Smosh Duo Acts Like A Couple Of Babies In New Shut Up! Cartoons Series

In their latest series, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla have been babified. The comedic pair behind top YouTube channel Smosh stars in Smosh Babies, a new animated series on the Shut Up! Cartoons channel that imagines what daycare was like for its two boisterous stars.

Smosh Babies stars a toddler-sized version of Hecox as the new kid at daycare, where he is shy and wimpy. Padilla’s toddler character serves as a more confident and daring foil. Even he, however, is far down on the daycare food chain, which is led by an abusive bully named Lenny. A few other colorful characters (including a strange Hispanic stereotype and *gasp* a girl) round out the main cast.

Smosh Babies features fairly typical Smosh humor, with plenty of physical gags and funny voices. What’s most striking about the series is

the boldness of its situations. For example, the first episode ends on a scene where Baby Ian describes his desire to make love to a stuffed animal while he and Baby Anthony are pelted with dog piss-filled balloons. Played straight, that scene wouldn’t be out of place in a David Lynch film. Here, it results in some silly slapstick comedy. Context is everything.

Thanks to Ian and Anthony’s presence, Smosh Babies will certainly lead Shut Up! Cartoons’ current slate in terms of views. The animation hub, originally a part of the Original Channels Initiative, recently achieved its millionth subscriber thanks to the massive influence of its founders. By uniquely leveraging its stars, the channel has done well to begin its drive towards two million.