The short animated film World Naked Bike Tour spent two years on the festival circuit before arriving on YouTube this week. The nine-minute animated short follows Vancouver’s World Naked Bike Ride as an increasingly frustrated protester attempts to stop the event, with all the escalating slapstick you’d expect from a classic chase cartoon.
I reached out to filmmaker William Bradford after watching it because it’s a rare thing: an animated comedy built around social nudity that understands the event it’s depicting. The film is playful without treating the riders themselves as the joke, and it reflects the atmosphere many participants describe: more laughter than leering.
Bradford was kind enough to answer a few questions about where the idea came from, how his own experiences riding in Vancouver shaped the story, and why it was important that the film never sexualize the event. You can watch the censored version below. If you enjoy it, consider supporting his work by buying the uncensored edition for just two bucks. 🚀
Interview with William Bradford, July 2026
What inspired you to make World Naked Bike Tour?
They always say to draw from your own life experience. Not only was the Naked Bike Ride my favorite summer event in Vancouver, I remember asking my friend/supervisor, Sean Covernton what's a good "Vancouver villain" while trying to come up with other ideas set in the city. He suggested either "Property Salesman"; a creature as a Vancouverite I've seen images of but have never interacted with or expect to see, or a "Beach bible thumper". Hence the idea of an angry maga-esque nutter pursuing the nude cyclists in a Road Runner, Wile E Coyote cutaway cartoon clicked.
Have you ever participated in a World Naked Bike Ride yourself? What drew you to the event?
Yes, every year since 2017. It always felt like my one act of rebellion or protest I was confident performing as it promoted something positive. There are always one or two "Thumpers" in the crowds, but by and large it's mostly cheers and laughter from the community. That made me feel if I struck just the right balance, this could overall be seen as a "cheeky" but ultimately wholesome project. First time I competed in it my wife wouldn't speak to me for hours. To be fair I did tell her I would wear underwear, but because there were a decent number of ladies competing, many of which were brave enough to go fully nude...so I felt the least I could do as a privileged cis straight white male is bare all.
The film has a classic hand-drawn cartoon feel. What inspired that style?
Actually, the artist George Mager did the initial designs and sketches! So the whole film is based visually on his work. I loved his boldly simple and loose style as it lends a very unique charm that is hard to replicate. It also had a lot of art featuring casual nudity, and because of this cute style, it takes a bit of the raw edge off it. Heh it also meant that the large number of crowds that would be needed for the show could be abstractly drawn as amorphous blobs, making it MUCH more manageable in the wide shots.
Check out his work here! https://www.instagram.com/smarty__farty/
After taking the film to festivals, what made you decide it was time to release it online?
I honestly felt two years was a good run time and one of the short film programs offered to put in on Youtube. I was a bit hesitant to release it censored, as I do feel SOME jokes lose their bite from it, most notably the pay off with the leafs at the very beginning. But I also know it's important for the film to have as many eyes on it as possible, and the censoring would make it easier to share across more platforms. The film was always difficult for Festivals to work into a schedule as, but for the nudity, it's not a very risque film at all; too restrictive for general viewings but too tame for the "dark" venues.
The film includes plenty of nudity, but it never feels sexualized. Was that a conscious creative choice?
Two big changes made from my first storyboards in 2019: the foil trying to sabotage the event was a cyclist's prudish father that met a cute lady participant. The first required too much setup, hampered the slapstick as the father wouldn't go straight to violence with his son participating, and the romantic discoveries made the situation very uncomfortable as the event is NOT meant to be sexualized, and flirting or showing interest in someone in said event really felt inappropriate.
By contrast, having the two ambassadors for the male/female coded bodies be a well established power couple gives a sense of mutual support and protection, creating a permission structure for the fun exhibitionism. Two important rules were to have a balance of body types, shapes, ages and sizes on screen at all times, with both male and female "bits" equally represented and to try to avoid any deliberately sexy or seductive "posing" of the characters as much as possible. The fact you and others have commented on how the short feels free of sexualization is gratifying, thank you.
What’s next for you, and where can readers support your work?
This is my first proper short film, and the best way to see it is to watch it on Gumroad in its uncensored cut! Every little bit helps! A digital art book featuring the works of all the amazing artists who helped on it is also available there. I'm currently working on a proof of concept for my next project, a classic chase cartoon featuring Sinbad mythological creatures! A mighty Roc bird tries to catch a normal elephant: think Tom and Jerry at a Kaiju scale. I wanted to try something more all ages for my next idea, PLUS something more classically solid in drawing style. Any support for it on my Patreon would make a huge difference! patreon.com/RokandRoland. 🪐
Support the filmmaker
Buy the full uncensored version from Elephant March Media for just US$2.11 (or pay more if you can) and support William Bradford's future animation projects.
