This summer, characters from the Mr. Men and Little Miss book series have become extremely popular online through dark and satirical humor.
Giorgio Angelini, the filmmaker who created a documentary about the Pepe the Frog meme, sees a similarity with the rise of the Little Miss trend.
“She’s no longer just grumpy,” Angelini says, “She’s reeling from anxiety and depression because the world is warming, democracies are crumbling and those in power seem to be more Mr. Greedy than Mr. Actionably Concerned.”
The author of the series, Robert Hargreaves, started writing after Adam, his 8-year-old son, asked him “What does a tickle look like?” Mr. Tickle became the first character of many to join the cast of Mr. Men. Since his father’s death in 1988, Adam has added characters like Mr. Calm and Little Miss Spice Girls.
Instagram user Juulpuppy is given credit for starting the trend after posting an image of a Little Miss character with the caption “Little Miss Weed Psychosis”. The 21-year-old woman from Brooklyn says that “Visual comedy takes advantage of unexpected pairings and I love to lean into that with all the memes I make. This trend is so infectious because the pairings are so ridiculous and relate to so many people. Any caption can be applied to a Little Miss image, so no one has to feel like the odd one out from this trend.”
Max Knoblauch, who wrote “Mr. Men Children’s Books Reimagined for Millenials” for Mashable in 2014, said the meme reminded him of his work.
“The ones that I made were so: ‘Wow, this is peak 2014 here.’ There were just bad things happening, but they could be fun. Now, well, they’re bad and they’re not getting better.”
Sources https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659267252858x656912773115314600/%E2%80%98Little%20Miss%20%5BBlank%5D%E2%80%99_%20How%20a%20kid-book%20meme%20became%20viral%20comedy%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
Giorgio Angelini, the filmmaker who created a documentary about the Pepe the Frog meme, sees a similarity with the rise of the Little Miss trend.
“She’s no longer just grumpy,” Angelini says, “She’s reeling from anxiety and depression because the world is warming, democracies are crumbling and those in power seem to be more Mr. Greedy than Mr. Actionably Concerned.”
The author of the series, Robert Hargreaves, started writing after Adam, his 8-year-old son, asked him “What does a tickle look like?” Mr. Tickle became the first character of many to join the cast of Mr. Men. Since his father’s death in 1988, Adam has added characters like Mr. Calm and Little Miss Spice Girls.
Instagram user Juulpuppy is given credit for starting the trend after posting an image of a Little Miss character with the caption “Little Miss Weed Psychosis”. The 21-year-old woman from Brooklyn says that “Visual comedy takes advantage of unexpected pairings and I love to lean into that with all the memes I make. This trend is so infectious because the pairings are so ridiculous and relate to so many people. Any caption can be applied to a Little Miss image, so no one has to feel like the odd one out from this trend.”
Max Knoblauch, who wrote “Mr. Men Children’s Books Reimagined for Millenials” for Mashable in 2014, said the meme reminded him of his work.
“The ones that I made were so: ‘Wow, this is peak 2014 here.’ There were just bad things happening, but they could be fun. Now, well, they’re bad and they’re not getting better.”
Sources https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659267252858x656912773115314600/%E2%80%98Little%20Miss%20%5BBlank%5D%E2%80%99_%20How%20a%20kid-book%20meme%20became%20viral%20comedy%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf
