In 2003, a rudimentary Flash animation called “The End of the World” appeared on eBaum’s World. It spread like a virus in the pre-smartphone, pre-YouTube era. Ever wonder what happened to the teen who made it?
He’s currently a bearded dad in Portland. Mic managed to track down and interview Jason Windsor, the animator and voice behind the video. Windsor is still making movies and offered some insight on the early days of internet video, as well as the zeitgeist that his grainy old animation captured a dozen years ago. It’s a little heavy considering current events:
I think we were already in Iraq… Basically, we were talking about the state of the world, especially with nuclear weapons. Some things have changed since then, and some things haven’t…
Some of the actions we were taking as a country were questionable in our minds, and just seemed like we were doing what we’ve done a lot of in the past, which is to go somewhere and create more enemies for future generations.
In 2003, I was a freshman in college, and it did feel like the world was ending, with the US invasion of Iraq and no end in sight to George W Bush’s regime. But my friends and I laughed through our tears while we watched one of the first and probably the best ever viral videos. It’s still good, too.
[Mic]