Ben and Em (found animated romantic comedy YouTube short; 2006): Difference between revisions

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(Found the AudioSwapped version, added some more info)
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|imagecaption=YouTube thumbnail for ''Ben and Em''.
|imagecaption=YouTube thumbnail for ''Ben and Em''.
|title=<center>Ben and Em</center>
|title=<center>Ben and Em</center>
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
}}
'''''Ben and Em''''' was an animated romantic drama short that was uploaded to YouTube in 2006. The short uses modified images from the popular comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes'' and was most likely animated using After Effects. The loves story involves two office workers, Ben and Em, and their ever-growing relationship until they get married. The creator of the short is toogie74, and although no visuals of the short have survived other than a thumbnail, there are memories and Reddit posts about it.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/gd4rx2/help_me_find_a_fanmade_calvin_and_hobbes_movie/ A Reddit post by TailSweet, describing the short.] Retrieved 04 Aug '22</ref><ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/n08wgg/lost_youtube_calvin_and_hobbes_fan_film/ Another Reddit post by TailSweet, showing a school project that he made based on the short.] Retrieved 04 Aug '22</ref>
'''''Ben and Em''''' was an animated romantic drama short that was uploaded to YouTube in 2006. The short uses modified images from the popular comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes'' and was most likely animated using After Effects. The loves story involves two office workers, Ben and Em, and their ever-growing relationship until they get married. The creator of the short is toogie74, and although no visuals of the short have survived other than a thumbnail, there are memories and Reddit posts about it.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/gd4rx2/help_me_find_a_fanmade_calvin_and_hobbes_movie/ A Reddit post by TailSweet, describing the short.] Retrieved 04 Aug '22</ref><ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/n08wgg/lost_youtube_calvin_and_hobbes_fan_film/ Another Reddit post by TailSweet, showing a school project that he made based on the short.] Retrieved 04 Aug '22</ref>
==History==
While the exact date of the original upload is unknown, toogie74's YouTube channel was created on September 29, 2006. The original video featured voice acting for characters such as Ben, Em, and the narrator. It also featured various clips of copyrighted music, such as ''From This Moment On'' by Shania Twain and the theme from ''Jaws''.
In 2009, due to ongoing licensing negations, YouTube began to permanently mute videos that featured music owned by Warner Music Group, including ''Ben and Em''. At the time, when this happened, YouTube gave affected users the option to "AudioSwap" their video; allowing them to replace the original video's audio with a YouTube-licensed music track. As a result, the original video's audio was swapped out for the royalty-free song ''How Amazing'' by Musicshake. This is why some people remember the video having voice acting, while others only remember it having stock music.
Though the original audio was lost when this happened, the AudioSwapped video would remain on YouTube for a few more years before being removed altogether.


==Plot==
==Plot==
There are two versions of the short that people remember. One is the original, which had voice acting, but the one that some people remember had stock piano music for the first 3 minutes and nothing else. This is a description of the stock music version.
 
'''Note:''' This summary is based on the AudioSwapped video, not the original version with voice acting. Because of this, certain details may be missing.


The beginning of the short depicts a transmogrifier spinning around and showing what it can do. It turns to one knob, going from "hate" to "love," and revealing the text inside as "A Transmogrified Love Story."
The beginning of the short depicts a transmogrifier spinning around and showing what it can do. It turns to one knob, going from "hate" to "love," and revealing the text inside as "A Transmogrified Love Story."
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==Search Efforts==
==Search Efforts==
Some time after 2013 or 2014, the video would be deleted, and it would be forgotten until Reddit user TailSweet posted on r/lostmedia about the short, describing the video and the original version with voice acting. A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re1J8mz2kWc dead link] was uncovered after being discovered on a forum post, as well as on [https://ibb.co/Bg5fd26 tuugo.biz] under search results for "Benitem" after searching the link on Google. Some time later, TailSweet would make another post on the same subreddit about the film, even unearthing an elementary school project visually describing some scenes from the short. Some time later, a video by YouTube user Areaka would be posted as a part of his "SWTA" series, which went into more detail about the look of the characters and some scenes. The comments of the video also manage to piece together more details about the video in better detail. Through a Google image search of the dead link, an image was found of a listing for it on YouTube, revealing the length of the short as well as the username of the creator as toogie74. A search for the username brings up a YouTube channel that, while empty, was made in September 29, 2006. There was also a slideshow found that contained the thumbnail for the original video, which is the only surviving evidence that this video existed.
Some time after 2013 or 2014, the video would be deleted, and it would be forgotten until Reddit user TailSweet posted on r/lostmedia about the short, describing the video and the original version with voice acting. A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re1J8mz2kWc dead link] was uncovered after being discovered on a forum post, as well as on [https://ibb.co/Bg5fd26 tuugo.biz] under search results for "Benitem" after searching the link on Google. Some time later, TailSweet would make another post on the same subreddit about the film, even unearthing an elementary school project visually describing some scenes from the short. Some time later, a video by YouTube user Areaka would be posted as a part of his "SWTA" series, which went into more detail about the look of the characters and some scenes. The comments of the video also manage to piece together more details about the video in better detail. Through a Google image search of the dead link, an image was found of a listing for it on YouTube, revealing the length of the short as well as the username of the creator as toogie74. A search for the username brings up a YouTube channel that, while empty, was made in September 29, 2006. There was also a slideshow found that contained the thumbnail for the original video, which is the only surviving evidence that this video existed.
==Partial Rediscovery==
While it's unclear how long the original video remained online before being removed, in late 2015, YouTube user LARG downloaded a copy of the AudioSwapped version, which he would upload to his own channel on September 27, 2022. Unfortunately, since this is the AudioSwapped version, the original audio remains lost.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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   |id1          =v=g28jiO_71aY
   |id1          =v=g28jiO_71aY
   |description1 =An update to that YouTube video.
   |description1 =An update to that YouTube video.
}}
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =v=2do4sNALrxA
  |description1 =LARG's mirror of the AudioSwapped version.
}}
}}
==External Links==
==External Links==
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[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Lost internet media]]
[[Category:Lost internet media]]
[[Category:Completely lost media]]
[[Category:Partially lost media]]

Revision as of 04:01, 3 October 2022

Benandem.jpg

YouTube thumbnail for Ben and Em.

Status: Partially Lost

Ben and Em was an animated romantic drama short that was uploaded to YouTube in 2006. The short uses modified images from the popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes and was most likely animated using After Effects. The loves story involves two office workers, Ben and Em, and their ever-growing relationship until they get married. The creator of the short is toogie74, and although no visuals of the short have survived other than a thumbnail, there are memories and Reddit posts about it.[1][2]

History

While the exact date of the original upload is unknown, toogie74's YouTube channel was created on September 29, 2006. The original video featured voice acting for characters such as Ben, Em, and the narrator. It also featured various clips of copyrighted music, such as From This Moment On by Shania Twain and the theme from Jaws.

In 2009, due to ongoing licensing negations, YouTube began to permanently mute videos that featured music owned by Warner Music Group, including Ben and Em. At the time, when this happened, YouTube gave affected users the option to "AudioSwap" their video; allowing them to replace the original video's audio with a YouTube-licensed music track. As a result, the original video's audio was swapped out for the royalty-free song How Amazing by Musicshake. This is why some people remember the video having voice acting, while others only remember it having stock music.

Though the original audio was lost when this happened, the AudioSwapped video would remain on YouTube for a few more years before being removed altogether.

Plot

Note: This summary is based on the AudioSwapped video, not the original version with voice acting. Because of this, certain details may be missing.

The beginning of the short depicts a transmogrifier spinning around and showing what it can do. It turns to one knob, going from "hate" to "love," and revealing the text inside as "A Transmogrified Love Story."

After revealing the cast, all of which are characters from Calvin and Hobbes with different names (e.g. Calvin being Ben and Susie being Em), the short cuts to a city skyline, revealing that this takes place in June of 2002. In one building, Ben walks to his cubicle, with a picture of him fading in and out to create the effect. Ben and Em work at an office, with Ben having a crush on Em.

Soon after, there is a scene depicting a decision between Ben answering the phone and not answering it. Ben thinks that if he answers the phone, Em will start going "yakyakyakyakyak." So instead, he doesn't answer the phone, which makes Em furiously walk over to Ben's cubicle and scream in rage, startling him.

Ben still has feelings for Em, though, and they start dating. One thing to note is that Ben wears different shirts with different graphics, such as the Fantastic Four or the Incredibles logo.

After a lengthy montage of them bonding together, we see the transmogrifier again, turning another knob from "boyfriend-girlfriend" to "husband and wife," which means that their relationship has grown so well that it may be time for one of them to propose and get married.

The next scene shows Ben and Em walking in the park and talking to each other using speech bubbles. It often cuts to a black screen with white text showing what Ben or Em are thinking at the moment. Fr example, Ben says "Hey, I just got a text." and then cuts to the black screen saying: "Maybe I should text Miguel to see if everything is all set up." Em says "Okaayy..." to which it cuts to her thoughts: "Hello?! He's acting like I'm the invisible girl again!"

Ben and Em eventually make it to a coffee shop, where Em's parents and the waiters are waiting for her. One of the waiters played by Moe, gives Em a paper bag. It then transitions to a decision between three different options as to what could be in the bag, and the correct one is a bouquet of flowers. There is also a note by Ben, which goes on and on to finally ask "Will you marry me?" It then fades to a "The End" card from a silent film before finally showing Em accepting his proposal, which makes Ben very happy.

In the end, Ben and Em get married, depicted by Ben in a tuxedo and Em in a wedding gown. Afterwards, the credits roll, and the creator thanks many people, including God and his friends and family. The credits are done inside of a heart shape, which is soon revealed to be Hobbes making a heart shape with his hands.

Search Efforts

Some time after 2013 or 2014, the video would be deleted, and it would be forgotten until Reddit user TailSweet posted on r/lostmedia about the short, describing the video and the original version with voice acting. A dead link was uncovered after being discovered on a forum post, as well as on tuugo.biz under search results for "Benitem" after searching the link on Google. Some time later, TailSweet would make another post on the same subreddit about the film, even unearthing an elementary school project visually describing some scenes from the short. Some time later, a video by YouTube user Areaka would be posted as a part of his "SWTA" series, which went into more detail about the look of the characters and some scenes. The comments of the video also manage to piece together more details about the video in better detail. Through a Google image search of the dead link, an image was found of a listing for it on YouTube, revealing the length of the short as well as the username of the creator as toogie74. A search for the username brings up a YouTube channel that, while empty, was made in September 29, 2006. There was also a slideshow found that contained the thumbnail for the original video, which is the only surviving evidence that this video existed.

Partial Rediscovery

While it's unclear how long the original video remained online before being removed, in late 2015, YouTube user LARG downloaded a copy of the AudioSwapped version, which he would upload to his own channel on September 27, 2022. Unfortunately, since this is the AudioSwapped version, the original audio remains lost.

Gallery

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External Links


References