Our name 4 min read
Where Our Name Comes From
The Ugly Bug Ball takes its name from a song in Walt Disney's 1963 film Summer Magic, sung by Burl Ives and written by the Sherman Brothers. The song imagines a party where every bug is welcome, however it looks, and that is the spirit the dating site has kept since 2010.
By The Ugly Bug Ball team
In short
- The name comes from a song in Disney's 1963 film Summer Magic.
- Burl Ives sang it; the Sherman Brothers wrote it.
- Its idea: to bugs, other bugs are not ugly.
- The dating site has kept that spirit since 2010.
The song
"The Ugly Bug Ball" is one of seven songs written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, the Sherman Brothers, for Summer Magic, a Disney family film released in 1963. It starred Hayley Mills, Burl Ives and Dorothy McGuire, was directed by James Neilson, and was based on Kate Douglas Wiggin's novel Mother Carey's Chickens. Burl Ives, who played the kindly Osh Popham, sings it in the film: a cheerful tune about the bugs of the countryside dressing up and dancing together at their own grand ball.
The idea behind it
According to the film's history, Walt Disney was not keen on the song at first. Robert Sherman's explanation was that, to bugs, other bugs were not ugly even if they looked ugly to us: beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Disney came round to it, and it became one of the best-loved songs from the film. That single thought, that nobody at the ball is ugly to the people who matter, is about as good a summary of personality-first dating as anyone has written.
Why a dating site took the name
By August 2010, the date of the earliest copy in the web archive, The Ugly Bug Ball was online as a British site offering "dating for the aesthetically challenged", and the name did two jobs at once. It made people smile, which matters when you are asking someone to talk about something as tender as how they feel about their looks. And it set the rules of the party: everyone is welcome, nobody needs to be glamorous, and the evening is about the company rather than the costume. Our logo says the same thing in five words: real dating for real people.
Taking the sting out of a word
Calling a dating site ugly sounds bold until you see how the word is used here. Most people have been made to feel unattractive at some point, by a playground nickname, a cruel comment or a run of silence on a swipe app. Saying the word out loud, with a grin, takes away its power. On The Ugly Bug Ball it is a joke you make about yourself, never one you make about someone else; that is in our house rules on the about page. Read what ugly dating is for more on how the word is used.
The ball today
Today The Ugly Bug Ball runs on the HubPeople dating platform. Its members, upwards of 2,000 of them, live on both sides of the Atlantic and span every age band from 18 upwards. Members build profiles, get daily matches nearby, and message the ones who make them laugh. If the idea of a party where nobody cares how you look appeals, see our features, check whether the site is legit, or read our first date ideas for where to take someone once you have met.
A note on similar names
Our site lives at theuglybugball.com. Other web addresses with similar names are not connected with us, so if you are looking for The Ugly Bug Ball, check the address before you sign up or pay for anything.
Questions people ask
Who sang The Ugly Bug Ball?
Burl Ives, in the 1963 Disney film Summer Magic.
Who wrote The Ugly Bug Ball?
The Sherman Brothers, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who wrote all seven songs in the film.
What film is The Ugly Bug Ball from?
Summer Magic, a Walt Disney film from 1963 starring Hayley Mills, Burl Ives and Dorothy McGuire.
Is the dating site connected with Disney?
No. The site borrowed the name for its spirit; it has no connection with Disney.