''Hot Cross Buns'' is a

Channel 101 Channel 101 is a non-profit monthly short film festival in Los Angeles, which has a sister festival in New York City, Channel 101 NY. Channel 101 is a creation of Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab in which participants submit a short film in the format ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Internet video published on October 29, 2011.

Plot

A school teacher begins a musical lesson to a classroom of children with

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

s. One child asks if it is "

Three Blind Mice "Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...

" while the teacher says "

Hot Cross Buns A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun usually made with fruit, marked with a cross on the top, and has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India, Pakistan and ...

". As they play, the children's eyes glow and "x"'s appear on their forehead. Ten years later, he sits on a couch with his wife Kim, a Korean policewoman. He remarks his marriage has put "Hot Cross Buns" behind him which confuses Kim. A melody starts from another room and he asks about it. Kim says she found a box of recorders in the attic and their daughter Christine is practicing "Three Blind Mice". He says it is not "Three Blind Mice" but "Hot Cross Buns". Both parents go to Christine's bedroom to find she is playing the song. He tries to dissuade her from playing "Hot Cross Buns" with "Three Blind Mice". However, Christine continues with the same song and her eyes glow and a "x" appears on her forehead. He explains it is a mark for an otherworldly monster "Hot Cross Buns" who will claim their daughter as its own. He explains that this was his life when Kim says this is illegal. Despite this, he pulls out a recorder and plays the song causing him to disappear into another reality. In front of a castle, he asks the guard to see the three blind mice inside. The guard declines his request yet he persists. As things ensue, he recalls Kim's plea to abstain from illegalism. Regardless, he chokes the guard. After, he confronts the three blind mice who implore him to confront the beast with a pure heart. Instead, he requests magic from them. The mice reply magic of a pure heart is all that is needed when he sees their magic sceptre. Distracting the blind mice, he then steals it which cause them to die. Atop the castle, he uses the sceptre to summon the beast. Hot Cross Buns says the magic sceptre cannot kill him due to the ways of the three blind mice. The beast also invades his mind. The memory of Kim arrests him for illegal mind invasion. Distracting Hot Cross Buns, he then kills the beast. Returning to his home, he finds his daughter dead and Kim explains the circumstance. In a flashback, Hot Cross Buns says his life was linked with Christine. Nevertheless, he proceeds to sing the song one last time.

Cast

*Scott Chernoff *Dawn Cody *Jason Makiaris *Brenan Campbell *Brian Wysolmierski

Background and release

In 2011, writer Brian Wysol created a series of shorts for

Dan Harmon Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast ''Harmontown ...

and

Rob Schrab Robby Christopher Schrab (born November 12, 1969) is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is the creator of the comic book '' Scud: The Disposable Assassin'', co-writer of the feature film '' Monster House'', co ...

including ''Hot Cross Buns'' and ''

We Solve the Crime ''We Solve the Crime'' is a Channel 101 and YouTube Internet video published on July 30, 2011. Background In 2011, writer Brian Wysol created a series of shorts for Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab's Channel 101 including ''Hot Cross Buns'' and ''We S ...

''. Wysol said ''

Hot Streets ''Hot Streets'' is the tenth studio album (twelfth overall) by the American band Chicago, released in 1978. In many ways, ''Hot Streets'' marked the beginning of a new era for the band, turning to disco music, a move which would be derided i ...

'' was a synthesis of the two: "One was a supernatural horror cartoon and the other was a cop show, and they were my favorites ..I wanted to weave their sensibilities together, so I came up with the idea for this new

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

supernatural investigative show." In 2012, Wysol decided to combine the shorts for the ''Hot Streets''

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. ''Hot Cross Buns'' was originally uploaded to

on October 29, 2011. It was uploaded to

the next day.

Reception

Reviewing ''

'', ''Bubbleblabber''s John Schwarz received the short favorably with "Fans of Brian's work on Channel 101 will be happy to hear that there are full episodes that pay homage to a few of his shorts like "Hot Cross Buns"."

References

External links

* *{{YouTube, id=dJl55d6z0rk, title=Hot Cross Buns 2011 independent films 2011 YouTube videos 2011 animated short films 2011 films American animated short films Flash animated films 2010s American films