Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) and singer Meghan Trainor are tackling mental health in the new short Bug Therapy and Screen Rant has the exclusive trailer from the new animated film. The goal of Bug Therapy is to speak to people of all ages and to shed a light on mental health and how vital it is to have a support system. The animated short premiered at TIFF and will have its World Premiere at the Austin Film Festival on Sunday, October 24.
Bug Therapy tells the story of Citronella (Trainor), a mosquito who faints at the sight of blood. To overcome her phobia, she tries to muster the courage to attend group therapy, led by Dr. Pill (Dr. Phil McGraw). There she learns that everyone faces mental health struggles and meets other bugs including Stick Bug (Brown) who lives with depression over never feeling seen, Fly (Jay Leno) who has OCD, Grasshopper (Tom Green) who has an addiction to coffee, Praying Mantis (Emily Goglia) who is narcissistic/delusional and believes she’s God, a Dragonfly couple (film writers Michael Jann and Michele Jourdan) who are co-dependent, and Spider (Jason Reisig) who has a phobia of spiders.
Check out the exclusive trailer for Bug Therapy below. The trailer introduces the animated short film's cast of characters as well as showing Trainor's reluctant mosquito. However, with some wise words from Dr. Pill, she seems ready to open up and take a chance. Watch the trailer below!
Bug Therapy is directed by Jason Reisig (Smallfoot) and written by Emmy-nominated former Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon writer Michael Jann, along with Michele Jourdan. The writers wanted to make a short that discussed important topics in a fun way. Speaking about Bug Therapy Jann and Jourdan said:
Right now, more people than ever are struggling with mental health. We just wanted to make people laugh, and say: Everyone struggles with something, and there’s no shame in asking for help. We’re blown away by the amazing stars who instantly jumped on board to make this film as funny and entertaining as it is. Their hilarious performances show, "It’s okay to not be okay!"
See the poster for Bug Therapy here:
Due to its focus on mental health, Bug Therapy was the recipient of an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. Launched in 2019, Epic MegaGrants is a program designed to support creators doing outstanding work with Epic's Unreal Engine, the advanced real-time 3D tool used to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Bug Therapy delves into important topics and offers solutions to the challenge in our world today: How can we not just survive, but thrive in the face of adversity?