Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is a series of short viral videos produced by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling since 2011 consisting of singing and talking puppets discussing such values as creativity and time. It was originally released through the artists’ website, beckyandjoes.com and picked up on several other platforms later like YouTube and KnowYourMeme.com. The videos parody children's television shows such as Sesame Street by ironically juxtaposing puppetry and musical numbers against psychedelic content and disturbing imagery. It is also known for being open-ended in the way the message is delivered and the contrasts of the first part to the second part which make the message more challenging to decipher. Many people believe that the videos' message is about the media controlling how children think.

About the Original Video

The setting is among several different backgrounds crafted with felt, paper and other art materials to resemble a realistic setting. The first part of the video portrays a lesson of creativity taught by a sketchbook puppet to puppet students. In the second part of the video, the action drifts away from teaching about creativity; the music shifts from upbeat to the sound of instruments played out of tune to awkward dancing to the puppets interacting with an object with a liquid-like texture resembling a heart and a character spelling out “death” on a surface. The video ends with the main character, the puppet journal, expressing the opposite opinion about the importance of creativity, saying, “Now let’s all agree to never be creative again.” Despite the unexpected evolution of the video’s mood, it intends to spread a message of the frivolity of creativity in the contemporary way that we define it. Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling also uploaded the second version of their video, called Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared II to their website which also subsequently released on different entertainment platforms.

Characters

Red Guy: A red costume character with a humanoid shape and tendrils covering its mouth. It acts bored and disinterested.

Yellow Guy: A yellow, human-like puppet with blue hair. It has a child-like personality.

Bird Puppet: A dark green puppet resembling a bird.

Sketchbook: A sketchbook which teaches the puppets about creativity in the first video.

Tony The Talking Clock: A clock which teaches the puppets about time in the second video.

Roy: The father of the Yellow Guy. He has a similar appearance to the Yellow Guy, but is taller and uglier. He appears to be addicted to pornography. His last name is possibly Gribbleston.

Money Man: A large, furry puppet who kidnaps the puppets for a ransom of £96,000. He is shown to be extremely hostile to the puppets and incapable of speaking recognizable English, only communicating by writing and muffled grunts.

Statistics

As of June 14, 2014, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has 18,145,093 views on YouTube and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared II has 7,075,601 views.

About the Artists

Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling are graphic designers, artists and collage animators. They are known as the collective Becky and Joe. Their advertising runs through Blinkink commercial production. Sloan and Pelling met while studying at Kingston University. After graduating, the duo began working together more, forming THISISIT Collective, an art montage with works from both Sloan and Pelling along with other graduates from Kingston University. They continued to work together on art projects as a lack of other opportunities in the work force presented themselves. Their content consists of videos, graphic design art, animation, music, and working with real-life materials to resemble things in the real world as art. Becky and Joe have won 3 awards, have attended 12 festivals and have had 4 talks for their artistic capabilities and the impact of their message. Their impact has also presented them with several clients including Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, BBC, Channel 4 and Selfridges.

Meaning of the video

When asked about the origins of the idea of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, Becky Sloan responded that she wanted to create something as a response to Tame Impala, a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Australia. She wanted to experiment with different media and animation practices that would make for a psychedelic and eerie mood. Her decision to use the media she worked with was to offer something unique to the art community and use materials that could be manipulated in several ways to give a funky impression without needing to use as much computer animation or design to enhance it. Joseph Pelling, when asked about how the film came about, said that the purpose was, ironically, “how not to teach something” and “how an abstract concept like creativity is kind of stupid when people try to teach it in a limited way that [they] do.” In addition, Pelling comments on how the video is open for interpretation, and how, when different people reach different conclusions about the video, they may all be valid in their own right.

Sequels

The sequel includes the puppets learning about time from a clock that explains how time is used and how it changes your appearance. It also has the Sketchbook make a non-speaking cameo behind the radio on the night stand when the tall red character says "It's 9:30 there's fish everywhere."

In May of 2014, Becky and Joe announced that they would start a Kickstarter campaign to make 4 more episodes starting in September 2014. They uploaded low-quality camera footage of the puppets being taken hostage and held for ransom. Their Kickstarter goal of £96,000 was reached on June 19, 2014.

Credits

Additional attributors to Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared:
Directed by

• Becky Sloan & Joseph Pelling

Set Design

• Andy Baker
• Becky Sloan

Puppets and Props

• Becky Sloan

Additional Props

• Andy Baker
• Rose Blake
• Daniel Britt
• Michael Knight
• Azusa Nakagawa
• Tom McCaughan
• Baker Terry

Original song by

• Joseph Pelling
• Baker Terry
• Becky Sloan

Cinematography

• Hugo Donkin
• Thomas Bolwell

Sound Production

• Andrew Kinnear

Animation

• Andy Baker
• Daniel Britt
• Nicos Livesey
• Joseph Pelling

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