You monsters! What have you done to George!?

A photo of a peculiar crane came (also known as UFO catchers in Japan) was recently posted to Twitter by Yamakura Yamada. In it, we see what appears to be a mass slaughter of the beloved childhood character, Curious George.

▼ “What did these guys do…”

https://twitter.com/yamakurayamada/status/725982166006386688

As we can just make out in the bottom corner of the machine, this is a different type of crane game in which the arm is equipped with a pair of scissors to cut the “noose” of one of the Curious Georges so that their lifeless bodies slump down to the prize chute allow you to take it away and fill your home with joy.

Of course, they could have just as easily fastened the strap under George’s armpits rather than his neck. Whether this was a simple oversight or an intentional stab at morbid humor remains a mystery.

People had this to say about the alarming display, which apparently reminded commenters of a mass suicide:

“Uwah…”
“Monkeys…did you give up on life?”
“I can’t help but think there was a better way to do this.”
“Stooooop! Whatever your problem is, it isn’t worth it!!!”
“It’s even lit up like a scene from a horror movie.”
“I support this. It’s a necessary step to avoid the Planet of the Apes from happening.”
“Looks like the man in the yellow hat finally snapped.”

Twitter had even blocked one user from seeing the image right away with fears that it was too disturbing.

▼ “The following media may contain inappropriate matter.”

https://twitter.com/fool_of_world/status/726040859691474945

The promise of making this nightmare image go away is certainly a compelling motivator to play this UFO catcher. There is also a sticker on the machine urging people, “if the paper doesn’t cut the first time, please try again.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, my three-year-old accidentally saw this image and needs to be talked out from behind the TV.

Source: Twitter/@yamakurayamada via Hamusoku (Japanese)