The Fascinating and Dark History of The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys and Their Creator

Great Big Story takes a look at the fascinating and dark history of The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys and their creator Harold von Braunhut. The “monkeys” are a type of brine shrimp that come to life when the eggs are placed in water, but they are as much of a magic trick as science.

This is the story of how a tiny, magical creature was transformed into a cultural phenomenon by inventor, marketing genius and complicated eccentric Harold von Braunhut. Full of fun facts (both charming and disturbing), this breezy, colorful short film is about a half-century of marketing directly to children, the force of nostalgia in pop culture, and an unlikely meeting of flim-flam and hard science.