Sticky: Back This Amazing Australian Stick Insect Story

What could we want more for our children than to have stories that are told to them that are "love songs to evolution"? This little project has the aesthetic feel of Machinarium, a deep commitment to rigorous science and tells the story of the Lord Howe Island stick insect which is a success story for diversity and the importance of zoos in the protection of endangered species. I'm a fan - and it needs your support.

Sticky is a soon to be released short-film from Australian animator and storyteller, Jilli Rose of Bespoke Animation.

My children have had stick insects as pets for years now; they are amazing creatures, so alien and foreign in appearance - the closest thing you'll get to owning your own Starship Troopers monsters. Maybe that is why I am so fond of this concept, along with it being a story of science and nature that is close to my home.

The Director describes her creation as such:

I've been working on an animated documentary about the stick insects from Lord Howe Island. It's inching along well. It's partly a celebration of the cape-worthy team at the Melbourne Zoo who have quietly, diligently and quite literally saved a species from extinction, it's partly a love song to evolution, uniqueness, life and the little creatures underfoot, and it's partly a retelling of the mindblowingly awesome story of the insects themselves. It's a madly colourful, whimsical, hopeful, heartwarming and really beautiful little film. Its preview was picked up by the press last month and the zoo is going to promote it when it's finished. . . so it looks like it's going to travel really well.

As with all creative projects though this one is a labor of love. To make it to film festivals and have the opportunity to be screened and seen by as many folks as possible it needs a helping hand. So, if you want to participate in "a retelling of the mindblowingly awesome story" of Lord Howe Island stick insects then watch the trailer above, and then go and back Sticky over at Pozible, an Australian crowdfunding site for creative projects.