuing.
A kind and gentle soul, he tries his best to be supportive of his friends even as he enables
their smoking habits. He's got a talent for tinkering with things and he's able to modify his gaming console and other mechanisms.
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BILL 2.0
This is BILL 2.0
Bill is a sentient computer who wants nothing more than to connect with others, but this is difficult for him because he's an anxious robot introvert who is often weirded out and confused by emotions and social norms.
He's best friends with Fang ‑ and they have a loving relationship but Bill will often tease and throw jabs at Fang because he's jealous of his effortless ability to interact with others.
Bill is incapable of calculating long‑term solutions to
problems and just lives day‑to‑day. Despite being a robot he does have emotions, and wants others to understand this, but doesn't always have the software capabilities to code how he feels.
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