What Are Object Shows And Why Is Gen-Alpha Obsessed With Them?

If you spend any time at all with people under the age of 12, for example, you may… may – Learn about object displays. The Creature Show is, for adults, an animated series featuring a large cast of anthropomorphic inanimate objects competing in “survivor” style competitions. Objects are usually designed in a simple style, and tend to be named after what they are. Pencil, leaf, book, bubble, etc. Creature shows are very popular, but have bypassed all traditional commercial distribution methods and are published directly on YouTube. The most popular creature shows have millions of subscribers, and their videos are frequently watched by many Gen-Alpha fans. If your child knows the Skipedi Toilet, he knows the shows of things.

Also, some creature displays regularly appear in theaters at special Fathom-style screening events that regularly sell out. Naturally, merchandise is available at these shows, and many creature shows have their own online stores where they sell t-shirts, objects, lamps, etc.

Despite their popularity, preliminary information about object displays is scant. One can learn about them through numerous fan wikis, but there are no notable articles about them, their creators, or the influence they seem to have on children’s entertainment culture. The most popular creature show, “Battle for Dream Island,” has no Wikipedia entry, despite having 3.19 million subscribers on YouTube, and despite regularly releasing animated videos at a fixed clip for 15 years (!). Stuff shows are what we old timers used to call an “underground phenomenon.” Despite the way monocultures have collapsed in recent years, object offerings may actually be more important than anyone realizes. This kind of thing is what kids watch instead of studio-approved movies or TV shows. Object displays may be the future.

As the parent of a 10-year-old, I’m very familiar with “Battle for Dream Island,” a series created and produced by brothers Cary and Michael Hwang (under the name jacknjellify). Watching some of their early short films reveals that the Huang family conceived “BFDI” when they were still children, tinkering with primitive animation software at home. There’s a nice, straightforward kindergarten appeal to “BFDI,” since the characters are mostly brightly colored household items. Other figures are more abstract. There is a purple block of matter called the winner, for example, and a beige cube named the loser. There’s a stick man named David who can’t help but say, “Oh, seriously?” The characters and ideas seem like idle inventions created by bored fourth graders.

There is also a strange child logic to the series. The creatures, as previously mentioned, are all part of a game show within a show, where they compete for control of a fictional off-screen land called Dream Island. Contests are often simple, such as winning a race or climbing a wall. Sometimes they can tend toward frivolity or even violence. The creatures are divided into teams, and the difficulty of choosing a team name is one of the most notable features of the series. Sometimes, a band’s name can be a piece of music, or a group of unpronounceable letters.

And – This may be the key — There is an interactive element to object displays. Characters compete in competitions, but often in an elimination style. YouTube viewers can leave comments and vote for which characters they would like to save. If a character is voted off the show, it changes the course of the drama. Creature show makers allow viewers to dictate what the set will be like.

Also vital to engagement is the regular inclusion of fan art in the show. “BFDI” fans often invent their own characters and mail them to the Huangs, who will often introduce them on-screen during the show. The heroes will walk across a field, and dozens of fan-created characters will stand in the background. Fans will want to tune in to find out if their drawings will be featured. Naturally, as these shows progress, more and more characters are added, until there are more characters than Pokemon.

Characters die all the time in “BFDI,” but can be easily brought back by a magic crank machine. The Huangs have made good use of the characters’ immortality, with many beings resentful of being sacrificed regularly. As the Huangs grew older, and their ideas became more complex, the stories became more poignant. This happened with other object views as well. The “Madness of Inanimate Things” series, featured on the AnimationEpic YouTube channel, has evolved into a series of stories about friendship and the consequences of an accidental betrayal.

One could point to shows like “BFDI” as the reason why Hollywood is faltering. Kids seem more drawn to YouTube these days, where homemade video game tutorials and amateur sprite demos take up the bulk of their time and attention. Disney is busy trying to figure out how to attract a new generation to “Star Wars,” when all the new generation wants is more real, creator-driven art. The Huang family captivated the audience with their silly little cartoons about talking numbers and managed to turn it into their own main party.

There may not be a lot of information about object displays, but this is likely the future. Animation empires, no studios.