In its quest to create new ways to make its denizens dissociate from reality, Snapchat is launching a cartoon series that puts user avatars in the episodes.
Snapchat first started placing Bitmojis into content in November 2018 with the launch of Bitmoji Stories—regularly published comic strips that make the beholder the protagonist of various scenarios in which they are often the butt of the joke.
In February 2020, Snapchat is expanding on the concept with a fully animated show starring your avatar. The social platform announced the new series on Friday through a trailer. If you have Snapchat, then clicking this link for the Bitmoji TV page on your phone will lead to the trailer, and if you’ve created an avatar then you will be the star of that trailer.
I had completely forgotten that I had created a Bitmoji until I watched the trailer and saw an animated version of me captaining a star fleet, annoying a shopkeeper while dressed as a cat, delivering a speech while turning into a zombie, going on a date with a robot, galavanting through a field in the alps, driving off a cliff, and being incinerated alive near a nuclear blast.
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Out of all these scenarios, the latter two speak to me the most because I hate this thing. It is deeply unsettling to see a cartoon version of myself as some sort of Bojack Horseman knockoff. Now I know that if I check the app in February then there will be a fresh serving of bizarre content using my likeness—a sliver of dystopia I unwittingly consented to when I made my Bitmoji, whenever that was.
Snap would not share any details with Gizmodo, including the specific launch date or who is producing Bitmoji TV content. A Snap spokesperson would only share the wholly unhelpful statement: “Bitmoji TV isn’t available in your network yet, but stay tuned for the premiere soon! 😉 ”