Maddy Hicks (backgrounds, compositing, 3D) / teamrtist
Emerson Zandegu (character design and animation)
/ zandegoop
/ zandegoop
Song used: Wonderland Round Three - Griffin McElroy
Hi! We’re Emerson and Maddy, and this is a project we completed as a part of RMIT’s Animation and Interactive Media course. We were tasked with creating an opening sequence, and we decided to create an animated opening for our favourite podcast, The Adventure Zone.
We used Paint Tool SAI for the backgrounds, Adobe Animate CC for character animation, Maya for the 3D dice, and then composited using Adobe After Effects!
Thanks to Travis McElroy for giving us permission to use the characters, audio, and world of TAZ in our project.
Check out The Adventure Zone on Maximum Fun:
www.maximumfun.org/shows/adven...
HI EVERYONE! thank you so much for your support on our project, we are so so stoked that you all love it this much! BUT i just wanted to say - if you like the backgrounds, the colours, the dice, the parallaxing - go direct your lovely compliments to maddy @ teamrtist.tumblr.com/ !! that was all her contribution to the project, not mine, and she deserves lots of love & recognition for her amazing work ❤️
which track did you use in this? i'm pretty sure it's from the Suffering Game arc but i can't remember what the song was!
It's Wonderland Part 3
Yo can I suggest doing one for The Unexpectables?
Skinny Mister Awesome! Congratulations on this success! I have two questions: 1. Why did you opt to use this piece instead of the extended opening theme? 2. I thought Taako was a gay, male elf. Why is he dressed and made-up with a teenage, female human's ensemble?
John-Paul Mitchell Taako can wear whatever he wants, and looks good in it tbh. Also if I remember correctly Griffin called Taako a man and Justin had some objection to it, but I don't know if that's an objection to being called a man like a human or man like male.
That dice drop and Griffin/DM reveal moment... INCREDIBLE
I leaned way back in my chair when I saw that out of surprise and awe, such an cool moment.
I love how he looks slightly more realistic than the characters, because they are fantasy and he is reality
Yes! That!
Something about the sound while the dice are falling, the way it's cut off and clipped, just really makes it feel.. professionally made? That's what really sets the tone for it (for me) as a trailer for a TAZ TV show
This is, with no exaggeration, rhe best thing to happen in the Adventure Zone fandom. If you had sent this to me an said it was a preview for a TAZ show on Cartoon Network or something, I would believe it 100%.
I don't know about cartoon network, maybe adult swim 🤣
Way too good for CN
*SOMEBODY CALL ADULT SWIM*
Oooh I wish!!!!
WISH NO LONGER KNAVES, FOR AN ANIMATED SERIES HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED
My favorite part has to be the Rockport Limited bit. I love how tangible the boredom/awkwardness is while they wait for something to happen. It's such a human side of the story, despite only one of them being actually human. Oh, and the Griffin part. So cool. I've watched this so many times now... I still wish I knew what all the symbols at the end meant, though.
Ethan Berry I think the symbols were the partial combinations of what symbols they spun on the wheel in The Suffering Game, and some iconic character moments. For Merle, the loss of his eye. Taako, the mongoose mask. And for Magnus, pretty much the entire Eleventh Hour ending. That's what I think.
@@theallmightyboop4732 I believe for Taako it was actually the loss of his looks.
The All Mighty Boop! Magnus lost like 10 years of his life so that’s why it was an hourglass.
@@crappydoo94 I just realized that's why the finale narrates what happens to him while everyone is still alive oh my god
@@kareneatsjoey1 also elves and dwarves live for hundreds of years so magnus naturally dies before them
I started off in Gerblins thinking that the majority of Taako fan art was weird but now that I’ve finished season one literally any fan art of Taako that doesn’t make him look Vogue/Twink asf is just wrong
The biggest plot twist was getting into The Adventure Zone and finding out he didn't actually get what happened to Zacharie from OFF, it's actually, truly, honestly accurate. ...Actually, that's not true. The biggest plot twist was being spoiled about Lup and thinking that was the only big reveal.
@verdantViridity I got spoiled on what sort of being Lup was and somehow got it twisted thinking she was the big bad of things. Tfw she is phantasmal and resplendent
I JUST NOTICED MAGNUS HAS HIS NAILS PAINTED THATS THE BEST DETAIL EVER
the line between travis and magnus blurs even more :D
He's losing his sense of self!
Linkachu me 2
Honestly Taako probably gave them all manicures
@@samanthaharris2964 I lowkey headcanon taako as being shit at nail painting, and highkey headcanon Magnus as being really good at it, and lowkey highkey headcanon taako as being infuriated by that fact
hot diggity shit, that is a baller animation
when fanmade stuff looks more well done than most professional big budget animated tv shows.
Passion > money. Money helps though. A lot.
If the concept of an animated series of this story ever came into contact with kickstarter, the immediate concussive force of wallets hitting monitors across the globe could be the trigger of a human extinction event. Perhaps its for the better this way. But just... can you imagine it? A fan-collab to give even a sketchy keyframe visual component to an abridged version of this series? Hnnng
@@Sneakysneaky88 Oh yeah. It would get the money. Look at the kickstarter for the Critical Role Animated Series
griffin’s glasses glinting like he’s an anime
OkaAY SO THE FUCKING TWEENING AND SHADING SKILLS ARE FUCKING NUT WORTHY, thE MINOR ANIMATION MAKES IT LOOK REALLY FUCKING GOOD AND NOT OVER THE TOP AND TOO BUSY, THE STYLE IS ABSOLUTELY HUGGABLE, THE DICE MADE ME SCREAM, AND THE DESIGNS ARE ACTUALLY MAKING ME WANNA CRY THEYRE SO FUCKING CUTE THE MERLE IS THE FIRST MERLE DESIGN TO NOT MAKE ME NERVOUS AND THE MANGUS MAKES ME SERIOUSLY WANT TO JUST HUG THIS GOOD BEAR BOY AND TAAKO IS FUCKING KILLING IT JESUS CHRIST HES READY TO GIVE EVERYONE WHIPFLASH WITH HIS HIP MOVEMENTS I LOVE THIS SO MUC H FUCK
Your comment captured exactly the feeling i am feeling!
randomgooberness you've made me curious, what do you mean by merle designs making you nervous?
Not quite sure! There are a lot of Merle designs that I love, but I dont know? I think it's my anxiety and my ADHD acting up with designs that I wanna draw that are too busy. This Merle, and all the characters here, are quite simplified and minimal and still look absolutely stunning! And the colors are very nice and calming to look at.
oh! I understand now, and absolutely agree! Most merles are quite intricate, his arm and eye and hair and proportions and whatnot being very unique. Thanks for explaining!
from this moment forward i will refer to all cool animation as "nut worthy" "hey did you see that indie film the other day?" "yeah man, the animation was nut worthy"
THIS IS SO FUCKING BALLER
Now imagine the deep voice at the start of each episode saying "__________ The Adventure Zone!!!" And this intro animation playing.
Hot diggity shit
I've watched this several times as I've listened through the series and recognizing more details each time is so amazing, my most recent realization, 0:26 is their biggest rolls in the Suffering Game arc: Merle losing his eye, Taako's bad luck, and Magnus losing 10 years.
Shh, spoilers
Watched this so many times and i never caught onto that and i feel so ridiculously stupid for not getting it, been listening since the beginning
Thought I'd point out this Is literally the reason I even got into the adventure zone. Thank you so much for one of my biggest obsessions.
+
This and a bunch of the other animatics! I watched them and eventually was like “Fuck I really need to watch this!”
@@lilyfae7197 ^
This is amazing. I would watch an entire tv show of the adventure zone in this art style. The music is also soooooo perfect. Keep at it, you guys are super talented.
I'd watch anything in this art style tbh
No matter how many years go by, how many graphic novels exist, this will ALWAYS be how I remember Balance. Thank you for that.
Taako in the car part was probably my favorite, I loved everything about this though, it's incredible.
Cosmic Queen I think merle on the car was a bit funny
bruh this Taako........... i love this Taako
Grass Tastes Bad Yeah he is, I find this design too feminine to accurately convey he is male. Other than that, this is beautifully done.
Taako was created as a male elf wizard, but as the show started to gain traction, people portrayed them however they wanted to. The brothers and Clint didn't want to give any canonical definitions of what they looked like, so technically any portrayal (including one that could be deemed "too feminine to accurately convey he is male") is technically acceptable
Victoria K. He's canon feminine and androgynous described in the show tho
Paul Benson it's a sickly pale and bad taako but these designs are good otherwise
Victoria K. he wears a skirt in the show this isn't some manly guy
Absolutely stunning! The timing to the music (great choice btw) is fantastic and I love each character design ---plus the transitions are so smooth like the spinning of the worm teeth to the spinning of the wheel its clever and makes it flow so nicely seriously amazing job
I'll have you know I've watched this maybe 50 times since I came across it yesterday. That transition from the mouth of the Eleventh Hour worm to the wheel in the Suffering Game! Genius! And oh my god, tinted glasses on Merle!! I feel like you answered a question about him that no one knew existed. He's perfect, as are all your other character designs.
Now that Im caught up with TAZ this animation hits me double hard. Like christ this is such an epic campaign and I like it so much Id honetly love to see it imagined into a full fledged show in this art style! Lovvve this
how much money do you need to make the rest of the show we got you kickstarter go fund me change dot org we'RE DOING THIS
Jesse Yang YES
Jesse Yang HELL YES PLEASE
Pleeeeaaaasssseeeeee
Mrs. Officer and Mr. Truffles would like to know: your location
no offense but this is dope as shit
Verily!
The entire video is so amazing but that dice drop literally gives me shivers every time i watch it
The best thing about this is that it still is pretty vauge about the events in the show unlike most fanmade intros
DAMN THIS FUCKIN RULES I GOT SHIVERS
ghostyjpg I got chills too!!!
this fuckin owns????
I just wanna say that I saw this on Tumblr and got really into it! So much so that I finally looked up what The Adventure Zone was... and I was so super thrilled to find out it's actually the McElroy boys and father! I only recently got into their content, and didn't know they also had a D&D podcast... So thank you very much for making this!
Check out mcelroyshows.com for all their podcasts!! Really, I only know them from MBMBaM and Polygon~
Ugh that graphic match between the purple worm's mouth and the wheel, such subtlety and respect
Hey noah fence but Why can't I like a video more than once
This is like mesmerizing I've been playing this over and over
I just wanted to say that with the announcement of the animated show, this is the first iteration that popped into my head. I hope it looks as good and as smooth as this!
I love this, Taako is so pretty
hoooooollllyyyy shit the style the animation the colours it looks stunning and so smooth WOW
Okay so I kind of have a giant crush on your Taako
Clotted Scream big same
Fucking mood
Because of this animation, I binged the entire podcast and I'm all caught up now! It's so good and this is so good! AMAZING
this is the best thing I have seen in my entire existence, I will watch a show, a movie, a freaking 18 hour long documentary of this thing. Taz is the best thing in the planet, and this is just gorgeous
Yoooo this camera work is SO GOOD! I love the shot of the worm that turns into wonderland then the camera turns around heck yeah!!! Wooo!!!!
Jaxks gave us the opening the show would have received in the late eighties. Skinny Mister gives us the opening that would happen today.
That figure on Taako, daaaaamn boi!
FUUUUUUUUUUCCKKK THIS IS GOOD Also, I may or may not be in love with your take on Taako. Just fyi.
i've been avoiding making this comment because i keep thinking it's not very important, but i keep coming back and i gotta do it. i really freaking appreciate the little frame-by-frame 3d at 0:21
THIS IS SO WICKEDLY COOL!!! HOLY HELL!!!
Literally Taako's design is why I got into TAZ lol
I love every single frame of this, and I think that this portrayal of the crew is FLAWLESS, right down to the expressions they make throughout. This is so beautifully crafted, & I frequent this video just to use the scenes as references when I'm listening to taz
bruh im sending this to everyone i know who listens to this podcast.
arin hanson's dick
_arin hanson's dick_
Hot Diggity Shit this is a Baller Ass Intro
The story of The Adventure Zone would make an AMAZING animated show! Seriously! Maybe someday...
KLAAAAARG!! ❤️❤️❤️
Klarg with a dainty tea set = iconic.
Would you like some Ulam tea?
Oolong, my dude
A. Mazing. As Scott Aukerman of Comedy Bang Bang would say: This gets my highest rating: C+.
I think of this video on a daily basis, it's cleared my skin and I'm free of sin. thank you.
this is the type of video you show your friends to get them into taz
AAAAAA I LOVE THIS i love the heads bobbing in the wagon, kinda mystery skulls. also this magnus?? So so good I love him
Yo yo but like for real this animation made me go listen to the Adventure Zone. That was a month ago. I'm caught up now.
THIS IS THE BEST THING IVE SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE I LOVE THIS VIDEO SO MUCH AND I WILL CHERISH IT FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY
I LOVE the Petals to the Metal shot, especially the way Taako’s sitting with the umbrastaff open like a parasol!
I'm running a TAZ Campaign for three friends of mine who haven't seen the show, and I'm showing them this to give them some teasers as to what's gonna go down! I think they're gonna love it!
I watch this at least 5 times a day and it never ceases to fucking amaze me, by the way.
God I keep rewatching this because I'm obsessed. Seriously what a great job
Years later, revisiting the series and I just HAD to revisit this. I get chills every time I watch it. Y'all did amazing on this 👏
this is probably a weird thing to compliment, but the affinity of continuum of movement is really really good in this?? like, the purple worms spinning teeth turn into the wonderland wheel and your eyes don't have to move to adjust to this change, it just makes absorbing info from the animation so nice and easy, and really helps to compliment the absolutely beautiful art. this is terrific, I can't believe I didn't see it earlier!!
Goddamn this is fresh to death holy fuck i love it
Sweet when is season 1 out?
AChimpKnockinAbout well, there is apparently gonna be an animated series for the balance arc! (3 years late, I know)
@@conwool2609 it hurts
oh my gosh, i would fricking watch this to death if it was a show. honestly, this just looks so amazing, everyone who worked on it did so well. it's too good for words. the song, the character design, the _e v e r y t h i n g_. i'd pay good money for this to become a real show. i just can't stop watching. thank you for posting this. i have been blessed
I've had this video saved in my watch later for almost 4 years now. Every so often i come back and watch it again to be reminded of my favorite dnd podcast of all time. Truly a work of art, thank you.
I just started listening to the podcast a week ago and I'm on "petals to the metal" I'm way into this and dedicated to start off every episode with this clip now cause its too good ❤
This is so fucking amazing, the music is perfect and the style is perfect, it's so you AND so TAZ , ugh I'm in love
this animation is totally amazing! the flow is very nice and the timing to the music is very well done too. the minimal animation is very pleasing the color scheme is wonderful. this is too perfect and it makes me want to cry it's so beautiful!!
I remember one day just randomly seeing this in my feed two years ago and this being the reason I started listening to the podcast and loving it
I have watched a lot of Adventure Zone fan creations, and the bar is set really high because they are all incredible. But this is my absolute favorite of any I have ever seen. I could watch it on loop (and have) for probably at least an hour. It is gorgeous. Truly, well done!
This makes me more confident in my choice of studying animation next year. This looks so amazing, it's inspiring!!
THIS TAZ OPENING NEEDS TO BE A PART OF AN ANIMATED TV SHOW FOR LIKE CARTOON NETWORK OR SOMETHING, IT DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY EVERYONE ALSO I LOVE ALL THE PINK THEME GOING ON HERE 💖
I had no idea about "The Adventure Zone"... now i know and i'm in love, this animation is amazing for so many reasons!
This got me listening to the Adventure Zone about a week ago, and now I'm hooked! This is really amazing tbh, well done to everyone!!!
I DON'T EVEN LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST BUT THIS IS AMAZING
and Peggy I KEEP SEEING YOU EVERYWHERE WTF
DUDE YOU TOTALY SHOULD ITS SUCH A GOOD SERIES!!
this is amazing the animation is so addictive every take of it can be a wallpaper, also I LOVE tako appearance in this.
Every time I finish a new arc in the show I come back and watch this at least once it brings me such joy
I've never listened to this show before but this intro made me want to. :D Subscribing to the podcast today.
i frickin love these designs of the guys and i am now going to imagine these designs when i listen to the podcast also the animation is amazing and its planned amazingly and uuuuhhhh *brain machine broke*
THIS is how you do an animated opening/trailer!! You show everything that’s gonna happen, but the audience is still left wondering! You introduce the characters in a way that makes us want to keep watching and find out more! I love this so very much!
this is my absolute most FAVORITE thing now. i LOVE LOVE LOVE the character designs and how well everything fits to the music!
WOW !!! THE ANIMATION IS REALLY GOOD!!! THE COLORS ARE VERY BRIGHT AND I DIDN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF THE SCREEN FOR A SECOND!!! WELL DONE!!!!
this came out on my birthday and honestly it is a GIFT.
The scene at 0:09 is the most gorgeous setting i have ever seen
This is so amazing! I love the passion you put into this, as well as the personality you added to your own interpretation of Magnus, Merle, and Taako! Thank you very much!
man this is amazing why did you make taco so attractive?
bOI I FEEL A L I V E
I can’t stop watching this, great music, lovely animation, and great diorama-esk scenes made for it. Honestly I love the sort of “in the moment” feel this gives me. Amazing work all around.
I've seen hundreds of Taz animations and this one is still always the one I go back too, it's awesome!!! The character design and art and coring can't be beat!
wow I can't believe John made 11 fake accounts just to dislike this video
Have the boys seen this? I assume they have, since, if they gave you permission to use their characters and music they must have also asked you to show them the final product, but I REALLY want to see their reactions.
Byakuya Togami griffin tweeted abt it yesterday!
OH MY GODDD THIS IS SO GOOD! If TAZ is made into a cartoon they better have you guys do it! You all did great!
I've never felt so hyped for D&D before
I love how taako just looks extra gay 👌👌👌
Fabulous is what he is.
+JamesS Until now, I thought the fandom was just retroactively depicting Taako as a girl for some reason.
Wait, is Taako a feminine dude or a masculine gal?
Purple Insect fem dude
I would watch the shit out of this!
This is actually one of the most beautiful animations I have ever seen. Your style, color, details, it all blows me away 😍 I hope you never stop creating!!!
THIS IS FUCKING AMAAAZIIIIINGGG THE FLOW OF THE ANIMATION, THE COLORS, THE ART STYLE- it all just looks sOOOOO GOOOOD *adds this to playlists & rewatches it another 50 times*
Can you stop hogging all the talent? Some of us Normies want some!
My favorite part of this is the transition from 0:19 thats got the teeth to the wheel very tasty match cut, love this animation so much
i have auditory processing disorder so i have trouble focusing on podcasts, but i've been trying to catch up with TAZ and i keep coming back to watch this vid bc i love it so much & it makes me more psyched to keep listening! c:
WHAT SONG IS THIS, IT'S AMAZING!
WHAT IS TUNE! HOW HELP IT?
*+Wanderbrine* _11 hours ago_ The track is Wonderland: Round Three, you can find it on Griffin's soundcloud
Punished Zach thanks!