Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
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| Don't Hug Me I'm Scared | |
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| File:Don't Hug Me I'm Scared Still.jpg Don't Hug Me I'm Scared | |
| Genre | Puppetry, Horror, Black Comedy |
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. The videos aim to give a very unconventional take on creativity, time and love. It was originally released through the artists’ website, beckyandjoes.com and picked up on several other platforms later like YouTube.[1][2] The videos parody children's television shows such as Sesame Street by ironically juxtaposing puppetry and musical numbers against psychedelic content and disturbing imagery. Thus far, three episodes have been released.
Original Video
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 being played out of tune. The puppets then dance crazily, play with a human heart, have spasms, cut a cake containing organs, and spell out 'DEATH' on a sheet of paper accompanied by skulls. The video ends with the main character, the puppet sketchbook, expressing the opposite opinion about the importance of creativity, saying, “Now let’s all agree to never be creative again.”[2] The unexpected, sharp turn in mood is the most extreme of several cracks in the video's otherwise innocent atmosphere, reminiscent of a children's show.
Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling also uploaded a second video, called Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared II to their website which also subsequently released on different entertainment platforms.[3] The second video deals primarily with the concept of time and has a similar construction to the first, though it utilizes more psychedelic elements and non sequiturs. A third has been released, on October 31, 2014, and deals with the concept of Love.
Characters
Main
Red Guy:[4] A red costume character with a humanoid shape and long shaggy hair covering its face and mouth. He acts bored and uninterested, always speaking in monotone. He is commonly known to fans as Harry. So far, the only non-puppet character in the series.
Yellow Guy:[5] A yellow, human-like puppet with blue hair. He has a childlike personality and appears to be dimwitted. He has a letter "D" on his overalls. He is commonly known to fans as Manny.
Green Bird: A dark green puppet resembling a bird. When he talks, he sounds slightly auto-tuned. He is commonly known to fans as Robin.
The Teachers
Sketchbook:[6] A sketchbook who teaches the puppets about creativity in the first video. She is commonly known to fans as Paige.
Tony The Talking Clock:[7] A clock who teaches the puppets about time in the second video. His name Tony was confirmed by the creators in an interview.
Shrignold:[8] A butterfly that teaches the Yellow Guy about love, part of the love cult, and insists on him finding his "special one" and getting married. His name, Shrignold, was confirmed by the creators on Twitter.
The Love Cult
Malcolm: The cult leader and king of love in the third installment. His followers must feed him gravel or he becomes angry.
Unnamed Brown Monster: 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. Thus far, he has only made an appearance in the kickstarter video, HELP. He is commonly known as Moneyman by fans. A gas can sporting his logo is seen next to the burning head of the 'Love King' at the end of the third episode.
Unnamed Rabbit: One of Shrignold's friends who also taught Yellow Guy about finding his special one.
Unnamed Unicorn: Another one of Shrignold's friends.
Unnamed Purple Frog: A friend of Shrignold's who made a craft, because he "loves you so much," that resembles the crafts being made from the first episode.
Unnamed Beaver: One of Shrignold's friends who has a pet crab. When pet by Yellow Guy, he creepily mumbles, "Harder."
Unnamed Talking Flowers: Two flowers that are friends with Shrignold that help teach Yellow Guy about love.
Unnamed Talking Tree: A talking tree with a face that tells the "Story of Michael; The Loneliest Boy in Town."
Other
Roy:[9] The father of Yellow Guy. He has a similar appearance to Yellow Guy, but is taller and uglier. His last name is possibly Gribbleston.[10]
Yellow Guy's Special One: The girl puppet that Yellow Guy must save his love for. She claims their "love will never go."
Michael: Ugly and weak, they called him a freak, so he lived on his own underground.
Unnamed Caterpillar: A caterpillar - After hatching from the last boiled egg, he excitedly calls for his father and is unceremoniously slaughtered by Green Bird.
Statistics
As of October 28, 2014, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has 20.76 million views on YouTube and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared II has 9.24 million views.[2][3] Don't Hug Me I'm Scared III was uploaded on October 31, 2014 and has 2.07 million views on YouTube as of November 18, 2014.
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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[1] Their impact has also presented them with several clients including Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, BBC, Channel 4 and Selfridges.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] There have been many articles and entire sites dedicated to theories on the meaning of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared.[14]
Sequels
The sequel includes the puppets learning about time from a clock named Tony that explains how time is used and how it changes your appearance.[7] It also has the Sketchbook make a non-speaking cameo behind the radio on the night stand when the Red Guy says "It's 9:30, there's fish everywhere,(says to himself) there's fish everywhere."
In May 2014, Becky and Joe announced that they would start a Kickstarter campaign to make 4 more episodes every three months 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 which is ironic as the phrase "June 19" is shown in every DHMIS short in the background of several parts.[5]
A teaser for the 3rd episode came out on October 17, 2014. The third episode was released on October 31, 2014. The sequel features a butterfly named Shrignold who teaches the Yellow Guy about love. The Sketchbook, along with Tony the Clock, also makes a cameo in this episode during the wedding scene.
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
.[15]
References
- ^ a b Sloan, Becky and Pelling, Joseph. Becky & Joe’s Art. “Awards.” “Festivals.” “Talks.” beckyandjoes.com. Web. 3 March 2014. < http://beckyandjoes.com/where/>.
- ^ a b c Don’t Hug Me .I’m Scared. “Don’t Hug me I’m Scared.” youtube.com. YouTube, 29 July 2011. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_HReR_McQ>. Web. 17 March 2014.
- ^ a b Don’t Hug Me .I’m Scared. “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared 2 – TIME.” Youtube.com/ Youtube, 8 January 2014. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtkGtXtDlQA>. Web. 17 March 2014.
- ^ "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared : The Series by Becky and Joe — Kickstarter — Update #22". Kickstarter. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared : The Series by Becky and Joe — Kickstarter". Kickstarter. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared — BECKY AND JOE'S ART". Retrieved 27 May 2014.
Sketchbook/listen to the voices in your brain
- ^ a b "Becky&Joe are this week's Dazed Visionaries". Dazed. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
The sequel introduces a character called Tony The Talking Clock who teaches the puppets the subject of Time.
- ^ "Becky Sloan via Twitter". 2 November 2014.
his name is... Shrignold
- ^ Becky Sloan (8 January 2014). "Becky Sloan's Facebook banner presenting Roy". Facebook. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
Roy
- ^ "Becky & Joe — Official Don't Hug Me I'm Scared T-shirt". Retrieved 27 May 2014.
We have all sizes for muscly people, children and people called Roy Gribbleston
- ^ a b Blinkink. “Becky & Joe.” Blinkink.co.uk. Web. 17 March 2014. < http://blinkink.co.uk/d/beckyjoe>.
- ^ a b YCN. “Project Focus: Beck & Joe for Tame Impala.” ycn.org. Web. 17 March 2014. < http://www.ycn.org/magazine/features/33-project-focus-becky-joe-for-tame-impala>.
- ^ Sundance London. 1 May 2012. Directors of Short Films at Sundance London. [Audio Interview]. Retrieved from < http://flicksandthecity.com/interviews-short-film-directors-sundance-london/>. Web. 17 March 2014.
- ^ Young Rager. 2 Nov 2014. The Most Cryptic Puppet Show On the Internet Explained <http://www.youngrager.com/dont-hug-im-scared-3-theories-explanation/>
- ^ Sloan, Becky and Pelling, Joseph. Becky & Joe’s Art. “Fame.” beckyandjoes.com <http://beckyandjoes.com/dont-hug-me-im-scared/>. Web. 17 March 2014.