Hollywood movie animator Josh Slice has hit the big time with his small animation Lucas the Spider.
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He has so many orders for his soft toy that was brought to life as a computer animation that he has become a millionaire in less than a month.
Slice has had more than 40,000 orders for Lucas the Spider in two weeks and another 60,000 are expected within weeks – bringing in more than $1.2 million in sales.
Lucas the Spider was designed as cute animation to help reassure suffered of arachnophobia – a distressing irrational fear of spiders.
The spider clips were an instant hit on YouTube, where Slice racked up more than 100 million views in six months to make Lucas a cult star.
Are spiders cute?
The soft and floppy spider voiced by Slice’s five-year-old nephew Lucas – who the spider is affectionately named after – talks about the adventures of a spider.
The discussions cover topics like why spiders have so many eyes and why they are found around sinks and baths.
Slice has posted several video shorts online about Lucas so far.
“To bring Lucas to life by way of a soft lovable toy that contains the voice of Lucas has been an exciting part of an unexpected journey. We’re very thankful that so many people could come together over an unexpected love for a spider,” said Slice.
“Lucas the Spider started as a curiosity for whether spiders could in fact be cute.
College fund
“The whole time I’m making it I’m thinking, I want people who are afraid of spiders to say ‘aww’. I wanted to challenge people.
“The fact that Lucas can also provide a future for my nephew, the original Lucas, as well as charities we support is really rewarding.”
Slice is a professional animator who has worked behind the scenes on some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters – Ferdinand (2017); Zootopia (2016) and Big Hero 6 (2014) for Pixar-Disney.
Lucas made a debut online in a 21-second video just seven months ago, collecting a massive 21 million views and posing the question what if spiders were cute not scary?
Slice says the money will go towards his nephew’s college fund, charity and into savings to fund future animations.
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