Random Encounters

Random Encounters is an American musical web series co-created by AJ Pinkerton and Peter Srinivasan. The series' first official short, "Singachu: A Pikachu Song", premiered on YouTube on June 7, 2011.[1] Since launching, the series has partnered with Disney Digital Network, Maker Studios, and at one point with IGN Entertainment.[2][3]

For the video game mechanism, see random encounter. For the band, see Random Encounter (band). For the 2013 American film, see Random Encounters (film).

Random Encounters
GenreMusical
Created byAJ Pinkerton
Peter Srinivasan
StarringAJ Pinkerton
Nathan Morse
Gwendolyn Pinkerton
ComposerAJ Pinkerton
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes133
Production
Production locationsPalmdale, California
Running time2–6 minutes
Release
Original networkYouTube
Original releaseJune 7, 2011 (2011-06-07) –
present
External links
Website

Each regular Random Encounters short consists of an original musical number (mostly performed by live costumed actors recreating scenes or starring as characters from a popular video game series, such as Super Mario Bros, Pokémon or Five Nights at Freddy's). The creators were first inspired to found the series in 2010, when their Sonic the Hedgehog musical parody won the grand prize in an international video competition hosted by Sega.[4]

Since launching their YouTube series, Random Encounters has traveled to various festivals and conventions to perform live.[5][6]

History

"Random Encounters" was initially conceived during a Sega-sponsored contest, for which AJ Pinkerton co-developed the winning entry and his first video game parody song, "Needlemouse: The Musical".[7] The Needlemouse song was requested by Sega to be performed live at their 2011 Sonic Boom community event, where AJ Pinkerton and Peter Srinivasan first recognized the demand for their product and began development on a series of popular games as musical numbers.[8]

Style

Random Encounters music videos are generally family-friendly and often written to be cleverly self-censored, such as utilizing creative alternatives to obscenities and disregarding the rhyming scheme abruptly to dodge profanity. Shorts based on mature content, such as Assassin's Creed, Five Nights at Freddy's and Dead Space, typically present light-hearted versions of the characters, rather than their colder in-game incarnations.

Musical styles for each short vary but often consist of bouncy rhythms and upbeat tempos. Some songs borrow heavily from other sources, such as Disney numbers or in-game themes. The series' derives much of its humor from each song's lyrics, which often refer to in-game events, pop culture or internet memes.

While most videos are performed with live-action setups, some songs feature 2D, 3D, and stopmotion animation.

Musicals

Games



April Fools Videos

Beginning in 2015, Random Encounters has consistently made clickbait-style videos and uploaded them on April Fools Day pretending that they are new musicals or series installments; while most are not musical in nature, original music was written for:

Other

Primary Actors
  • AJ Pinkerton is the co-founder, main writer, and director of Random Encounters, in addition to frequently starring as both male and female characters. AJ is typically eccentric and energetic and is particularly known for playing the titular Enis in the "Resident Enis" series. His other notable roles include Pikachu (in numerous videos), both Bonnie Bunny and Purple Guy in the Five Nights at Freddy's musicals, and the entire cast of the Kindergarten musical.
  • Nathan "Nate" Morse is a primary actor, editor, and producer for Random Encounters. He co-created the very first RE song, "Needlemouse: The Musical", and appeared in it as Dr. Eggman and Knuckles, but remained relatively uninvolved with RE for the next five years before returning full time in July 2016. His most popular appearances include starring roles as both Granny and Baldi, as well as continuing to play Dr. Eggman in several Sonic the Hedgehog videos. In 2016, Nate created and starred in a comedic game review series, "The Shovelwarewolf."[9] The series has since expanded to become a seasonal feature of Random Encounters.
  • Gwendolyn "Gwen" Pinkerton, formerly Gwendolyn Saltzman, is a primary actor for Random Encounters and, as of October 2018, the wife of AJ Pinkerton. Gwen has appeared in RE musicals since 2016, playing the characters of Info-chan, Six, and Team Rocket's Jessie in musicals based on Yandere Simulator, Little Nightmares, and Pokémon, respectively. Since officially joining the RE cast, Gwen has made notable performances as Yuri in "Just Monika: A DDLC Song" and as Playtime in "Baldi's Basics: The Musical," and was cast in the starring role in RE's Granny-inspired song, "Let Me Go." In the second season of the RE gaming series, "The Shovelwarewolf," Gwen was cast as the titular character's psychiatrist, appearing in all six episodes. AJ and Gwen began their relationship soon after her appearance in RE's Yandere Simulator musical.[10]

Former Cast
  • Peter Srinivasan is Random Encounters' former digital effects editor, sound editor and mixer, and its second co-founder. He sang for or starred in many videos before 2018, notably playing The Neighbor in RE's Hello Neighbor musical. Peter created digital effects for the series and was the primary audio engineer for each song. During RE's February 2018 live stream, Peter announced that beginning in April he would be taking a three-month hiatus, in the interest of mental health and alternative creative endeavors.[11] He later announced that he would be officially stepping away from both Random Encounters and YouTube as a whole, preferring to focus on outside opportunities.
  • Miss Bird is a former RE cast member who was featured in numerous musicals between 2012 and 2017. Her most notable roles for the channel included Yandere-chan in RE's Yandere Simulator musical, Circus Baby in "FNaF: Blood and Tears" and Franziska von Karma in "Phoenix Wright: The Turnabout Encounter", in addition to both large and smaller roles in many other musicals. She left RE in late 2017 and is currently focusing on her creative endeavors.

Guest Stars
  • Lora Rivera has made appearances in multiple RE musicals, starting with "Singachu" - making her the first guest star to officially appear on the channel. Her most notable role is that of Amy Rose in RE's Sega-sponsored Sonic Boom musical.
  • Brooke "Dodger" Lawson, also known by her YouTube username "PressHeartToContinue", has made several appearances on the RE channel, most notably playing herself in the "Resident Enis" series as well as the titular Eevee in "The Eevee Song". Her other roles have included Hilda Berg in Cuphead: The Musical, a scout in Medics Don't Heal Scouts!, and one of the students in "Pokemon University".
  • Aleu Moana is a fellow YouTuber who has been featured in musicals for the games Yandere Simulator, Pokémon GO, and HuniePop. She was also cast as The President in RE's Godzilla musical.
  • Dave Bloom is best known for playing Sephiroth in RE's Final Fantasy VII parody "One-Winged Office", as well as Link in "Hyrule Warrior's Heart."
  • Casey Dwyer has appeared in many RE videos over the years, and notably provides the gruff voice of RE's recurring skeleton character, "Eisenstein McBones." He has also been featured as Knuckles the Echidna in many of RE's Sonic the Hedgehog videos, and voiced characters in RE's musicals based on Pac-Man, Angry Birds, and Tetris. In 2019, Casey returned to RE as the voice of Glitchtrap in "FNAF: Web Of Lies".
  • Emily Dane (formerly Emily Brown) voiced Pinky in "Pac-Man: The Musical," as well as Squarella Blocki in "Tetris: The Musical." Emily later appeared once again in RE's HuniePop song, portraying the love goddess Venus.
  • David King has been featured repeatedly on Random Encounters over the years. His earliest starring role, as Dr. Bad-boon in the Sega-sponsored Super Monkey Ball musical, led to him becoming RE's canon Professor Oak actor for many future Pokémon projects. More recently, Dave has also played several voiceover roles, notably voicing Foxy the Pirate and Phone Guy in "FNaF: The Musical" and Blind Specter in "Cuphead the Musical". Dave runs his own Youtube Channel called Midnight Marinara, featuring Creepypasta voiceovers that several RE stars have acted in, including AJ, Miss Bird, and Gwen.
  • Kaela Berry has played various minor roles on Random Encounters, notably portraying Oka Ruto in "Senpai Notice Me". She and David King got married in 2019.
  • Anna & Sara Bartelt are twin sisters who appeared together in "Pikmin: The Musical," and again in "The Eevee Song" as Minun and Plusle respectively. Though Anna has been featured more frequently, Sara was inducted (as the Pokémon Jigglypuff) to "join" RE's fictional "Smash Brotherhood" before her sister in a post-credits sequence following "The Eevee Song."
  • Mark Fischbach is a popular sketch and gaming YouTuber, best known for his popular channel Markiplier. He first worked with Random Encounters in 2014, leading to iconic collaborations in musicals based on Five Nights at Freddy's, Cuphead, and even chess (co-starring animal actress Crystal the Monkey). Mark also teamed up with RE to film two episodes of an original series, "Resident Enis," which was partly funded by Disney XD.[12]
  • Seán "Jack" McLoughlin is a popular comedic and gaming YouTuber, best known for his channel Jacksepticeye. To date, he has made one appearance on Random Encounters, voicing the Elder Kettle in "Cuphead the Musical".
  • Nathan "Nate" Sharp is a YouTube-based music artist best known for his channel NateWantsToBattle, where he uploads a mixture of covers and original songs. His first appearance with RE was as Professor Sycamore in "Pokemon University", and since then his most notable work with the channel has included co-starring in RE's Five Nights at Freddy's musical, voicing the character King Dice in their Cuphead song, and appearing as the titular senpai in "Senpai Notice Me."
  • Morgan Want made several cameo appearances in the video "StreetPass Love", and appeared as both Osana Najimi and Mei Mio in "Senpai Notice Me".
  • Xander Mobus is a professional voice actor, credited with voicing Freddy Fazbear in "FNAF: The Musical," along with making a small cameo as a police officer in the musical's second and fourth episodes and (by default) its supercut. Xander later returned as Freddy Fazbear for newer FNAF musicals "Ground Zero" and "Web Of Lies".
  • Sarah Williams is a professional voice actress, known on RE for voicing Chica in "FNAF: The Musical." She first appeared in "Paperboy: The Musical" in 2014, and in 2017 she was cast in a major on-screen role, appearing as Wendy Oldbag in RE's Ace Attorney musical.
  • Angi Viper is an online streamer and cosplayer who has done both music-based and costuming work with Random Encounters. In addition to creating the outfit worn by Dodger in "The Eevee Song," Angi has played Princess Peach in several RE musicals, building the costume herself. Despite her rise in popularity, Angi has returned for major roles in "Phoenix Wright: The Turnabout Encounter", "HuniePop: The Musical" and "Legendary Heroes", amongst others.
  • Matthew Patrick, known online as MatPat, is another guest YouTuber who notably appeared in "FNAF: The Musical", playing the primary antagonist, Phone Guy. He later starred in RE's stopmotion Bendy and the Ink Machine musical, though his first appearance in any RE musical was in "How to Beat a Monkey at Chess" on Markiplier's channel. Most recently, he voiced the characters Dr. Kahl and Wally Warbles in "Cuphead the Musical", and reprised his role as Phone Guy in "FNAF: Web Of Lies". Together with his wife, Stephanie, MatPat runs four major YouTube channels: The Game Theorists, The Film Theorists, The Food Theorists, and GTLive.
  • Katie Herbert is an actress who has featured in many RE musicals through the years, including notable appearances in songs based on the games Paperboy and Doki Doki Literature Club.
  • OR3O (pronounced "Oreo") is a Youtube musician who starred in RE's Doki Doki Literature Club song, "Just Monika," playing Monika herself, and later played the character Kris in their Deltarune song "Legendary Heroes". She has her own YouTube channel, "OR3O", where she creates vocal covers for video games.
  • Adriana Figueroa is a YouTube musician who has made several notable appearances on RE, including as Natsuki in "Just Monika", Cheese in "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Musical Movie Trailer", and Elizabeth "Lizzy" Afton in "FNAF: Web Of Lies". She also recorded vocals for the character of Baroness Von Bon Bon in RE's animated Cuphead musical. Adriana has her own YouTube channel, adrisaurus, where she produces a mix of original music and vocal covers of video game songs.
  • Scott Leverett is a prop master who has appeared in many RE videos, musical and non-musical, as the stoic original character, Sweeping Man (also known as the "Minesweeper"). Because of his fabled ability to find or create rare items, as well as make emergency repairs with few resources, Scott is commonly joked to have otherworldly powers (referenced in RE's Minesweeper song, as well as by Markiplier during "FNAF: The Musical.") Scott maintains a DIY channel, "The Prop Master's Handbook", for aspiring prop-makers.[13]
  • Joshua "JWittz" Wittenkeller is a YouTuber, known on RE for his role as Professor Elm in the Pokémon Professor musical, "Pokémon University".
  • Kial Natale, better known as "MegaSteakMan", made a cameo in "Pokémon University" as a student.
  • Devon Chenoweth has been a recurring cast member on RE for many years. He has played multiple characters in various musicals, including Detective Gumshoe in "Phoenix Wright: The Turnabout Encounter", Crazy Dave in "Plants vs Zombies: The Musical", and Jason Voorhees in "Friday the 13th: The Musical".
  • Charlie Green, known online as CG5, is a YouTube-based musician best known for both original songs and covers based around video games and other popular culture. His first and only appearance on Random Encounters to date is as Michael "Mike" Afton in "FNAF: Ground Zero".

Original characters
  • The Beard, an unofficial mascot for Random Encounters, is a faceless creature used as an easter egg in each RE short. It is typically seen in a long black coat and hat, with a thick yellow beard entirely obscuring its face. The Beard does not speak English but instead prefers to make "oogh" sounds. When appearing at conventions, the Beard keeps a stash of marshmallows, which it throws when spotted by fans. On YouTube, viewers often post timecodes for the Beard's appearances in each video's comments section as pointers for other viewers. Few people besides the Sweeping Man are said to have lived through a Beard attack.[14]
  • Eisenstein McBones is a grouchy half-torso human skeleton (referred to as a "Stalfos" in the series). He wears various costumes and hats depending on the occasion and is most frequently associated with his boss, Ganondorf. Eisenstein often uses the term "meat-sack", both as a synonym for "human" and as an expletive.
  • The Sweeping Man, also known as the Minesweeper, is a mysterious, fedora-clad man who appears recurrently sweeping the floors in RE videos. Sweeping Man rarely speaks, even in live Random Encounters performances; he is stated to have supernatural capabilities and to have trained as a ninja. Allegedly, he is one of very few humans to have survived an attack from The Beard. In "Five Nights At Freddy's: The Musical", Nathan Sharp told Mark Fischbach that The Sweeping Man (who had three rounds of ammunition shot into his chest by Mark at Night 2, mistaking him as Foxy), was in a stable condition.
  • The Giant Crazy Snake is a bearded sock puppet, first featured in "The Legend of Ganondorf" and later in cameos in many other musicals, including as Arts and Crafters in "The Baldi's Basics Musical." Many of his appearances end with a special message, warning kids against reckless behaviors "without parental supervision". The Giant Crazy Snake is also shown to be an accomplished cage-fighter.

Corporate relationships

Sega

After "Needlemouse: The Musical" won top honors in their Sonic Birthday contest, Sega arranged to have the Random Encounters team perform an alternate version at Sonic Boom 2011, this time highlighting the Modern Sonic/Classic Sonic chemistry from Sonic Generations.[15] Nine months later, Random Encounters co-produced a musical game trailer for the fictitious title "Sega Bass Fishing of the Dead" as part of Sega's online April Fools' prank.[16] Sega approached the Random Encounters team a third time with the release of Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, which became the focus of the first sponsored Encounter.[17]

In August 2012, the Random Encounters Facebook page confirmed their involvement with Sega on a Super Monkey Ball video.[18]

Sega collaborated yet again with Random Encounters on a musical promoting the Sonic Boom franchise when the channel uploaded a live-action musical in late 2014.[19]

Nintendo

In 2013, Random Encounters joined the Nintendo Ambassador program as part of the Wii U Challenge. Their first project as a brand ambassador, for the Challenge, was a musical promoting The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.[20]

In June 2014, Nintendo sent Random Encounters to E3, along with Black Nerd Comedy, Lamarr Wilson, and Smosh Games.[21] To help promote Nintendo's titles, Random Encounters produced a short musical starring Wario, which included a surprise Charles Martinet cameo at the end.

Nintendo teamed with RE again in 2015 for the launch of their new franchise, Splatoon, by helping host a multi-cam let's play tournament[22] and inviting AJ to compete at their Mess Fest obstacle course promoting the game on the Santa Monica Pier.[23]

For the launch of 2018's Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Nintendo recruited Random Encounters (as well as Ryan Higa, Matthew Santoro, Kandee Johnson, Devinsupertramp, Feast of Fiction, and ESAM) to promote individual fighters from the game.[24] Random Encounters chose to highlight the Inkling character from Splatoon with a musical number titled, "If I Was an Inkling."

Disney XD

In August 2015, Variety.com posted an online article linking Random Encounters to a Disney XD initiative labeled "Disney XD by Maker." The crossover will reportedly seek to "find and develop video concepts for distribution on YouTube, as well as potentially DisneyXD.com and the Watch Disney XD app. It was later reported by Random Encounters that Disney XD by Maker would be funding Resident Enis 2: Monster Gulch, which was released early February 2016"[25]

References
  1. "Singachu: A Pikachu Song". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  2. "Disney XD & Maker Studios Launch Talent & Content Incubation Program 'Disney XD by Maker'". TV By The Numbers. 2015-08-31. Archived from the original on 2017-03-30.
  3. "IGN Daily Fix 11.23.11". IGN.com. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  4. "Jace Hall Show Blog RE Interview". JaceHallShow.com. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
  5. "AODSF History". aodsf.org. Archived from the original on 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
  6. "JPOP 2012 Guests: Random Encounters". NewPeopleWorld.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  7. "Sonic's 19th Birthday Winners Announced". sega.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  8. "Watch Your Favorite Games Being Acted Out". dailydot.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  9. Random Encounters (2016-10-31), The Shovelwarewolf: DUCK DYNASTY (Ep. 1x05) [SEASON FINALE], retrieved 2017-02-09
  10. "CRAZY Try Not To Laugh Challenge w/ Kati Morton & Random Encounters | Game Theory Charity Livestream". YouTube. Theorist Media. 12/02/2018. Retrieved 01/04/19. Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)
  11. "Monthly Live Stream (February 2018)". YouTube. 02/03/2018. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. "Disney XD by Maker videos to premiere March 31". Kidscreen. 2016-03-29.
  13. "PropMaster's Handbook Intro". YouTube. 10/12/2013. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. "Glimpse Into the Beard". YouTube.com. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  15. "Random Encounters Interview". jacehallshow.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  16. "Introducing Bass Fishing of the Dead". sega.com. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  17. "Sega and Random Encounters Deliver a Rhythm Thief Musical". destructoid.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  18. "Random Encounters". facebook.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  19. "Sonic the Hedgehog status". Twitter. 12/2/2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73EW1I0a6IY
  21. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2JiZAV5BmDXrGBFTDQz2FuIOWp7l2RDf
  22. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBpRwPSoxqmnzfj3olpxWP0kweEOgY2e
  23. "Splatoon to make a big mess in Santa Monica, California next Friday 5/15". vgtidbits.com. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  24. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2JiZAV5BmDXtz9jCTyS5zfVhtjihwaJl
  25. "Disney XD Might Make TV Shows Starring YouTube Creators". variety.com. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
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