Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (2011)

Why so much hype?

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The first must-see film of the year.

An incredible mix of disturbing and absurd with a children's show setting. The songs have been stuck in my head for days, and while watching I both laughed and shriveled up into a shivering ball. This is a great series of short films for thos who love absurdity.

This looks like a weird ripoff from the Muppets. It is just hard to explain. When one of the characters was putting gold glitter on a heart I just freaked out and wondered if this meant anything. I'm ready to watch the next one! It is weird and but it isn't that bad!

"Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" is a British award-winning 3-minute cartoon by Joseph Pelling and Becky Sloan. It is usually never a good sign if the filmmakers appears as voice actors themselves, but I guess here they did a fine job. Early on, I wasn't yet sure if this film is a parody or really takes itself seriously, but the longer it goes the more obvious it becomes that it is all just a spoof. So it's nothing your children (or you) really need to see. There are a couple sequels here, but this first one here lacked the creativity to really make me interested in these. The song was kinda catchy though and probably the highlight from the whole thing. The rest of the watch was definitely pretty awkward, but neither funny nor entertaining I have to say. Not recommended.

Three non-threatening puppets sit around a table while a singing notebook encourages them to be creative. This is the simple idea here and it is laid out to be a very convincing children's television show as the notebook sings about imagination and creativity in a very generic way. This song is catchy but also has some really great lines and moments – "green is not a creative color" being my favorite because it made me laugh and also reminds us that generally trying to "teach" creativity will just need to reinforce bounds rather than encourage freedom.The notebook gets what it wants as the three characters start to explore whatever comes to their imaginations, leading to some disturbing images and situations which very quickly take the cheerful little short out of the world of kids TV and into the dark world that lies inside. It is very cleverly done because it is funny, spot on as a satire and really well made. I see that the film has 12 million views on YouTube and, although I had never heard of it, I am not surprised that it struck a chord.