There are many ways to lose your head, and in ‘Babble Bubble’, we can find at least a handful of ways. Jokes aside, Richan Li’s short animation has a funny and simple way to tackle thought-provoking yet hard philosophical matters in under four minutes. It is as if you asked for a philosophy lesson, but without being too philosophical.

 

A girl is on her bed, scrolling on what seems to be social media. From picture to picture, she goes from profile picture to profile picture, from one page to another. She gets hooked in this routine to the point where elements of social media get her. She loses her head, and instead, other heads start appearing. She is a fish, then a bear, then a pigeon, and so forth. The possibilities are limitless, and each head comes with different actions. The whole place takes an unexpected spin, and now there is no control. Her head is somewhere in the room, trying to reclaim possession, but it seems hard. In the heat of the moment, things get out of hand, the girl becomes trapped inside behind the laptop screen, and that’s where the philosophical side comes in. In essence, ‘Babble Bubble’ is a short animation made to be funny and easy-going. Still, in reality, it covers the truth behind our everyday technological addiction that keeps us captive in prison without bars, and at the same time, transforms us in real life in things we are not. The influence is total, and the level of captivation grows with each colorful page, with each quiz, with each simple game that shows you irrelevant things.

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Li’s short is smart and extremely creative; it is hard to point out the obvious in a way that is both easy going and fun, and she totally succeeded. It comes without saying that the technique is flawless and there is beauty at every step. ‘Babble Bubble’ is in our top five animations of last year, and we bet that everyone watching it will come to adore it.