About
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is a short musical film directed by Becky Sloan & Joseph Pelling. The film begins with an anthropomorphic character of a notepad singing a seemingly innocent tune about creativity, but as the song progresses, the lyrics and the video take on an increasingly grimdark tone. Due to the ambivalent nature of the film, it soon gained the reputation of a shock video and many viewers have since shared their reactions and analyses of its hidden meaning.
Origin
The original video was uploaded to Vimeo[3] on July 28th, 2012, followed by a mirrored upload on YouTube on the next day. The short film was produced by the film and animation group THIS IS IT Collective[1] and directed by its members Becky Sloan & Joseph Pelling.[2] The video begins under the premise of a singalong segment typically featured on children’s puppet shows, but takes an unexpected turn with the lyrics exploring darker themes such as death towards the end. As of June 26th, 2013, the film has over 6,000 likes on Vimeo and close to 8 million views and 10,000 likes on Youtube.
Spread
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” was screened during various film festivals in 2012, most notably at The Wrap Shortlist Film Festival[4] and the Sundance Film Festival,[5] the latter of which was mentioned in an article[7] published by the The Sundance Institute. The film also received the Midnight Shorts award at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2012.[6]
In the weeks and months following its release, the short film was featured in numerous articles on art blogs and other websites such as Short of the Week,[8] Animated-Review,[9] Whitezine,[10] Have You Seen This,[11] Laughing Squid[12] and This is Colossal.[13] On May 9th, 2013, Youtube channel The Fine Bros uploaded a video in which well known Youtube celebrities react to the video. As of June 24th, 2013, the video has nearly 5 million views and 10,000 likes. It was also featured various other websites such as the Smosh Pit,[14] Bloguh[15] and Loitering Lion.[16]
Theories
Some viewers have questioned and speculated the possibility of a deeper meaning behind the video, leading to critical analyses of the lyrics that are both serious and facetious. One of the leading theories interprets the film as a metaphor to how children are conditioned to act in a certain way due to some of the lines spoken by the notebook.
Notable Examples
Green is Not a Creative Color
The lyrics “Green is not a Creative Color” gained popularity amongst the viewers due to its randomness, resulting in various fan artworks dedicated to the phrase.
Fan Art
Reaction Videos
Search Interest
External References
[1]THIS IS IT Collective – Homepage
[2]Beckyandjoes.com – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[3]Vimeo – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[4]The Wrap Shortlist Film Festival – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[5]Sundance Filmguide – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[6]South by Southwest – Past Winners
[7]Sundance Festival Article – Perfectly Strange Shorts Program
[8]Short of the Week – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[9]Animated-Review – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[10]Whitezine – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[11]Have You Seen This? – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[12]LaughingSquid – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, A Creative Short Film With Dark Humor
[13]This is Colossal – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[14]The Smosh Pit – YouTubers React to Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[15]Bloguh – YouTubers React to Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[16]Loitering Lion – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
[17]Ace Fortress Forum – Don’t Hug me I’m Scared Explaining?
[18]Yahoo Questions – Don’t hug me I’m scared. What was the real meaning of the video