‘Let Them Breathe’: Why you need to watch the animated web series

It’s not often a web series launches with as much hype as Let Me Breathe has. The latest project from Candice Rogers, the animated series focuses on eleven children who are tasked with curing the zombie apocalypse. Turning the typical zombie stereotypes on their head, Let Me Breathe is reinventing the genre.

In the early 10s, zombies overtook pop culture thanks to the overnight success of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Now that we’re in a pandemic of our own, these types of TV shows and films fit perfectly during the time. Plus, the first teasers for Let Me Breathe show plenty of quirky characters amid impending doom. Not what you’d expect from an animated series.

Saving the world from disaster

So many zombie shows and movies look at adjusting to life after the apocalypse hits. But the animated series Let Me Breathe spins the trope on its head. Rather than just another show featuring people adjusting to life in a zombie world, it has our lead characters actively stopping the apocalypse.

Our eleven main characters, lead by 5, were once zombies themselves. But these young kids thankfully were cured in due time, and now are doing the same for others. Working to vaccinate survivors and cure existing zombies, the eleven kids are trying to do their part to save the world. The story follows a young boy who wakes after two years in the apocalypse to find his family gone, shifting the focus from group vaccination efforts to a personal awakening amid the ruins.

Indie animation

Candice Rogers is no stranger to animation. With years of indie filmmaking under her belt, Rogers has been animating a variety of parodies, webseries, and skits on YouTube. Also working as a part-time writer and assistant designer at Ani-Flix Studios, Rogers has worked on a variety of projects prior to creating, writing, and animated the episodes of Let Me Breathe. She directed, wrote, produced, and animated the 2024 feature, marking her transition from web series creator to full feature filmmaker.

While this is her first time leading an animated series, Rogers is confident in the story being told in Let Me Breathe. Gaining traction online, Rogers already has a fan base dedicated to Let Me Breathe before the first episode has even dropped online. Over the years, indie animated series have become a niche highlight online, with shows like Epithet Erased and Hazbin Hotel emmassing fans on social media and beyond. Based on the social media response so far, it seems Let Me Breathe is going to hit the same track and become a fan favorite once the first six-episode season drops.

Reuniting old co-workers

Currently, Let Me Breathe is in the VO stage, with its voice actors recording the dialogue for the animated series. One of the actors leading the cast is Boris Jumper, who Rodgers has worked with in the past. Nearly ten years ago, the two worked on an indie movie together, so Rogers is glad to be reunited with the actor. Boris Jumper starred in the 2024 theatrical release with Candice Rogers and Yumiko D, confirming the collaboration moved from early voice work to the finished film.

Evolution from web series to feature film

The project shifted from a planned six-episode web series with a January 2022 premiere to the completed theatrical feature Let Them Breathe: City on the Ocean. Rogers originally framed the story around eleven children rebuilding society after the zombie outbreak, but the final cut expanded that premise into a feature-length narrative with broader scope and visual ambition. The move from web platform to theatrical release required rethinking pacing, character arcs, and production scale while keeping the core premise of cured children fighting back against the undead intact.

Thematic depth and character focus

The finished film centers on a young boy who wakes after two years in the apocalypse and discovers his family gone. The narrative emphasizes resilience, friendship, and an unconventional world that blends zombie survival with personal grief and quiet moments of rebuilding. Drawing inspiration from Resident Evil, The Last of Us, and The Walking Dead, Rogers mixes anime aesthetics with fantasy and drama, giving the child protagonists interior lives that go beyond typical genre archetypes.

Reception and theatrical rollout

The film achieved a theatrical release beginning September 6, 2024, with additional cities added to the distribution as word spread. For an indie animated project, securing any theatrical footprint marks a milestone that few web series ever reach. Screenings expanded beyond initial markets, giving audiences a chance to see the work on the big screen rather than waiting for streaming availability.

Creator's continued output

Rogers has kept momentum after the 2024 release. She holds a credit on The Confessional Tapes of Father Rodriquez, slated for 2026, signaling ongoing work in animation that builds on the skills sharpened during Let Them Breathe. Her path from YouTube sketches to feature direction and back into new projects shows a consistent focus on telling stories that sit outside mainstream studio pipelines.

To be continued

The feature film released theatrically September 2024. The six-episode web series plan gave way to a single, self-contained movie that still carries the spirit of the original concept while delivering a complete story on its own terms. Audiences can follow the animated series on Facebook and YouTube for any future updates or related content from Rogers and her collaborators.