Let’s trek down memory lane with little literary characters, shall we? “Little Miss” and “Mr Men” is back and taking the social media world by storm.
An Instagram account – @littlemissnotesapp – has racked up a whopping 1.2 million followers in less than a month. The first post graced our feeds on 11 July. Since then, it’s been colourful shapes and quirky captions for all.
Nicole Gagliardi is the real-life human behind the page, but has made mention that the idea to modernise the old-school favourites originated from other artists: @juulpuppy and @starbucksslayqueen.
The likes of Mr Grumpy, Little Miss Bossy, and Little Miss Stubborn have been reborn. Now, these legendary characters are the internet’s newest form of “emotional therapy” — using “Little Miss” and “Mr Men” to highlight people’s hyper-specific qualities.
From “Little Miss Codependent” and “Little Miss Afraid of Intimacy” to Little Miss Can I Hit Your Vape” and “Little Miss Failed Nipple Piercing” – there’s a colourful 90% naked shape waiting to comfort you or call you out.
The “Little Miss” and “Mr Men” Gen Z comeback wouldn’t be complete without gender-neutral pronouns, so the neutral character “Mx” has been introduced to represent the nonbinary community. And address the ill reference of women being “little” and men being masculine.
The Mr Men book series was created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971 with the birth of “Mr Tickle”. Fast forward half a century and the hype is real and more relevant than ever.
Many of the illustrations are cute, quirky and light-hearted. Others flag issues around mental health, bullying and physical illness (to name a few).
Some social media users have expressed that the illustrations and captions are crass, whilst others argue that the revolution of Hargreaves’s series is a fabulous way of speaking candidly about emotions, habits and everything in between.
Relate to any of these?
Also read:
Feel Good Friday – 5 Mzanzi TikToks that made us giggle this week
Picture: @littlemissnotesapp / Instagram