The Brief: Alt TikTok's "I Am Lost" Toca Boca Salon trend sees animated characters going through life-changing events while glowing-up.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

Alt TikTok‘s “I Am Lost” Toca Boca salon trend consist of teens using Toca Boca’s animated salon to showcase the drastic change in appearance once an an individual goes through a life-changing event. These videos are part of a larger trend of Toca Boca salon videos. Many of which also feature glow-ups. The use of Toca Boca graphics is also nostalgic for those who used to play with the Swedish-made toys and software as a child.

Most videos involve an animated character transitioning into the person they truly want to be. These videos are set to “In This Shirt” by The Irrepressibles.

Lyrics:

I am lost
I am lost in a rainbow
No a rainbow is gone
I am lost in a rainbow
No a rainbow is gone
I am lost, I am lost
I am lost, I am lost
I am lost

The earliest edits of these TikTok videos appear to trace back to July 10. Creator @zootedzena’s shared a video belonging to inactive account @rodricksdumptruckass. . It was captioned, “POV: You’re a 56-year old transgender chemistry teacher and you build up the courage to transition.” The video featured a person changing their appearance to be more feminine by replacing grey hair and a mustache with long, curly brown hair and a smooth face.” It received over 565,000 likes and 1.9 million views.

@zootedzena

you are now on toca boca pov tik tok #fyp #HungerGames #hair #glowup

♬ оригинальный звук – Tëma

Other animated transition videos followed suit, like this one which saw an animated character “bullied into being basic.” This take was edited by @alt.toca.hair.salon, an account dedicated to creating more of these types of POVs based on comments from previous videos.

@alt.toca.hair.salon

Reply to @asthmaticbitch should i start using different sounds? #fyp #alt #y2k

♬ оригинальный звук – mr.temik

Other takes, saw transformations poke fun at celebrities and political figures, like Donald Trump and Debby Ryan:

@zoupalicious

so touching 🙈 i’m glad he can be himself now #trump #donaldtrump #tocaboca #tampon #bloodytampon

♬ оригинальный звук – mr.temik

Other takes:

@stalematt

this was an emotional experience 😿creds to @rodricksdumptruckass

♬ оригинальный звук – mr.temik

@fx.kiara.fx

I was just messing around on the game but look at how happy he became!

♬ оригинальный звук – mr.temik