My Top 10 YTPMVs

         In ye olden days of YouTube, the site was inundated with thousands of videos in which cartoons, movies, shows and video games were remixed to include often raunchy, crude or immature humor. Voices could be edited or manipulated to say something funny or obscene. These videos were deemed "YouTube Poop". (I never liked the name either, but I didn't come up with it.) Their golden age was from 2007 to about 2010; during that time the overall quality improved greatly. However, as YouTube became more and more corporate, it cracked down on the genre due to copyright violations, even though most would fall under Fair Use. This sent the genre underground. It is still around today, although videos are few and far between, slowing to a mere trickle. The most famous of the "YouTube Poopers" from the golden age have retired or only post new videos once in a blue moon. The YouTube Poop genre kept me laughing through my early 20's, and I still enjoy them. 

         The bread and butter of the YouTube Poop genre were the Phillips CD-I Mario and Zelda games. These games, created after a failed deal between Nintendo and Phillips to make a CD-based Nintendo system in the early 1990's, resulted in hilariously awful Mario and Zelda games with hilariously awful animated cut scenes. When these surfaced on the internet in the mid-2000s, they became memes, and eventually became the backbone of the YouTube Poop genre. These are generally safe from copyright strikes, as it seems Phillips doesn't care about their scenes being used, and Nintendo prefers to pretend the games they came from never existed. Another YouTube Poop staple which survives to the present day are videos involving the cartoon The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which apparently neither Sega nor the animation company Dic mind being used either. 

            A subgenre of YouTube poop is the YouTube Poop Music Video, or the YTPMV. Every once in a while, one of these would be made that actually showed musical talent. In honor of these, I wanted to present my top 10 favorites of these, in no real order. 

Sing Like the King by Moto200

    This original song is sung by King Harkinian of Hyrule, and features ingenious use of the King's laugh (as many of these videos do), coupled with crude but amusing original animation. You can't do much worse than the animation from the original games anyway. 

Morshu as Scatman

        In the CD-I Zelda games, Morshu is a shopkeeper who only has about three lines in the entire game. And yet, someone was able to make him sing Scatman John's "Scatman" song. The whole song, out of three sentences. Truly one of mankind's greatest achievements. 

Scrub Scrub Scrub by NeoNintendo

        This catchy little classic YTPMV is done to the tune of background music from the game Super Mario RPG, a game which I haven't really played, but if I ever did I'd only think of this song now. I had this song stuck in my head for most of 2008, let me tell you. "Scrub scrub scrub mah boi".  

Tomorrow I'll by Igiulamam

        In The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, there was an episode where Dr. Robotnik caught his two robotic minions Scratch and Grounder spying on him, and he uttered a line that would become immortal; "Snooping as usual I see." Once the YouTube Poop community realized "SnooPING AS" sounded like he was saying, of course, penis, everyone used it in their videos and it was the funniest thing ever for like two years. This YTPMV was what popularized the meme. Igiulamam (backwards for Mama Luigi, another YouTube Poop meme originating from the Super Mario World cartoon) was one of the best early YTPMV makers and one of the pioneers of the genre.  

Ganon - Your Face by kwarkman85

        This song, done to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Pokerface", features Ganon, the villain of the Cd-I Zelda games, and in my opinion is so much better than "Pokerface" in every way. It even made clever use of a rhyme Ganon states when he kidnaps Princess Zelda in the game, which I've rarely seen used before or since in YouTube Poop, turning it into almost a rap. I'll never not think of this version of the song when I hear "Pokerface" now. 

 

Franz Harkinand - Do you Wanna (remastered) by Moto200

        Done to the tune of a song by Franz Ferdinand, this version tops the original song completely in my eyes. This was originally done with a midi file, but Moto200 remastered it a couple years later to this version, and it sounds a lot better. The video has all sorts of easter eggs for fans of the CD-I YouTube poops as well, making it kind of a time capsule for the whole genre. 

It's From the Show by Igiulamam 

        Another classic Igiulamam YTPMV, I think I actually like this one better than the more famous "Tomorrow I'll". As someone who still refuses to ever call Dr. Robotnik "Dr. Eggman", his Japanese name that Sega made canon, I love the beginning where the cartoon Robotnik loudly yells "NOO!" at the video game version of himself. This incredibly catchy song takes me right back to my college dorm days in the late 2000s, a good time in my life. 

Since I'm on the subject, I'll also recommend the videos "Robotnik's Tea Time" and "Planet Freedom" by igiulamam as honorable mentions. I didn't want igiulamam to hog the list, but these are good videos too and just as catchy.

OAHHAHAHAHA by Jimmy Davis

        A more recent YTPMV, this is King Harkinian's version of He-Man's version of "What's Going On" by Four Non-Blondes. If you've been around the internet long enough you've likely seen the "Fabulous Secret Powers" video from around 2006. This YTPMV replicates it well, and not only that but includes new animations, actually depicting scenes from the Zelda CD-I game Wand of Gamelon that happened off-screen, such as King Harkinian being captured by Ganon. I wonder if any of the original animators from those games are proud of what they started.

 

Robotnik Rock by iteachvader

        iteachvader is one of the last great YouTube Poopers that is still around, and this here is a very catchy original song. I love that line "Where did I go wrong with you?" that Robotnik says repeatedly to his poor abused lackeys. There's not much more to say about it, it's just a good song on its own merits. It is every bit as good as any of the igiulamam classics.

I'll Find a Way by thechairman45

        As the description says, this is "a delightful song about perseverance and following your dreams". Despite being defeated in every episode, Dr. Robotnik never gave up his dreams of conquering Planet Mobius, and you shouldn't give up either. I actually remember having this song run through my head when I was taking an exam in Graduate School, and it honestly helped me through it!  

        Anyway, I've now ruined this blog's lofty academic reputation by posting videos with potty humor. But you know what, maturity is a myth anyway. What's funny will always be funny.