It's no secret that anyone and everyone attempting to make money on the internet is in search of one thing — ad revenue. In the world of YouTube content creation, that means users make videos based on the most popular search terms. And their videos just might be fucking up the minds of children for years to come.
Tech writer James Bridle has published a Medium post illuminating the world of algorithm-based children's videos. Essentially, parents are letting their children watch YouTube in droves, and content creators are regurgitating the same ideas over and over again. As their videos become more automated, the subject matter is getting weirder and weirder.
While the race for ad money has resulted in hundreds of thousands of variations of the same animated nursery rhymes, a truly bizarre YouTube subgenre has emerged — unlicensed animated movies featuring Marvel and DC characters alongside Elsa from Frozen.
Take, for example, the following video uploaded by Animals for Kids. Its title "Superheros Pregnant Soccer Balls Fidget Spinner Spiderman Joker Hulk Cartoon Funny Kids Video Pranks" is clearly just a collection of search terms, but the actual 26-minute video contained within is far weirder than that:
If you clicked around a little, you may have noticed that Spider-Man, the Hulk and Elsa all got pregnant after the Joker and the grim reaper placed a spell on them. From there, they danced around CGI food, rode a magical syringe through the sky and engaged in an epic (and terribly rendered) fight. There are literally thousands of these videos being cranked out at an alarming pace, and they're all between 20 minutes and an hour long.
While Bridle is right to be concerned for the children that watch these bizarre videos unsupervised, the cartoons will likely become a new favourite for internet art obsessives, stoners and other weirdos. After all, these videos pair the strange fan fiction of DeviantArt with dada animation in the tradition of Paper Rad and Cool 3D World.
Make sure there are no children around and then dig into some more of these terrifying clips below.
Tech writer James Bridle has published a Medium post illuminating the world of algorithm-based children's videos. Essentially, parents are letting their children watch YouTube in droves, and content creators are regurgitating the same ideas over and over again. As their videos become more automated, the subject matter is getting weirder and weirder.
While the race for ad money has resulted in hundreds of thousands of variations of the same animated nursery rhymes, a truly bizarre YouTube subgenre has emerged — unlicensed animated movies featuring Marvel and DC characters alongside Elsa from Frozen.
Take, for example, the following video uploaded by Animals for Kids. Its title "Superheros Pregnant Soccer Balls Fidget Spinner Spiderman Joker Hulk Cartoon Funny Kids Video Pranks" is clearly just a collection of search terms, but the actual 26-minute video contained within is far weirder than that:
If you clicked around a little, you may have noticed that Spider-Man, the Hulk and Elsa all got pregnant after the Joker and the grim reaper placed a spell on them. From there, they danced around CGI food, rode a magical syringe through the sky and engaged in an epic (and terribly rendered) fight. There are literally thousands of these videos being cranked out at an alarming pace, and they're all between 20 minutes and an hour long.
While Bridle is right to be concerned for the children that watch these bizarre videos unsupervised, the cartoons will likely become a new favourite for internet art obsessives, stoners and other weirdos. After all, these videos pair the strange fan fiction of DeviantArt with dada animation in the tradition of Paper Rad and Cool 3D World.
Make sure there are no children around and then dig into some more of these terrifying clips below.
