Two old witches discover Tinder in Worthikids' hilarious animation

Gone are the days of the virtual “stranger danger” that made people sceptical of online dating. With the popularity of dating apps today, especially living in a big city, you’re bound to find a couple of people who have ended up in long-term relationships through these apps or at least hear stories of eccentric encounters with some of the internet’s finest singles. It’s always refreshing when you see the technologies we’re so comfortable with through new eyes and in Ian Worthington’s Witches On Tinder, we find two curious witches hilariously negotiating the ethics of online dating.

Currently based in Michigan, the freelance animator more commonly known as Worthikids has quite an array of extremely digestible short animations with the perfect comedic timing. “My dad came up with the name Worthikids, a portmanteau of our surname Worthington and kids, when my siblings and I were signing up for a YoYoGames account,” Ian tells It’s Nice That. “I got into animation by doing pixel art. I loved looking at sprite sheets from old video games,” he says, adding that voice acting is a crucial part of animation for him. “There’s something so wonderful about combining a silly line reading with a silly drawing.”

Created using Blender, Witches On Tinder sees two old “Halloween witches” discussing the dating app that they have just found. The two discuss whether it’s deceitful to use pictures from your younger, finer years on the platform, as well as the ethics of creating youth potions from the blood of children. “They have a lot of blood, Miriam!” the pointy witch defends. The wholesome animation is rich with small details that complements the playful nature to the animation: a bowl of candy corn in the background, the round witch’s thin lorgnette and a simple character design that still reflects the witches’ personalities.

“I love the idea of this supernaturally old person who’s super disconnected from modern life and just lives in a swamp, collecting weird bugs and going ‘hee hee hee!’,” Ian says about his affinity for the supernatural beings. “I love witches and own a lot of witch memorabilia, like a pointed hat and a broomstick.”

Starting with basic storyboards that capture the key expression and general shape of the film, he then animates between these key scenes with mostly simple movements given that it’s mostly talking heads. “I did all the backgrounds for Witches on Tinder in one mad rush on Halloween! I spent all day just blasting Oingo Boingo,” he says. “[It] was a self-imposed deadline, but I couldn’t resist the timing.”

With Ian doing all the voices himself, he wanted the conversation to flow naturally as if it was an “excerpt from a weird podcast hosted by these witches,” essentially creating an improvised script and adding phatic expressions afterwards. Like finding a hidden comedic gem on a lucky day on YouTube, Ian’s hilarious shorts bring you animation in its purest, most creative form.