Kiwi!
Encyclopedia
Kiwi! is a 2006 computer-generated animation
created by Dony Permedi, a student in the New York City
School of Visual Arts
, as his Master's Thesis Animation, with music composed and performed by Tim Cassell. The animation's story of a kiwi
bird that aspires to fly created a major Internet phenomenon after it was hosted on the video sharing site YouTube
.
describing Kiwi! as "so cute it hurts" while the International Herald Tribune
, critical of the awards, characterized the video as being "sweet but dull."
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
created by Dony Permedi, a student in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, as his Master's Thesis Animation, with music composed and performed by Tim Cassell. The animation's story of a kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
bird that aspires to fly created a major Internet phenomenon after it was hosted on the video sharing site YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Plot
The video itself centers around a kiwi bird who is mysteriously seen to be nailing an array of trees to the side of a sheer cliff so that they stick out horizontally. After the kiwi finishes it returns to the top of the cliff, before donning an aviator's cap and suddenly jumping off. As it dives down the cliff head-first the camera view turns sideways, revealing the purpose behind the kiwi's efforts. A tear wells from one eye as the kiwi achieves its dream, flapping its tiny wings as it "flies" above the forest of trees. The kiwi then disappears into the fog below: at the very end a thump is heard, suggesting it may have died in the attempt.Controversy
While most viewers believe that the kiwi died after jumping off the cliff, some believe that it survived. They suspect the sound at the end to be the sound of the bird's parachute being ejected, rescuing the bird. Many object that this would seem to ruin the principal of the video - that it was the bird's life dream to fly, and that it died simulating that feeling. Also, some object that the kiwi wasn't, in fact, wearing a parachute at all, only an aviator's cap.Reception
Kiwi! has received a large following for its deep meaning and heart touching manner. One of the most popular activities in the fan base is to create an alternate ending (usually one where the kiwi survives). As of July 2011, the animation has been viewed over 30 million times, making it the second-most popular video in the "Film & Animation" category http://www.youtube.com/browse?t=a&p=1&s=mp&c=1&l= and one of the most popular on the entire site http://www.youtube.com/browse?t=a&p=2&s=mp&c=0&l=. It won official recognition on March 26, 2007 when viewers voted it the Most Adorable video of 2006 in the first annual YouTube Video Awards. This was an event large enough to draw international media attention with ABC newsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
describing Kiwi! as "so cute it hurts" while the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, critical of the awards, characterized the video as being "sweet but dull."
External links
- Kiwi! video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Dony Permedi's website
- Dony Permedi interviewed
- Kazakhstani YouTube-like project named after this animation