- Hey, Travis.
Make a cartoon.
- I mean, with the success of the comic book,
a cartoon is a no-brainer.
- Imagine my face but animated.
- Animation.
- Travis, the football game's on, you want
a beer?
- I wanna voice Grog!
- Wanna write some scripts for a cartoon?
- Animation!
- What's wrong, honey?
- I had a dream that Critical Role is making
an animated special.
- Go back to sleep.
We'll talk about it in the morning.
- No, now!
Rise and shine, everyone!
- Ah!
- Hey world, we are Critical Role, a bunch
of nerdy-ass voice actors.
- And today, we are thrilled to announce our
45-day campaign for a Critical Role
(gasp)
animated special!
- Now this has been highly requested, and
believe me, for five years, it's been our
dream to tell these stories in animation.
Now, with your support, we're gonna make that
dream a reality.
And fund a fully animated half-hour special
starring the original characters from our
first campaign.
- Yeah, we are calling it The Legend of Vox
Machina.
- Oh my gosh!
But why wait, let's just show 'em the animated
teaser we've been working on.
Roll the clip!
- Whoa, no no, uh-uh.
- Hold your horses, okay?
- Why, what's wrong, what's wrong?
- No, I mean, some folks might not know, ow,
who the hell we are.
- Good point, for those who are not familiar,
Critical Role is a live roleplaying show that's
streamed on Thursday nights featuring us,
a group of best friends, who happen to be
professional voice actors.
- Now this show has inspired millions of people
to create incredible fan art and spread the
love of storytelling to a whole new generation.
Now this amazing community has come to be
known as the Critters.
You know who you are.
- And the Critters have inspired us to tell
our stories in books, live events, even a
Dark Horse comic book series, so needless
to say, we're pretty stoked to finally take
the next big step and make an animated special.
- So without further ado, let's roll that--
- Not yet.
- They still don't know about our creative
partners.
- Okay.
- We're not animators, but we happen to know
some folks who are pretty good at it.
- Are we drawing this f***ing cartoon or what?
It's got action, it's got comedy, it's got
drunkenness, it's got everything!
- We are also bringing in one of the busiest
animation writers in the biz to help craft
a brand new adventure for Vox Machina.
- Your mom uses spell check.
Listen, I been doing this a while and I know
what you guys want me to say.
No I'm not giving any spoilers.
All I can say is that it is going to be in
canon and it takes place before the streaming
show started.
Also, the bad guy is going to be revealed
to be none other than--
- Whew.
That was close.
- And how about the voices.
That, my friends, is easy, we are all voicing
our original roles, Matt too.
- Well, the ones I can do.
- And we'll even be joined by some special
celebrity cameos.
- Ooh.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's an all-star lineup.
Roll the freaking clip!
- No, no, not yet, not yet.
We still need to explain why we need the campaign
in the first place.
- Hey guys, I'm sorry to interject, but I've
been crunching some numbers here, one minute
of TV quality animation costs between $30,000
to 50,000, and our budget, $750,000 is way
more than any media company wanted to take
a chance on, especially since our show is
about a fantasy adventuring group named Vox
Machina.
You know, based off of a game.
Which means we need you to help fund animators,
background arts, character designers, sound
and picture editors, storyboards, music, special
effects, and the writing and recording process
for 18 months of production.
But I am 100% sure we can get there, because
after all, I do play a forensic scientist
on TV, so I know what I'm talking about.
- Thanks Ash.
And with that, it is time to finally show
you what we have been working on.
Laura, why don't you do the hon--
- Roll that motherf***ing clip!
♪ Roll, Critical ♪
♪ The adventure begins♪
♪ They were always beside you ♪
♪ Your nerdy best friends ♪
♪ And the DM to guide
you ♪
♪ And they rise from the flames for the battles ahead ♪
♪ Villains beware
'cause you're about to be dead ♪
♪ They got magic and flair ♪
♪ They got daggers
and cunning ♪
♪ They don't see over there ♪
♪ There's a monster incoming ♪
♪ Inspiration
is waiting, rise up, don't think twice ♪
♪ Put your fate in your hands, take a chance, roll the dice ♪
♪ Roll the dice, roll the dice ♪
♪ Can you answer the call ♪
♪ Digging
deep in your soul ♪
♪ As the legend unfolds ♪
♪ Now it's your turn, your turn, your
turn ♪
♪ To roll ♪
- You know what, you're right, we probably
should've led with that.
- That was so good!
Of course, we wouldn't be Critical Role if
we didn't have some awesome swag for you guys,
so we'll be rolling out all kinds of campaign-specific
rewards and the higher up you go,
the more we can unlock.
- Remember, if you can't contribute, you can
still support us by sharing the campaign with
your rich-ass friends.
Like me.
- Yes, and keep checking back.
We'll be posting updates with artwork, animation,
progress reports, all along the way.
You can expect the final delivery of The Legend
of Vox Machina in the fall of 2020.
- We began this journey five years ago as
a bunch of voice actors with a love of storytelling,
and with your generosity, we can come full-circle
back to our roots in voiceover animation.
Thank you for sharing our excitement and your
support of this project.
Bidet, friends.
Bidet.
