Steampunk

I always find it strange that the DIY community has a very strong idea of what steampunk looks like. It's Victorian clothes, brass, leather, and gears everywhere. There are steam-powered machines, sure, but I feel like it's the aesthetic that drives the community.

And yet, I can't think of any movie that actually exemplifies that world. There are plenty of movies that have steampunk elements but nothing that really embodies the steampunk "look" to me. The closest I can think of is Steamboy from 2004. It takes place in a Victorian era and has steam-powered devices, and yet it just feels like a WWI movie to me. I guess maybe it's too "grounded" in the real world and I want more ridiculous fantasy elements? I'm not sure what it is.

But what other movies embody that steampunk aesthetic? I can think of plenty of movies that take place in a Victorian era, or maybe include some steam-powered machines, but I can't think of any movie that I can point to and say "You want to know what steampunk is? Go watch this movie." Steamboy is the closest I can think of. Or maybe April and the Extraordinary World? I'm not sure.

In my opinion, Hullabaloo is one of the biggest missed opportunities in steampunk. Like I mentioned in my post about Steamboy yesterday, it seems like there are plenty of movies with steampunk elements but very few that actually lean into steampunk as a whole. I mean, not just airships or steam-powered devices but the whole world that the DIY steampunk community has been creating since it started. So I was excited when I first heard about Hullabaloo. It wasn't just going to be an animated film with steampunk "influences", it was first and foremost a steampunk animated film.

Hullabaloo started as an indiegogo campaign in 2014. They wanted $80,000 to make a 2d steampunk film using traditional hand-drawn animation and a bunch of ex-Disney animators. Their plan was to release this film in 2015. The campaign was so successful that they blew past their initial goal and started adding stretch goals to create episodes of Hullabaloo. And they kept blowing past those goals too. In the end they raised $470k; passing enough stretch goals to make 4 episodes of Hullabaloo. And then came... the wait.

To their credit, they kept updating the indiegogo page with their progress. They didn't just take the money and run. But their plan for 2015 came and went with nothing to show for it. Another year past, and another, still nothing to show for it. 5 years... 6 years... 7 years... Finally, 8 years after their intended 2015 release date (in 2023) they released episode 1. It was less than 7 minutes long. And didn't exactly have a plot. It's mostly just two characters driving in the desert.

Again, to their credit, this crew of ex-Disney animators did an amazing job. The animation style reminds me a lot of the Don Bluth movies. But this 7 minute short film feels more like an animation test than an "episode". Now here we are another 3 years later and there's no sign of episode 2.

I guess the goal had always been to make a short film and garner enough interest to fund a feature-length movie, but the talk of "episodes" had me thinking we'd get more than 7 minutes. And while I know hand-drawn animation takes a lot more time and effort than I would expect, an 8-year wait for a 7-minute short film seems excessive. Although aside from being terrible at estimating how long it would take, I don't think they really misrepresented anything. They never specified how long these episodes would be.

Still, the idea of a feature-length steampunk movie made from ex-Disney animators would've been amazing. And these 7 minutes really do show a cool spark of an idea. But right now, that's all it is. Here's episode 1 in full. You can watch all 7 minutes yourself.

This is a video for the “chap hop” artist Professor Elemental (who has an intelligent simian butler and time-travel trousers, according to his music catalog).

This particular video was filmed at the Wild West Con, and features a ton of individuals in Steam Punk regalia.

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oOearq

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/deAY1

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Qzo6aL

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4bQ1n

Retribution Falls is the first in a series of 4 books called Tales of the Ketty Jay. The entire series is awesome and I highly recommend all of it.

If you've ever seen the TV show Firefly, the best explanation of the Ketty Jay series is "steampunk Firefly". It's a "found family" crew who are all running away from something and have found a home on the airship Ketty Jay, where they do whatever odd jobs they can to keep flying. The book starts with them accidentally killing the prince and now they're being hunted by an entire kingdom while trying to clear their name. It's a fun ride.

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ELD5bN

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/9vlBN

Credit: https://www.spikedmcgrath.com/2011/11/13/tales-from-the-wasteland-the-airship-docks/

Credit: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ElE3K

Probably the most well known game in steampunk genre.

Story is set in 1912 and takes place in a floating steampunk city-state in the sky called "Columbia".