The children’s programming of today does a passable job of teaching basic math and language skills, but still falls sadly behind in instructing youth about intangible concepts and existential dread. Luckily that void has been filled with Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, a popular YouTube series that features puppets, animation, singing, and usually some form of terrible bodily mutilation. Created by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, the UK production is a cross between Sesame Street, The Mighty Boosh, and David Lynch’s most recent nightmare.
The show produced two stellar episodes before taking a hiatus after January 2014 in order to launch a very successful Kickstarter campaign. It has since returned with its third episode, focusing on the promise of love and the need for complete obedience to the Love King, Malcolm (who eats gravel):
There are still three more episodes to come from the crowdfunding effort. But in the meantime, viewers can reacquaint themselves with the first two videos. The first one is about getting creative and the unavoidable madness it brings:
And the second installment discusses time and how it will eventually ravage us all: