Inanimate Insanity (Series)

Inanimate Insanity is an American online animated reality TV web series on YouTube created by Adam Katz, Taylor Grodin, Brian Koch and Justin Chapman, who create the series together on the YouTube channel AnimationEpic. The series is about a group of anthropomorphic objects that compete for 1 million dollars, led by the host, MePhone4. It premiered on April 1st, 2011, and is currently airing its second and third season simultaneously.

Outside of the web episodes, the series has expanded into animated shorts, webcomics, several soundtrack albums and merchandise (such as t-shirts, mugs and phone cases, with a plush toy in the near future).

Staff

 * Adam Katz - Creator, Director, Producer, Animator, Voice Actor, Storyboard Artist, Writer
 * Taylor Grodin - Director, Sound-Editor, Voice Actor, Animator, Storyboard Artist, Writer
 * Brian Koch - Director, Writer, Voice Actor, Editor
 * Justin Chapman - Director, Writer, Voice Actor

About
"Inanimate Insanity is an online animated series on the AnimationEpic YouTube Channel, produced by Adamation, Inc. The story centers around MePhone4, a shrewd and sentient cell-phone that creates his very own elimination-based reality show! With an ability to generate challenges and obstacles of practically any scope, there's seemingly no limit to what he can do!

A cast of contestants suit up to begin a crazy game and (hopefully) compete in fun-filled challenges, so long as everything stays on schedule! While the contestants may seem like simple lightbulbs, baseballs, and various other common items, they quickly prove that looks can be deceiving! Whoever fails to earn immunity is at risk of being sent off the show and into the unknown. In the end, one contestant will outlast all the rest and claim the million dollar prize!

The team is currently producing and airing Season 2 and Season 3. Season 1 has been fully created and released, with 18 episodes."

Inanimate Insanity revolves around a group of anthropomorphic objects competing in a reality television show with the grand prize of one million dollars. The reality show is created by their host, MePhone4, an anthropomorphic smartphone manufactured by Meeple Inc.. While the contestants compete in various challenges, they develop relationships with each other and form alliances, but every contestant is challenged to see who can outlast the others. The style of the show is similar to that of Total Drama Island and Survivor in that the contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity and avoid elimination from the competition. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow-contestants until only one remains to be awarded the grand prize.

The series takes large inspiration from Survivor, Total Drama Island, and Battle for Dream Island.

Format
As the show revolves around a competition, the format of Inanimate Insanity follows the contestants' gameplay each season. The group of contestants are initially split into teams that compete against one another. Each episode, a challenge is introduced to the contestants by the host to determine a singular winner, whether it be one contestant or an entire team, to win immunity for that round. The contestants, or team, that does not win the challenge is put up for elimination, which is either decided by viewers of the series through viewer voting, or the contestants themselves. The player who receives the most votes is eliminated and kicked out of the competition, rarely given the chance to rejoin.

Eventually the teams dissolve, known as the "Merge", and each contestant fights for themselves, though alliances can be formed. Strategic gameplay along with positive relationships are highly sought after in the competition, and lack thereof may result in elimination.

The two contestants who outlasts the others and avoid elimination are entered into the finale, who go head to head in a final challenge to win the grand prize.

Seasons
There are currently three seasons in the Inanimate Insanity series.

The series' first season, entitled Inanimate Insanity, or II, premiered on April 1, 2011 on AnimationEpic, where all future seasons and content would remain. The series tells a story about MePhone4, a sentient smartphone, who spontaneously creates a competition between sixteen, later eighteen, anthropomorphic objects, who compete against each other in various challenges for a grand prize of one million dollars.

The series' second season, entitled Inanimate Insanity II, or II II, premiered on April 2nd, 2013, two years and one day after the first season. The second season continues the same story from the first season of MePhone4 once again creating a competition between nineteen, later twenty, anthropomorphic objects, who compete against each other for another million dollars. The story, while following the same template as the first season, branches off into more developed storylines with characters and intensive themes. Additionally, an alternate season exists called Inanimate Insanity Infinity, which takes place in an alternate timeline of Inanimate Insanity II.

The series' third season, entitled Inanimate Insanity Invitational, or III, premiered on April 3rd, 2021, eight years and one day after the second season, and ten years and two days after the first season. The third season runs simultaneous to the second season, though it tells a new separate story is stated to have no affect on the second season's story.

Spinoffs
Throughout Inanimate Insanity's history, there have been various spinoffs that have branched from the show's characters and lore.
 * The Taco Show - a short-lived spinoff where Taco interviews contestants.
 * Enanimat Ensanetay - a crudely-made spinoff version of Inanimate Insanity, featuring short episodes with characters using distorted voices and partaking in absurd stories and challenges.
 * Inanimate Battle - a live-action competition where contestants, both familiar and new, compete against each other.
 * Fan's Fantastic Features - an animated spinoff series hosted by Fan where he interviews eliminated contestants from the first two seasons of Inanimate Insanity.
 * Inanimate Answers - a live-action side series hosted by Justin Chapman, where he takes on a persona and asks various Inanimate Insanity characters for advice.

Comics
The series began a series of webcomics called Inanimate Comics on July 8, 2020. There are currently six issues, with the official website saying "More comics coming soon!" The comics are created by CakeBrunch. Volume #1 ran from July 8, 2020 to September 9, 2020, and Volume #2 started on April 16, 2021.

Merchandise

 * The official store is hosted on Spring, and sells various merchandise such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, posters, stickers and more.
 * Various soundtracks have been released on iTunes and Spotify featuring music from Inanimate Insanity II.
 * A plush toy of Lightbulb was announced during the Inanimate Direct, but has not been created yet.