Social:Salad Fingers

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Short description: British animated web series


Salad Fingers
SF-logo 3705x.png
GenreAnimation
Created byDavid Firth
Written byDavid Firth
Christian Webb (co-writer)
James Hollis (co-writer)
Directed byDavid Firth
Voices ofDavid Firth
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
Animator(s)David Firth
Release
Original release1 July 2004 (2004-07-01) –
present

Salad Fingers is a British animated web series created by David Firth in 2004. It revolves around the eponymous Salad Fingers, a thin, green, mentally troubled man who inhabits a desolate world. As of March 2022, there have been twelve episodes published on YouTube and Newgrounds. Since its debut, Salad Fingers has amassed a cult following and has been described as a viral phenomenon.

Background

Salad Fingers was conceived as an in-joke[1] when one day, while Firth was playing the guitar, his friend and frequent collaborator Christian Webb commented that he had "salad fingers", referring to the way Firth played the C-chord.[2] In 2004, Firth posted the first episode via Flash to entertainment website Newgrounds, where it was initially unpopular. However, the video quickly gained traction once it was featured on the website's front page.[3][4] Later, once the series transitioned to video-sharing platform YouTube, Firth turned to crowdfunding because he was unable to monetize videos due to the platform's content policy.[1][5]

In addition to writing and animating the series, Firth voices the titular character himself.[6] He claims to have based the character's cadence on a mixture of his grandmother's and Michael Jackson's voice. The softness of Salad Fingers's voice is due to the circumstance that Firth did not want to wake up his parents while recording.[7] While the first episode took Firth "one day and one night" to produce, others took him six months and up to one year.[4][8] He has cited the works of David Lynch, Tim Burton, and Chris Morris, as well as The League of Gentlemen and South Park as sources of inspiration. Music featured in Salad Fingers episodes includes work credited to Sigur Rós, Aphex Twin, and Boards of Canada.[9]

In 2007, the series, then spanning seven episodes, had its theatrical debut at Sydney Underground Film Festival, where all episodes were shown back to back.[10] In 2009, episodes were screened at Glimmer, Hull Daily Mail's international short film festival.[11] In 2020, a Salad Fingers tour throughout the United Kingdom was announced.[12] The tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was ultimately held in 2021 and 2022.[13] Events featured back-to-back screenings of all episodes released thus far, followed by an in-person interview with Firth.[12]

Episodes

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No.TitleOriginal air dateLength
(minutes)

Reception

Salad Fingers has become the subject of a cult following[11] and has generated a number of memes, having "captured the comically demented and strange underbelly of the internet" according to Elijah Watson of The Daily Dot.[14] The series's characters, themes, and setting have inspired extensive discussions and theories online.[15][14] In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle ranked it among its "Top 10" pop culture phenomena.[10][16] Wired considers Salad Fingers to be one of the most memorable Flash animations,[17] and The Guardian describes it as one of the first to go "fully viral".[18] In 2020, the series had been viewed 110 million times in total on YouTube, with the first episode alone receiving 36 million video views.[19]

Jon Mendelsohn of Comic Book Resources observes that the series has "terrified audiences" by means of its "post-apocalyptic setting and crypticness" and compares it to the television series Twin Peaks.[20] Tanner Fox of Screen Rant describes it as "nothing short of haunting" due to its "weird premises, nails-on-chalkboard background music, and shocking moments of gore and depravity".[21] Devon Maloney of The Verge remarks its emphasis on gore and bodily fluids, calling it "basically ASMR for psychopaths".[15] Will Ramsey of Hull Daily Mail calls it "comic, horrifying and strangely endearing".[11] In reference to its impact online at the time of release, Emma Garland of Vice notes that the series caused both fascination and dread in its viewers, and deems it "one of the bleakest comedies to ever come out of the UK".[4]

In 2019, a Canadian high school teacher was temporarily suspended after showing his class a range of videos that students described as "weird, creepy and inappropriate" including Salad Fingers. The teacher ultimately resigned from his job at the school and attended a disciplinary program.[22][23] Firth commented on the situation on Twitter, declaring full support for the teacher showing the series.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Grealish, Rachael (25 January 2019). "Salad Fingers Is Back With New Episode Dropping Soon". https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/weird-salad-fingers-is-back-with-new-episode-dropping-soon-20190125. 
  2. ↑ Bingham, Christopher (28 July 2013). David Firth – Heroes of Animation with Bing. HuHa 2! (video). Event occurs at 18:52. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2016 – via YouTube.
  3. ↑ Gaudino, Elena (8 December 2005). "Salad Fingers Stream of Consciousness Entertains Viewers". http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7437/salad-fingers-stream-of-consciousness-entertains-viewers-1.1062606. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Garland, Emma (16 July 2018). "Happy Birthday, Salad Fingers". Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywkdzy/happy-birthday-salad-fingers. 
  5. ↑ Sydell, Laura (14 April 2017). "Online Video Producers Caught In Struggle Between Advertisers And YouTube". NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/04/14/523895647/online-video-producers-caught-in-struggle-between-advertisers-and-youtube. 
  6. ↑ Featherstone, Gabriel (6 March 2022). "Salad Fingers Creator Teases First New Episode in 3 Years". https://screenrant.com/salad-fingers-new-episode-clip-release-date-revealed/. 
  7. ↑ Percival, Tom (4 December 2018). "Salad Fingers Is Coming Back With Longest Episode Ever". https://www.unilad.co.uk/featured/salad-fingers-is-coming-back-with-longest-episode-ever. 
  8. ↑ Chambers, Paul (2 December 2018). Insight: Salad Fingers – UNILAD Original Documentary. UNILAD. Event occurs at 3:23. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022 – via YouTube.
  9. ↑ "Interview with Salad Fingers Creator David Firth". August 2004. http://www.semantikon.com/RESaladFingers.htm. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bright, Vic (19 December 2013). "Bubble UK: A Birthday Look at Internet Wonder, Salad Fingers". https://www.bubbleblabber.com/bubble-uk-birthday-look-internet-wonder-salad-fingers/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Ramsey, Will (13 April 2009). "The little green man". Hull Daily Mail: p. 18. ProQuest 333617394. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Phillipson, Daisy (26 February 2020). "David Firth Is Taking Salad Fingers On A Tour Across The UK". https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv-and-film-david-firth-is-taking-salad-fingers-on-a-tour-across-the-uk-20200226. 
  13. ↑ Hardiman, Jess (3 October 2021). "People Are Feeling Nostalgic With Release Of Creepy New Salad Fingers Episode". https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/news-people-are-getting-nostalgic-with-release-of-new-salad-fingers-video-20211003. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Watson, Elijah (30 November 2018). "'Salad Fingers' was viral before viral was a thing—and it's returning". The Daily Dot. https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/salad-fingers-new-episode-david-firth/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Maloney, Devon (30 November 2018). "Salad Fingers is coming back, and I already want to barf". https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18119749/salad-fingers-new-episode-december. 
  16. ↑ Chonin, Neva (25 December 2005). "2005 In Review: Pop Culture". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/25/PKGM6GB3BP1.DTL. 
  17. ↑ Bedingfield, Will (31 December 2020). "Flash is finally dead. This is why we should all mourn its passing". Wired. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/flash-obituary-adobe. Retrieved 19 April 2022. "The most memorable of these creations came from David Firth.". 
  18. ↑ Hern, Alex (30 January 2015). "Flash is dead, and YouTube dealt the killing blow". https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/30/flash-youtube-nostalgia. 
  19. ↑ Rogan, Laura (25 February 2020). "David Firth's Salad Fingers Is Coming To Manchester For A Live Show". https://secretmanchester.com/salad-fingers-manchester-live-show/. 
  20. ↑ Mendelsohn, Jon (2 May 2020). "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared Endures Because of Its Brilliant Execution". Comic Book Resources. https://www.cbr.com/dont-hug-me-scared-green-is-not-a-creative-color/. 
  21. ↑ Fox, Tanner (16 April 2022). "10 Scariest Videos That Went Viral On The Internet". https://screenrant.com/scariest-viral-internet-videos/. 
  22. ↑ Carey, Alexis (2 August 2019). "High school teacher disciplined after showing kids 'weird' video". https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/high-school-teacher-disciplined-after-showing-kids-weird-video/news-story/3ef495d0430cd7891d1b52fdd756e483. 
  23. ↑ Moore, Paul (1 August 2019). "Teacher suspended after showing his class videos of Salad Fingers". https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/salad-fingers-677279. 
  24. ↑ Donato, Al (2 August 2019). "B.C. Teacher Suspended For Showing 'Salad Fingers' To Class". https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/salad-fingers-teacher-suspended_ca_5d4470f8e4b0aca3411d495e. 

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