Battle Morale: an interview with Pop movie producer Invisible Ring 🌠🎥

Hey Poptropicans, if you’ve been hoping against hope for the way the game’s been going, this might just be the pick-me-up for you.

Battle Morale is a feature-length Poptropica fan movie by Invisible Ring and released only last month. You can watch the full film below. Plus, scroll down for a PHB-exclusive interview with the perky producer!

Battle Morale tells the story of an optimistic Poptropican — Ring starring as herself — seeking hope and truth in a dark and pessimistic world. Along the way, she goes on a mission to retrieve pirate treasure, confronts a former Pop Creator on the world’s troubles, and dives into the deep rivalry between Amelia and the Baron. We won’t spoil everything here, but invite you to join the journey in the video above!

And now, let’s welcome our special guest to chat with us about her inspirations and process of pulling off this project: the kindred kid and the Poptropican of passion, Invisible Ring!

Ring: Hee hee hee… I like those alliterations! …So what’s up? 

Fishy: Invisible Ring, we are nothing short of amazed at your new movie, and we want to hear more. Our first question is, how did you do it? How did your story come together and what was the process like?

Ring: …Now THAT is a big question. Good thing I made bonus features! I have a Behind-the-Scenes video that explains how I did my movie editing, and my Bonus Video shows where my research came from. Lastly, my website about my YouTube channel that I call my Invisible HQ. There are two categories within it: the Battle Morale Book, or the Battle Morale Library. Both categories log each day I worked on my movie, and the library also includes bonus posts I made in between.

…Now, I know I screwed things up on my website not long ago… and although I can’t take back the mistakes I made in the past, I’ve bent over backward to fix things and make sure that everything in my Invisible HQ is, and will be, completely safe from now on.

Fishy: We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. With that being said, I think this movie shows just that!

Ring: Well, I learned from the best. I have Perfect Sky to thank for the idea of it all. All I did was take it one step further and add even more.

Fishy: Cool! Do you plan to make any more Poptropica movies? 

Ring: Ooooh, that’s a tough question. I’ve been asking that one myself. Before Battle Morale, I had a short kickoff video called Shipwreck the Pirate Day.

I’ve been thinking about making a Poptropica pirate movie ever since I made that pirate short, even while I was making Battle Morale. But after that movie was finished, I questioned whether or not I wanted to keep going at all. Everything I ever made on my channel basically led up to this feature-length movie!

Fishy: …Sooooo, is that a no? 

Ring: Actually, no! In fact, I think this pirate movie is just what my other movie needs. I’ve been asked about my unused movie props, such as the golden city map and the lamp. No one knows what their uses are — just that they pointed the direction to other discoveries. Not to mention the spyglass and the Viking ship and the pirate talk! Those synchronistic pirate details are practically screaming to me for a follow-up.

It would be piracy not to make the pirate movie now. This calls for a spinoff, I say! I declare a pirate-style sequel to Battle Morale! And bonus features, too! Another deluxe movie set for my channel! Ha HA!…

Fishy: You mean you’re gonna start another movie project already? 

Ring: Oh goodness no! Definitely not now, I need a break!

Fishy: Right, a full-length feature film with bonus features to boot must have really taken it out of you. What encouraged you to keep going?

Me: I guess what really kept me pushing through was my own movie trailer. I made it on the final day of Poptropica Month just a few months ago. That trailer expressed all my accumulating doubts and concerns, the voices around me, but also my determination. I decided that this was my moment of truth. My time to believe in me and make a change! To forge a new quest and take it head-on!

And once other people saw my trailer and gave me feedback, I knew there were others that were counting on me to see it through the end. I did it for them, and I did it for me. Each time I started to doubt myself and consider giving up, I thought of their feedback, listened to the oracle in my trailer, and kept pushing on. Also, I didn’t want to have teased a movie that never came out, and I definitely wanted the movie to live up to the trailer’s intensity. Stressful, but I pulled through.

Fishy: It sounds like you really had some strong feelings in the process of making your movie. Care to elaborate? What emotions ran through as you made the movie?

Ring: Ummm…

Fishy: …You OK?… If you don’t want to answer that question, you don’t have to. Not everyone likes to talk about their feelings.

Me: Lemme just put it this way… Although creative liberties were taken in my movie, I would say this was a true story. The story of my really-for-real journey around Poptropica and my self-forged adventure. My place in Poptropica, my coming of age, my final Home Island theories… an expression of all the struggles and moods I went through… all given form in this Poptropica-proclaimed masterpiece.

Fishy: Poptropica-proclaimed masterpiece?

Ring: Yeah, actually, after I shared my movie with them for the Creators’ Blog, they wrote back to say that it was “incredible,” “impressive (in length, quality, and plot),” and “a masterpiece”!

Fishy: Wow! Congrats! But speaking of your final Home Island theories, what inspired you to put Amelia and the Red Baron in your movie?

Ring: Oh yeah, that! …it was you! 

Fishy: Wait, what? Me?

Ring: Yeah, you! Back when the PHB was looking through the photos and articles that Amelia and the Baroness had in their headquarters, you guys said that we had barely scratched the surface on what’s really going on with the two of them. I figured somebody needed to get to the bottom of that, and why not me, the master Home Island theorist of the Creators’ Blog?

Fishy: You certainly made their stories more interesting! Do you have any advice for other aspiring storytellers?

Ring: As a matter of fact I do. Just create what you want to see in the world. That’s what inspired me to join Poptropica Month 2020 and actually start YouTubing. I expected the party to be full of exciting stuff like robot sword fights, but instead, all I found were speed-drawings, talk shows, and other regular stuff. Not a single robot fight in sight, so I thought that if I wanted robot sword fights, I should make ‘em myself! And so I did. That’s when I made my first Poptropica video, Poptropica’s Legendary Sword Fight, and have continued in that direction since.

Fishy: Fascinating! But back to Battle Morale, now that you are done with it, what do you hope viewers will gain out of watching it?

Ring: Hope. All I hope is for them to find hope. I think everyone needs it now more than ever… even if they don’t want it. I hope this will be a good movie that people will be able to relate to and look back on whenever they need some sort of motivation. It’s actually helped me to cheer up before, so I hope it will cheer others up as well.  There’s a lot of other stuff I think viewers can gain, but I’ll let the movie speak for itself.

Fishy: Good to know! Let’s wrap this up with one final question. What was your favorite part about making the movie? 

Ring: Ohhh, yeah, my favorite part! Wow, that’s another tough question right there… Bonus features to the rescue again! The actual movie was a love-hate relationship — an incredible adventure and incredible pandemonium the whole three-and-a-half months of making it.

That is why I was so glad to have the Outtakes to work on! That little video project has got to be my favorite part. I had so many laughs making all those bloopers! Working on that video was a major relief from all the hardships of the movie.

Fishy: Awesome! With that, our time is up. Thank you for joining us, Invisible Ring!

Ring: My pleasure. Thanks for having me here. Take care, everyone!