Editing Animutation

{{Short description|Form of web-based computer animation}}
'''Animutation''' or '''fanimutation''' is a form of web-based computer animation, typically created in [[Adobe Flash]] and characterized by unpredictable montages of [[Popular culture|pop-culture]] images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers. It is not to be confused with manual collage animation (e.g., the work of [[Stan Vanderbeek]] and [[Terry Gilliam]]), which predates the Internet.

==History==
Animutation was popularized by [[Neil Cicierega]]. Cicierega claims to have been inspired by several sources, including bizarre Japanese commercials and Martin Holmström's "[[Hatten är din]]" [[Soramimi]]-style video made for the "Habbeetik" song by [[Azar Habib]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7fqT1uAII | title=Neil Cicierega, Internet Person - XOXO Festival (2016) | date=17 November 2016 | publisher=XOXO Festival| access-date=2018-11-11 }}</ref> The term '''animutation''' is a [[portmanteau]] of ''animation'' and ''mutation'' and was popularized in 2001 through Cicierega's flash animations such as ''Japanese Pokerap'' and ''Hyakugojyuuichi!!'', which feature the credits music from older episodes of [[Pokémon]].  The popularity of ''Hyakugojyuuichi!!'' quickly made it an Internet phenomenon.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.salon.com/2001/04/26/animation_4/ | title=All hail Neil Cicierega | work=Salon.com| date=26 April 2001 | access-date=2015-08-09 }}</ref> Since that time, others have adopted a similar style and communities of similarly minded animators have sprung up around the web.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-01-25/screens_feature2.html|title=Mutant Genius |publisher=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=2006-08-19| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060116143941/http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-01-25/screens_feature2.html| archive-date=January 16, 2006| url-status= live}}</ref> These versions made by fans were christened "fanimutations".

==Recurring themes==
{{multiple issues|section=y|{{More citations needed|date=July 2007}}
{{Original research section|date=March 2017}}}}

===Audio===
Animutations can be based on songs of foreign, independent, or mainstream origin. [[Japanese language|Japanese]] songs were used in many of the original animutations by Neil Cicierega, but newer animutations use songs in a wide variety of languages, including [[English language|English]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and gibberish.

[[Image:Irrational Exuberance.JPG|thumb|Screen shot from Irrational Exuberance (yatta), a popular animutation using the Japanese song "[[Yatta (song)|Yatta]]", known for classic examples of [[soramimi]] from "misheard" English lyrics ]]
The foreign language songs are often [[mondegreen|"misheard"]] into English by the creators and added as subtitles.  The words are not translations but [[soramimi]]s, English words that sound roughly the same as the original lyrics.  For example, the animutation title "French erotic film" is a soramimi of the original Dutch lyrics "Weet je wat ik wil" in an [[Ome Henk]] song.  The actual translation of the lyrics is "Do you know what I want?"

===Recurring motifs===
Though animutations are close in relation to the random nonsense of [[dadaism]] and can be entirely unpredictable, they sometimes exhibit recurring memes among them as a result of being influenced by each other and internet culture.  Among the many recurring motifs found in animutations are:
*The inclusion of Canadian comedian [[Colin Mochrie]] from ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (American TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]''<ref>{{cite news | title = Copy, paste, animate Pop culture crudely skewered in animutation | work = [[Toronto Star]] | date = 26 August 2006 | first = Shauna | last = Reppel | page = H3}}</ref> Regularly, a picture of Mochrie's head superimposed into a crudely drawn sun is also used.  This inclusion is largely due to Neil Cicierega's  fixation on the comedian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colinmochrie.com/askcolin.cfm |title=Colin Mochrie |access-date=2008-07-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312120047/http://www.colinmochrie.com/askcolin.cfm |archive-date=2008-03-12 }}</ref>
*The inclusion of [[Harry Potter]] in various forms, often edited in a bizarre fashion. Neil Cicierega, also a creator of the [[Potter Puppet Pals]], is responsible from the outset explosion of Harry Potter's use in animutation, most notably starting in Hyakugojyuuichi.
*Obscure pop-culture references, typically catchphrases or images.
*Random cartoon characters, usually from children's television programs or anime, although obscure characters are also used.

===Non-traditional interfaces===
While many flash animations have a "replay button" at the end, animutations often use a silly graphic which animates when interacted with, included with instructions on how to replay the animutation. For instance, at the end of ''Cold Heart'', the title character is holding a package of [[Mentos]] mints, which serves as the replay button. The package slightly increases in size when moused over, and text at the bottom of the video informs the user to "Click the Mentos to replay!".

Similarly to the replay button, a progress animation is used in many animutations, especially the later creations. For example, in ''Jesus H. Christ'', a [[papier-mâché]] goose which was originally in a ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode was used as a pointer, rotating clockwise to indicate the animation's playback progress.

==See also==
{{Portal|2000s|Animation
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* [[Yatta (song)]]
* [[YTMND]], a genre of internet meme web pages usually pairing an image with an audio file
* [[Reanimated collaboration]], wherein multiple internet users collaborate to recreate a film shot-for-shot
* [[YouTube Poop]], a genre of videos in which preexisting footage is edited and remixed to humorous or surreal effect.
* [[Meme]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060604205911/http://www.animutation.com/ Neil Cicierega's animutation website]
* [http://www.ideals.uiuc.edu/bitstream/2142/705/2/colinieee.pdf Colin Mochrie vs. Jesus H. Christ: Messages About Masculinities and Fame in Online Video Conversations (PDF)]

{{Neil Cicierega}}

[[Category:2000s neologisms]]
[[Category:2001 introductions]]
[[Category:2001 neologisms]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2001]]
[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2001]]
[[Category:Web animation]]
[[Category:Homophonic translation]]