Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling's puppet short, which looks like a children's programme until it doesn't. Greenhorn screened it in 2012.
- Director
- Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling
- Shown at Greenhorn
- 2012
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared opens like a cheerful children’s programme. Three puppet characters sit at a kitchen table, and a talking notepad begins a song about being creative. Within a few minutes the song, the set and the characters’ grip on reality fall apart, and the film turns into something closer to a horror film.
Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling made the first film in 2011 and released it online, where it spread quickly. Greenhorn screened it at its 2012 festival. The festival’s coverage later held it up as an example of the offbeat, unclassifiable shorts Greenhorn wanted to show.
What happened next
The first short led to a run of sequels, each parodying a different kind of educational song: time, love, technology, health, food. The sequels were partly funded by fans through crowdfunding. The project later became a television series for Channel 4.
Why it matters to new filmmakers
It is one of the clearest cases of a no-budget short building a world audience by itself. It did this without a distributor, by being unlike anything else people were watching. If you are thinking about releasing your own short online, read our guide on when to put your short film online.
This page is part of an independent archive. Greenhorn the magazine is not connected to the festival's organisers. If you were involved and can correct or add to this record, get in touch.