Recently, over 200 people collaborated to recreate all of the animated cutscenes from the notorious CDi version of Legend Of Zelda. This “reanimated” video strings all the cutscnes together to form a story and each of the scenes have been completely remade using many different methods: Everything from hand-drawn animation, to CGI, to even live acting were used making this one of the most unique video-game-based art projects I’ve ever seen.
While the Zelda CDi games have been critically panned and (rightfully) mocked, they’ve also played quite a role in retro gaming culture, as they were the result of a deal gone horribly wrong between Nintendo and Philips (and also Sony, which pushed them into making the PlayStation). This deal ended with Nintendo no longer wanting to partner with Philips to make a CD add-on to the Super Nintendo (to compete with the Sega CD), but Philips still having the ability to license Nintendo’s Mario and Zelda franchises. As a result, that was one of the rare moments in Nintendo history where their biggest franchises were released to the world without the stringent oversight and attention to detail the Nintendo staff normally bring. In fact, almost every time Nintendo handed the reigns of their IP to someone else in the 90’s, it went epically bad.
This tribute and re-imagining of those cutscenes will surely help continue the legacy of this odd an unique piece of history. A list of all creators involved in the project can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eGpFp84qGJDAzK4Tbj0YoKc-bDVwfaXwynrsSfqh6EU
Thank you for your patience!
🤩The Zelda Cdi Reanimated Collab comes out TODAY in just 2 hours! Click on the link and turn on the reminder so you'll be the first to know when the video releases! "Squadala, we are off!" –@PatchToons & @ArtemisArrows64 https://t.co/5b06yqc7bH pic.twitter.com/iqrOpSDkSd
— Zelda CDi Reanimated (@ZeldaReanimated) September 6, 2020
