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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

Mr Skelly: Artist finds global connection exploring love, death, and grief with animated skeleton

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth From a news agency Context piece
  • American artist Christian Watson, based in Tasmania, creates art using an animated skeleton character named Mr Skelly.
  • Watson animates the skeleton over videos of his family, overlaying drawings of skeletons to capture realistic movement and explore themes of grief, love, and death.
  • Mr Skelly has gained a global following of over 8 million on social media, with many users finding the animations relatable and helpful in navigating personal challenges.

Christian Watson, an American artist living in Tasmania, has found a global audience for his art project, Mr Skelly. The project features an animated skeleton character that explores profound themes like grief, love, and death.

We gave him a name, Mr Skelly, but we've always thought we can't really tell if it's a man or a woman or a boy or a girl, or if it's an old person. You can't tell the race, the gender, the religious beliefs.

— Christian WatsonWatson explains the intention behind creating a universally relatable character.

Watson creates the animations by filming his family, then drawing skeletons over the videos to capture realistic human movement. These are then overlaid onto digitally painted backgrounds. The resulting "seven-second punches of story" are shared on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

We just wanted to create a character that anybody could find themselves relating to. Ever since he basically appeared on the screen, people have been putting themselves into his life.

— Christian WatsonWatson describes the audience's connection to the Mr Skelly character.

Mr Skelly's appeal lies in its universality. "We just wanted to create a character that anybody could find themselves relating to," Watson explained. "Ever since he basically appeared on the screen, people have been putting themselves into his life." The character's anonymity in terms of race, gender, or age allows a broad audience to connect with the messages.

I've shared a lot of these messages before through other mediums and have never found a similar response as when I did it with a skeleton.

— Christian WatsonWatson reflects on the unique impact of using a skeleton character.

Despite tackling heavy subjects, Watson balances the difficult topics with "whimsical and fun" elements, often placing Mr Skelly in beautiful natural settings. This approach has resonated deeply, with Mr Skelly's following growing from 300,000 to over 8 million in three years. Many followers express that the animations help them navigate their own challenges, providing inspiration for personal growth and overcoming hardship.

It's really funny because I should have always known that a skeleton would be accessible to everybody.

— Christian WatsonWatson expresses surprise and insight regarding the accessibility of his skeleton character.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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