I’m Going to Tell My Kids

Who is pictured

The frame shows a computer-animated heroine: a fish-woman with large full lips, long dark-red locks and heavily lined eyes, in a burgundy dress. She looks up and to the side; the background is dark blue and blurred, an underwater city with lights. Across the picture, in white letters with a black outline, is the caption: “I’m going to tell my kids that this is Angelina Jolie.”

This is Lola from DreamWorks’ cartoon “Shark Tale” (2004). In the original she was voiced by Angelina Jolie; in the Russian release the character has a different voice. According to reports, the character’s look was modeled on the actress, so the resemblance is intentional and not something invented by jokesters.

How the joke works

The “telling the kids” format relies on an imagined scene: an adult shows a child a random picture and, with deliberate confidence, passes it off as something else. It is funny when the lie is absurd, and funnier still when it contains a grain of truth. Here there is a resemblance: this very actress voiced Lola, so the caption remains a half-truth.

It is not known exactly where and when this format appeared: neither the date nor the venue has been established. It is enough to know how it works: the caption always begins with the same phrase, and the second half is the surprise.

Three layers of humor

The first is incongruity: the child is shown a drawn fish and told it is a living person. The second is seriousness: the narrator isn’t joking, he is “passing on knowledge.” The third is personal: the person saying this casts himself as an irresponsible parent who loves pranks.

This device works especially well with Lola: an adult tells a child to their face that a drawn fish is a living person, while an older reader knows the matter is not so simple — the character’s voice really did belong to Angelina Jolie, so the caption that looks absurd is in fact half true.

A distinctive feature of this frame is that the caption looks like a riddle to anyone who hasn’t seen the cartoon. A viewer who knows who voiced the character smiles in recognition; a viewer who doesn’t sees just an absurd claim. The joke works on both audiences, only in different ways, which makes the frame convenient to share in chats where the participants don’t all know the cartoon equally well.

Another detail is the composition. The heroine looks up and to the side, like a person in an official portrait or on a red carpet, and the solemnity of the pose reinforces the claim about celebrity. The large face in the frame and the bright lips also push toward a glamorous image, so the caption reads as natural, even though it is absurd.

Examples for your own caption

“I’m going to tell my kids that this was my first swimming instructor” — for a picture of a fish or some other sea creature.

“I’m going to tell my kids that this is my upstairs neighbor” — for a photo of something noisy and bulky.

“I’m going to tell my kids that this is me at prom” — for a frame with a ridiculous outfit.

“I’m going to tell my kids that this is what Grandma on Mom’s side looks like” — the harmless family version.

Tips for use

Choose pictures that already have a recognizable face or figure. The caption should be short and unexplained: the comedy falls apart when the claim gets explained.

If you caption a frame with the name of a real person, as here, the joke should concern the resemblance or the role, not the person’s personal qualities. The Lola caption works precisely because the actress is involved with the character.