BRODYQUEST

About

BRODYQUEST is an animated music video featuring an exploitable image of professional actor Adrien Brody, going about his "normal" day set to catchy music. Throughout the video, Brody continually walks from the left of the screen to the right of it, while the scenery behind him gradually changes in a repeated cycle. The video became immensely popular on YouTube for its catchy tune and psychedelic visuals, spawning a series of parodies and derivatives titled (X) Quest.

Origin

The original song and the music video were produced by Neil Cicierega^[1], the creator of Potter Puppet Pals and Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.. On June 1st, 2010, Cicierega uploaded the music video to YouTube along with the description "The best day of Adrien Brody's life." The video supposedly recounts a day in the life of Adrien Brody: Brody is shown waking up early in the morning and starting his journey from his home to park. After reaching the park, he then travels to the ocean, where he is joined by starfish in his journey. Traveling past famous landmarks, Brody then reaches the far reaches of outer space, where he becomes an "intergalactic rock n' roll star," to which he uses his new-found power to create a world that revolves around his likeness. Over the next seven years, the video gained over 7.6 million views and 23,200 comments.

Spread

On August 14th, 2011, YouTuber reemix uploaded a video of various Team Fortress 2 characters dancing to a mashup of the BRODYQUEST song titled "Soulja Quest" (shown below, left). On July 17th, 2012, YouTuber KevinHilt uploaded an Andrew Hussie-themed parody titled "HUSSIEQUEST" (shown below, right).

On January 4th, 2014, Cicierega uploaded a compilation of Brodyquest mashups titled "Brodyquest Mashup Megamix" (shown below). Over the next four years, the video accumulated upwards of 790,000 views and 1,300 comments.

On July 4th, 2015, YouTuber Cyranek uploaded a parody titled "MEMEQUEST," featuring an animation of the character Mr. Orange walking through various internet meme scenes with an airhorn-themed cover of the original BRODYQUEST song (shown below, left). On February 25th, 2016, the YouTube for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert posted an interview with Brody in which they discuss the original viral video (shown below, right).

Neil Cicierega's Response

On June 22nd, 2010, an interview article with Cicierega was posted on Screened^[2], in which he discussed his reaction to the viral success of BRODYQUEST. In the interview, he explained that the video was made to fit into the theme of his redesigned Youtube Channel and that the catchy word "BRODYQUEST" inspired him to make the video.

Months later on May 26th, 2011, Cicierega released the sequel to his original BRODYQUEST video through a separate YouTube account 2Neil2Cicierega. For this video, Cicierega used footage of Adrien Brody receiving his first Oscar for Best Actor in 2003, and replaced the background orchestra with the BRODYQUEST theme.

On December 20, 2011, Neil Cicierega made a post on his tumblr blog promoting an BRODYQUEST Song remix contest. ^[4]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References