Watch: Even if you’re afraid of spiders, Lucas the adorable arachnid will surely change your mind
He will have you at ‘hiee’.
Spiders are usually reviled and feared. But one look at Lucas the spider in the video above will melt all antipathy. “When I grow up, I want to be the world’s most musical spider,” says Lucas before launching into a song that will win your heart.
Lucas is probably the most adorable spider in the world. With large eyes, the voice of a child, and furry paws, he looks like a character straight out of a Pixar or Disney film. Even arachnophobes would have a hard time disputing this.
He was born on the internet on November 5, when Joshua Slice, his creator, posted an introductory video (below) of the furry arachnid on YouTube. It all started with a meme. Slice told The Dodo, “I saw a meme of a little jumping spider in a leaf and it looked really cute. And I thought, I wonder how far you could push that. How cute could you make a spider?” Slice’s aim was to make people afraid of spiders say “awww” when they saw Lucas (he succeeded), and challenge them by asking what they would do if they were encountered a spider character like him in real life.
Slice, who has previously worked on films like Big Hero 6 and Zootopia, did all the work himself in creating Lucas, including the 3D design, modelling, rigging, animation, lighting and rendering. Lucas’s voice came from Slice’s nephew, who is also called Lucas.
The video was an instant success and since then, Slice has been putting up short videos of Lucas every few weeks (bottom). The YouTube channel for Lucas the spider is approaching the million-subscriber mark, with each video gathering millions of views. YouTube commenters and social media users have already begun to campaign for a feature-length film featuring Lucas – one even wrote a potential plot.