Tag: youtuber

Blast from the Past, YouTubers

The Rise and Fall of Poptropica: A Video Essay by Dream Jelly 🎥🪼

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! This game has been such a cultural cornerstone for many Gen Z kids growing up—it’s definitely worth a closer look.

Mid-twenties YouTuber Dream Jelly, known for her video essays on childhood nostalgia from the 2000s–2010s, recently shared a deep dive into “The Rise and Fall of Poptropica” that has already gained 80K+ views within a week of posting. Check it out:

From the single island of Early Poptropica the game began with in 2007, to the massive growth it’s experienced through expansions with creative sponsored ads, monetization models like memberships, and the now-defunct Poptropica Worlds, Dream Jelly takes us on a journey through Pop’s history, intermingled with her thoughtful commentary.

Some interesting highlights she shares about Poptropica’s rise in the late 2000s–early 2010s are the quirky videos kids shared for fun on YouTube before influencer culture took over, and the uniqueness of Poptropica’s storytelling in a sea of sandbox-style kids’ virtual worlds.

Look Out Below: Wait for the drop…

As for its fall, Dream Jelly questions whether all the game’s side features like store items, merch, mobile apps, and even Realms, was worth the vibe shift from its simpler times, recalling founder Jeff Kinney’s original vision of focusing on the player as the main character.

Poptropica fell further, she observes, as the game continued on in directions no one asked for, from branding-confused Roblox games to the Steam release without the oldest islands.

The overall critique boils down to prioritizing revenue over players. Would listening to players have made Poptropica live forever…? Probably not, but I still believe that a little additional integrity when it came to monetization and transparency when it came to keeping fans in the loop towards the end would have gone a long way for its image.

Still, Dream Jelly wraps up on this positive note:

Poptropica had a great run overall… I think that in the time that it had, Poptropica did tell original stories with humor, creativity, and a clearly passionate team, giving millions of players an experience that they’ll look back on fondly, no matter how it ended.

Thanks for the retrospective analysis, Dream Jelly! For another take on Poptropica’s history, check out this video essay by Lulaloopsey. And for more Pop memories, check out our Poptropica Yearbook! 💙

Keep on poppin’ on,

~🐠

Blast from the Past, YouTubers

Poptropica Lore with Lulaloopsey 🎥💙

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We know the game’s gone through a lot over the years… so why not take a pop down memory lane?

Young adult nostalgia YouTuber Lulaloopsey just dropped a video essay delving into Poptropica’s 17-year history, already amassing 20K+ views within the first day of posting. Check it out (mild language warning):

While a lot of the content she covers is documented here on the PHB (thanks for the shout-out 🩵), Lulaloopsey also brings her own perspective and experiences of playing the game as a kid in her deep dive into Poptropica’s lore, which makes this all the more engaging.

Some of the throwback topics she covers include the Mystery of Monster Carnival Island, Mystery of Shark Boy, and how Nickelodeon’s virtual world shaped Pop’s identity. And for more year-by-year explorations, we recommend checking out our Poptropica Yearbook pages.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip, Lulaloopsey!

Keep on poppin’ on,

~🐠

Guest Posts, YouTubers

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

Slanted Fish

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?

Continue reading “Battle Morale: an interview with Pop movie producer Invisible Ring 🌠🎥” →
Pop Fan Artist Spotlights, Realms

Pop Fan Artist Spotlight: Realms from Hawkeye4077 🌎🔨

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, welcome to a special edition of the Pop Fan Artist Spotlight series! This fan artist we’re featuring today isn’t your traditional kind of artist—instead, he creates his masterpieces on Poptropica Realms. Introducing: Hawkeye4077, aka Zany Ice!

Hawkeye’s work with Realms imitates large and noteworthy characters and landmarks from various sci-fi and adventure films and other media, from The Iron Giant to How to Train Your Dragon to Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Click on the images to see all the detail within!

  • The Iron Giant
  • Genie from Aladdin (2019)
  • Grimlock from Transformers
  • Skullcrawler from Kong Skull Island
  • Alpha Dragon from How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • Ship from How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • Razor Crest from The Mandalorian
  • Lunar Colony Island space station, Realms edition
  • Mothra Larva from Godzilla: King of the Monsters
  • Rodin from Godzilla: King of the Monsters
  • Mothra from Godzilla: King of the Monsters

You may recognize Hawkeye’s Poptropican name, Zany Ice, which was recently featured for a Video of the Week by the Pop Creators. But he’s been working on more than just the Wolfwalkers ad video! Here’s one that compiles all his MOCs (My Own Creation) — including more than the ones shown above — into an impressive photo slideshow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kyz5WqN3is

In another video, Zany Ice gives us a look at the process of making one of his Realms creations, the Grimlock from Transformers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLgS_17iH7Y

It’s been a hot minute since the Flash-based Realms (Poptropica’s sandbox creative world) has gotten much attention from Poptropica, and with Flash in its final days, who knows if it’ll return after it’s gone. But Realms did disappear before due to bugs with the old Flash technology, and after much player demand, was resurrected by the Creators a year later. Maybe the same thing can happen again?

In any case, we hope you enjoyed this look into some of the many possibilities that Realms offers. Perhaps it even inspired you to give this fun sandbox game one last spin before its candle goes out with (a) Flash? 🕯 You might find our Realms Guide helpful!

Thanks, Hawkeye4077, for sharing your Realms of wonder with us! 🌎 You can find him on our Discord server, the PHC, sharing other kinds of creations too, like peeks into his comic, Iron Volt. Join the fun on the PHC!

~🐠