A round raccoon is already a strong design. Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal apparently decided it needed more teeth, glowing eyes and enough presence to dominate a front yard.
The result is Grimothy, his enormous Halloween version of Jimothy, the Seattle raccoon whose unusually round shape became an internet attraction. Inman also calls the creature the Jim Reaper.
The familiar raccoon markings are still there. So is the striped tail. The face, however, has taken a very different career path. Glowing eyes and a mouth full of pointed teeth turn that soft, rounded shape into something closer to a Halloween boss fight.
Inman’s posts place the display at his brother’s house on Bainbridge Island. His photos give a better look at the creature and the surrounding Halloween decorations, while the video shows how the finished display comes across as a whole.
The joke has a small origin story. Back in July, Inman posted a mock police sketch of Jimothy on The Oatmeal. That was a drawing of a funny-looking raccoon. By October, the idea had become a giant physical creature in somebody’s yard.
That escalation is half the appeal. The other half is that Grimothy remains recognizably ridiculous even with the horror additions. Give a round raccoon all the sinister eyes and teeth you want; it is still a round raccoon.
Only now your brother has to look at it.
