Reanimated collaboration

A reanimated collaboration (often shortened to reanimated collab or reanimate) is a type of collaborative fan film, usually involving fan-made animation, typically produced as a tribute to an existing film. ^[1] The process involves each animator recreating one or more shots of an existing film in their own style. The individual works are then stitched into the original order and published on the internet as a completed collaboration.

This differs from a shot-for-shot recreation, as the goal of a reanimate is to display each of the independent animators' unique stylings rather than to produce a unified or identical result.

Multiple collaborations focus on media made a decade or more prior that receives renewed interest due to internet memes, nostalgia, or the death of a voice actor. As they are often non-profit tributes to an existing work, animators expect to receive little or no profit. ^{[2] [3]}

Notable examples

• Moon Animate Make-Up! (2014) ^{[‡ 1]} — Over 250 animators collaborated to reanimate the 38th episode of the DiC English dub of Sailor Moon, "Fractious Friends" (1995). ^[4] This project is considered to be the first major reanimated internet-collaboration, and eventually led to this style of video increasing in popularity during the late 2010s. As of 2022, the collaboration has over 2.75 million views. ^[4] A sequel, Moon Animate Make-Up! 2 (2016) ^{[‡ 2]} reanimated the original Japanese version of the 68th episode, "Protect Chibiusa! Clash of the 10 Warriors" (1993).
• Mama Luigi Project (2017) ^{[‡ 3]} — 227 animators reanimated the 11-minute Super Mario World episode "Mama Luigi" (1991). Each of the 255 total scenes featured a different animation style. It was dedicated to the memories of Canadian actor Tony Rosato, who voiced Luigi, and Canadian actor Harvey Atkin, who voiced King Koopa. ^[5] This project ultimately generated a resurgence of popularity in reanimated collaborations. The video has 6 million views as of 2022.
• The Dover Boys ReAnimated Collab! (2018) - A reanimated collab short film that mark the short's 76th anniversary, a collaborative effort of over 90 independent animators recreated the short scene for scene with each animator drawing in their own style. ^[6] The reanimated collaboration, titled The Dover Boys Reanimated Collab!, was curated by animator Josh 'Zeurel' Palmer and was released on August 27, 2018, on YouTube, receiving nearly three million views. ^{[7] [‡ 4] [3]}
• Steamed Hams but There's a Different Animator Every 13 Seconds (2018) ^{[‡ 5]} — Andrew Kepple of Albino Blacksheep hosted the project, which reanimated "Steamed Hams", a memorable sequence from the 1996 The Simpsons episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", that had a surge in popularity in the mid-2010s due to internet memes. ^[8] As of 2024, the video has over 12 million views.
• Shrek Retold (2018) ^{[‡ 6]} — A reanimated collab fan film in which over 200 animators, songwriters, and voice actors recreated Shrek (2001). 3GI is best known for organizing the Shrek-themed festival "Shrekfest" in Milwaukee, WI, held annually from 2014 to 2024. ^{[9] [10]} The reanimated collab contains mediums including 2D animation, 3D animation, live action, and stop-motion. Collaborators included David Liebe Hart, Michael Cusack, Ratboy Genius, Anthony Fantano, and SiIvaGunner. ^[11]
• Kirby Reanimated Collab (2019) ^{[‡ 7]} — Featuring over 300 artists, the project recreated the English dub of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episode 49, "Cartoon Buffoon". The project was directed by Roya Shahidi, ^[12] and it has received over 4 million views as of 2025. The project was taken down due to DMCA copyright claims multiple times, despite Nintendo claiming it was not behind the takedowns. ^[13] The video is dedicated to animator Michael "Mikey" McBride (credited as AngelXMikey), who passed away from cystic fibrosis the day it was released.
• The Zelda CDi Reanimated Collab! (2020) ^{[‡ 8]} — PatchToons hosted and released a 21-minute collaboration that recreated the cutscenes of The Legend of Zelda CDi games (1993), which were popularized in the mid-2000s and 2010s with YouTube Poop parodies. ^[14] Over 200 animators collaborated on the project. Nintendo Wire reported, "The ever-shifting mediums and the contrasting animation styles, ranging from professional and sophisticated to intentionally goofy and exaggerated, lend themselves incredibly well to cutscenes that were already chaotic and bizarre to begin with." ^[15] It was also uploaded to animation website Newgrounds. ^{[‡ 9]}
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Rehydrated! (2022) ^{[‡ 10]} — A collaboration fan film between over 300 artists that recreated The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) as a tribute to late SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died of ALS in 2018. Similarly to Shrek Retold, the audio was re-dubbed and re-instrumented specifically to bypass YouTube's copyright restrictions. Despite this, the video was taken down due to a copyright claim from Paramount within an hour of the video's premiere. ^[2] This takedown outraged fans and participants of the project, leading to the Twitter hashtag, #JusticeForSpongebob. ^{[2] [3] [16]} The video has since been restored to YouTube and has over 2 million views as of 2022.
• Shrek 2 Retold (TBA) — A collaboration fan film that was originally announced in an April Fools' Day video titled Shrek 2 Retold, in which the project director discussed the creation of Shrek Retold. ^{[‡ 11]} Trailers for the project were released during Shrekfest 2019 and on the twentieth anniversary of the original film. ^{[‡ 12] [‡ 13]} The movie premiered at the tenth Shrekfest via an in-person screening at the Oriental Theatre MKE on September 3, 2023. ^{[‡ 14]} It was then followed up by a panel discussion featuring Quinton Reviews, who contributed to the second remake. The film was announced to be released on YouTube on September 28, 2024. ^{[‡ 15]} On September 20, 2024, it was announced that the film was delayed indefinitely, and would be released when finished. ^{[‡ 16]}

See also

• Animutation
• Comic jam
• Exquisite corpse
• Experimental animation
• Fan film
• Fan labor
• Independent animation
• YouTube Poop

References

1. Winona (2019-02-10). "Kirby Reanimated is a beautiful mix of indie animation". The Peak. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
2. Jaworski, Michelle (2022-05-02). "'It was a love letter to the franchise and what did Paramount do? They blocked it': Outrage as 'SpongeBob' fan film removed on YouTube". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
3. Pitman, Robert (2022-05-03). "#JusticeForSpongebob: What Is Spongebob Movie Rehydrated?". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
4. Starr, Michelle (22 July 2014). "Sailor Moon episode re-created shot for shot by more than 250 animators". CNET. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
5. "227 Artists Remade An Episode Of Super Mario World's Cartoon". Kotaku Australia. 2017-09-04. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
6. Amidi, Amid (September 3, 2018). "Over 90 Animators Worked Together To Re-Animate The Classic Cartoon 'Dover Boys'". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
7. Martín, Rafa. "Más de 90 animadores homenajean un clásico: The Dover Boys". Las Horas Perdidas (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-06-29.
8. Parker, Ryan (2021-04-14). ""Steamed Hams" at 25: 'Simpsons' Cast and Crew Attempt to Decipher Classic Moment's Extraordinary Cult Following". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
9. Mueller, Matt (3 September 2022). "The story behind Shrekfest, Milwaukee's strangest summer festival". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
10. "'Bid adieu to Shrekfest': Popular festival in Milwaukee's Humboldt Park will not return". CBS58. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
11. Mufson, Beckett (2018-11-19). "More Than 200 Artists Remade 'Shrek' Scene-by-Scene and Boy It Looks Weird". Vice. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
12. Metaxas, Christian (2019-01-13). "Syndication Reanimation: Kirby Reanimated with Roya Shahidi". Too Far Gone. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
13. Bevan, Rhiannon (2022-02-05). "Someone Is Apparently Abusing YouTube's DMCA Policy To Impersonate Nintendo, Take Down Fan Projects". TheGamer. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
14. Doolan, Liam (January 24, 2021). "Random: Morshu From Link: The Faces of Evil Has Been Turned Into A 3D Animation". Nintendo Life .
15. "Zelda CD-i Reanimated brings together over 200 animators to celebrate the worst-ever Zelda cutscenes". Nintendo Wire. 2020-09-07. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
16. Sudario, Erielle (2022-05-02). "#JusticeForSpongebob trends as 'SpongeBob' fan project gets taken down". We Got This Covered. Retrieved 2022-08-24.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

1. Moon Animate Make-Up!!, 20 July 2014, retrieved 2022-10-26
2. Moon Animate Make-Up 2 . Retrieved 2024-05-18– via vimeo.com.
3. The Mama Luigi Project - Super Mario World Reanimated Collab 2017 (Official Video), 29 August 2017, retrieved 2022-08-24
4. The Dover Boys ReAnimated Collab!, August 27, 2018, retrieved 2022-06-29
5. Steamed Hams but There's a Different Animator Every 13 Seconds, 14 April 2018, retrieved 2022-08-24
6. Shrek Retold, 29 November 2018, retrieved 2022-08-24
7. Kirby Reanimated Collab, 23 January 2019, retrieved 2022-08-24
8. The Zelda CDi Reanimated Collab!, 6 September 2020, retrieved 2022-08-24
9. "The Zelda CDi Reanimated Collab!". Newgrounds.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
10. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated!, May 2022, retrieved 2022-08-24
11. Duffrin, Grant (April 2019). "Shrek 2 Retold (April Fools)". YouTube .
12. "Crowd Reacts to Shrek 2 Retold Announcement Trailer". YouTube . 10 September 2019.
13. Shrek 2 Retold | Teaser Trailer. YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
14. "Shrekfest". 3GI Industries. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
15. "Shrek 2 Retold Trailer". YouTube . 19 May 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
16. Shrek 2 Retold DELAYED! Here's why... 2024-09-20. Retrieved 2024-09-21– via YouTube.