Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

[Thomas]

One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_HReR_McQ

and two

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/18295/1/beckyjoe-1-dont-hug-me-im-scared-ii-time

[Don_Preston]

University friends?

[Thomas]

No, just a discovery from That Internet. I like them, at least.

[BritishHobo]

This is one of my favourite things to show people, in order to see the reaction. Starting out as if it's a silly clip from a Sesame Street-esque kid's show, building a vague, creeping sense of unease with the odd restrictive line ("Green is not a creative colour.") before just going full-tilt mental towards the end.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but I do think it's very clever in the way it sets up expectations and then slowly subverts/shatters them.

[Blumf]

Once you've seen Wonder Showzen, everything else is a little tame[nb]There was Dangerous Puppets on Liquid Television back in the early 90's, but that didn't have much depth[/nb].

However, this 'Kids React' video with them watching Don't Hug Me is pleasant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQYd8BDmug

[Thomas]

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 3

[Chriddof]

That Kid's React video links to a Youtubers React video where they also watched Don't Hug Me. I decided to hatewatch it, as I believe such a practice is called, and Shane Dawson claimed to be unimpressed with it, saying it should have been crazy all the way through, "instead of just like ten seconds". Further proof, if proof be need be, that Shane Dawson is a useless twat who doesn't really get comedy. It's one thing not to like it - I'm not totally bowled over by all these videos myself, though I do enjoy them to a degree -  but quite another thing not to understand that a slow build-up is an important part of the joke.

[madhair60]

Anyone still watching this?  Quite liked 4 and 5, didn't like 3 at all.  They've moved away from the initial premise to make a sort of straight horror thing, tailored for people who like looking for meaning in everything.  Lots to devour in every frame.  No pun intended...

[Old Nehamkin]

I quite like these, especially the fourth one. The characterisation and voice acting of the talking computer are incredibly funny to me.

Clever
I'm very clevery guy
Count to a fifty in a blink of my eye

I know the idea of juxtaposing kids' TV tropes with horror/ gore isn't the most original thing ever, but I think it creates a distinct enough tone and world to stand up as something worthwhile. And the production values really are fantastic. Can't think of any other independent youtube shows I've seen that look anywhere near this good.

Still though, one video every six months? They'd better watch out or people will start accusing them of defrauding their kickstarter backers. oh wait that isn't going to happen becau

[Consignia]

I think they're great because the productions values fidelity that would otherwise be crass. If they were a bunch of flash videos, no one would care. They stick to their guns so much, with the bleakness seeping in to the puppet world rather than fully taking it over. The latest one sort of goes against the this, by being quite explicit. But I also quite liked it as well. Not sure where they are going to go from there, it seems almost spent.

[Old Nehamkin]

Not sure where they are going to go from there, it seems almost spent.

Episode 6 is the finale, apparently.

[Consignia]

Yeah, but I genuinely don't know what it'll look like. The tone is already way of the deep end. Will it revert to the earlier episode types? Will be completely bleak from the outset? Episode 5 felt like the logical conclusion. I'm not complaining, I'm just perhaps not thinking creatively.

On another note, I did a google image search for a term in one of the shows, and was disappointed to see DeviantArt has ruined this show as well. Anthropomorphic sexy versions of the teachers, FFS.

[Sivead]

Ha you're not wrong, there's cosplay too, plenty of YouTube cringe. ruined.

[Consignia]

Yeah, can't say I care for the fanbase at all[nb]a tautology no matter what the subject.[/nb]. There's a load of crappy flash videos on youtube where they take the sound track of the original and animate it in very basic style. They seem to miss the point of the original, that is a great visual fidelity, and you remove almost of the charm when you do amateurish animation. Like I said in my first, this wouldn't work in flash, and the fans seem determined to prove it.

[Consignia]

Latest one: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 6

Bit of a departure from the previous ones. Doesn't beat the fifth, but a pretty conclusive end to the series.

[BritishHobo]

You're spot-on with regards to the fans. There seems to be this weird thing lately with stuff like this, or Five Nights at Freddys, or Undertale, where people just adopt the characters and seem more interested in their own supplementary material and theories than the original thing itself. Been watching youtubers react to the sixth one, because the sixth one is hilarious. That whole office scene, and the song from the first one at the open mic, that's great stuff. Lovely dry, sardonic sense of humour to the whole series. But they all seem to watch with this grim humourlessness, banging on about fourth wall breaks and 'is this a dream?!'

I think they stand really well by 'emselves. This is why fans should never have any input on things.

[Noodle Lizard]

It just feels like a bunch of hipsters have watched Wonder Showzen to me.  Mind you, I'm not a fan of Wonder Showzen either.  Obviously there's a place for this, so it'll just be something to baffle me forever.

[monkfromhavana]

Add me to the list of the baffled.

[BritishHobo]

To me it's less about the weirdness and more the daftness of the songs. I think they're much better as comedy than they are as surreal strangeness. I think my favourite part is the start of this, for example. Or the flat heckling in this bit. "Really not good! Not very good at all!"

It makes me think of Hitchhiker's Guide at times, with its ordinary and affable spin on things. Like the set-up/pay-off in the last episode of the red fella in the sterile office environment making the document do a dance and sing a song for his boss, only for that to end up being one of the cartoon characters to pop up at the end. Or the computer episode where they enter the 'digital world' and it's basically a shit CD-ROM from the 90s where you can just make pie charts or dress your character up in different ways.

Bits of it remind me of Scarfolk and the like in a way, too. The food episode for example has that weird air of mundane fascism. Your teeth going grey if you eat 'show-offy' foods, and the like.

[Consignia]

Yeah, it's all about the comedy, but all the non-sequiturs contribute to the humour.

Reflecting on the last episode, I'm less impressed with it as I am with previous ones. I feel it relies too much on fan-service. Oh look, that character's back, etc. It's the same problem I have with latter Rick and Morty, where they can't leave one off things alone. There's not enough song, which is the driving force of the series. It doesn't really stand on it's own either, as whilst the previous ones do have a sort of snowballing effect, you can at least watch others in any order and not really be missing much.

I did really like it though. Red Guy's stuff is just lovely, and what there is of the initial song is brilliant.

[ajsmith]

Discovered these a few days ago, have been obsessed ever since. Songs are insidiously catchy. 'What's that, a tasty snack'  stuck on permanent loop ARRRRRRRRRRGH.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Wonderful! Watched these today... now I can't get the Creative song out of my head! Probably have dreams about my teeth turning grey tonight. Thanks!!

[doppelkorn]

My sister sent me #5 and I found it really horrible. Especially when that bird goes, "something's wrong!" when they're singing.

[bgmnts]

The massive "Click here to help us make more bollocks" ruined it for me.

[itsfredtitmus]

Once you get past the LOL SO DARK the songs are pretty great

Humming them all day I was

[bomb_dog]

Once you get past the LOL SO DARK the songs are pretty great

Humming them all day I was

I'm a computer. I'm a computery guy..... Counting to 50 in a blink of an eye...

Wow look - Nothing! Digital Style! Do a digital dancing, hey this is fun!

Still pops into my head now and again too.

[itsfredtitmus]

What do you mean we're already clean

[itsfredtitmus]

I can see a hat
I can a cat
I can see a man with a baseball bat

[Black Ship]

What?

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I'm a computer. I'm a computery guy..... Counting to 50 in a blink of an eye...

Is it not 'Count to a 50...'