Like many during 2020’s lockdown, I was desperate to find a hobby I could indulge myself in to pass the time. I was particularly interested in rekindling my passion for filmmaking and editing, endeavors I hadn’t explored in over half a decade. While browsing online communities for Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game I got into at the beginning of the Pandemic, I saw that people were using their virtual characters and “villagers”, the residents of the island you live on in the game, to recreate iconic scenes from movies and TV. The concept immediately grabbed me and I was struck by a flurry of ideas for moments I could have my characters act out.

The filming of each was akin to the process of stop-motion: I’d manicure the virtual sets to match as closely as possible to the scenes I was recreating, select reactions for my villagers to perform which fit the mood of what their designated character was saying or doing, and would record each shot individually with the Nintendo Switch’s built-in recording software. After collecting all the footage, I edited them together on Windows Video Editor and spliced them to fit as seamlessly as possible with one another. Once I had my finished products, I published them to social media.

I didn’t initially plan on making more beyond the first I released, a recreation of a scene from NBC’s comedy Parks and Recreation. However, the attention it received on Reddit in particular combined with the heightened popularity of Animal Crossing when I released it in May of 2020 caused notable gaming news outlets to write articles on it. Although I’d never receive the same amount of attention again, the success inspired me to create more videos and use a YouTube account I’d created years prior to house them all. The most popular of my videos has received over 230k views to date.