Red Letter Media Animated -The Pong Horror Movie

Also known as Spitballs, in this episode the guys go off on a weird tangent after seeing a zoomer wearing a Pac-Man t-shirt. Instead of Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog, what if Hollywood cashed in on the video game movie revival trend with a feature film about the very first video game... PONG! HOW EXCITING WOULD THAT BE?!? WHAT AN AMAZING IP TO EXPLOIT WITH ENDLESS POTENTIAL!
Special thanks to the brilliant WeeZacharyP for his inventive animation! Enjoy, friends!

[@escape209]

I call it "I Have No Paddle, and I Must Pong"

[@corydonlapaz6803]

"I Have No Ping, and I Must Pong"

[@poppers7317]

@StevieNockman It's great to hear that RedLetterMedia inspires you! Setting goals like reaching 3K likes on your video can be really motivating. Remember, the journey to achieving your dreams often involves persistence and hard work. Instead of just asking for likes, focus on creating content that genuinely resonates with your audience. Engage with your viewers, improve your skills, and let your passion shine through.

[@Ensorcle]

Perfection

[@jaxxedup]

Brilliant lol, also would it kill them to do like a series or movie adap of that game.... that game/story still goes hard to this day

[@youreshouldoflearntgrammer8277]

So BulletBall?

[@Fraulein_Sausageball]

"The whole time when we were talking about Pong, I was thinking about Frogger."

[@rihardsrozans6920]

Mike's dementia is ruthless and progressively getting worse

[@mdihero]

Mike only knows about video games because he saw it in a movie

[@Proletariat12]

rofl we can't just casually let him get away with that and move past it

[@ELEKTROSKANSEN]

'member that Seinfeld episode with Frogger???

[@OrgaNik_Music]

Yes, that is a thing that was said in the video

[@TheRealJabbergeist]

"I don't know how Pong works, but I'm writing the Pong movie" -Everyone in hollywood for the past 15 years

[@sicksock435446]

Literally every book adaptation the director can't help but brag about not reading the book.

[@BackdoorBarnyard]

"I don't have time to read the book. I have a screenplay to write."

[@theraven268]

@@BackdoorBarnyard Despite not taking time to redraft it

[@mrlaz9011]

you don't understand, they need all the time they have to snort as much snow as possible instead of actually researching. It's very important!

[@skeeteronthemic4745]

I love the sheer amount of tennis courts at Mr. Pongs house

[@BradenKennelly]

I didn’t even connect the dots the inventor of pong would naturally have a massive amount of real pong

[@DM-kl4em]

"It's so dense. Every single image has so many things going on..."

[@DM-kl4em]

Haha. Also, when he answers the phone at 8:37, there is a statue in the background of a guy serving a tennis ball.

[@jackblack3718]

Not only did Mike not know how Pong worked, he forgot that *Ping Pong* existed.

[@AugustBurnsSam]

Ping Air Hockey

[@pogglywoggly3292]

The "dementia" is his cover for alcoholism. His alcoholism is the reason he can't remember things. He's his own arch-nemisis.

[@CzechAvailabilitie]

I love the touch of every single character smoking. Very period accurate

[@FutureDeep]

Even one kid is smoking.

[@Cardiopazia]

There is a marvel series "agent carter" I liked it, but is set in the 40-50s and you see their office is full of smoke....but nobody is actually smoking.

[@williamdittmann9281]

​@@CardiopaziaProbably for ratings reasons, or if not that for a company policy, iirc Disney doesn't like to depict smoking

[@d3nza482]

@@williamdittmann9281 Nah, smoking ruins skin and actors today think the bombs will never go off and they'll live forever if they eat healthy, occasionally drinking the blood of virgins.

[@Mjolnir877]

They'd find some way to end it with the Pong ball shooting out into space with an after credits scene where it collides with the Space Invaders planet setting up the sequel where they track it back to Earth and come for revenge.

[@DiestroCorleone]

And it was a prequel to Pixels all along. Some retcons should be made, Sony's writers will work on the details.

[@joshuahughes4704]

Or there’s a bad ending where they deflect it into space but then it collides with the moon or the sun or something

[@BIRDVOID]

Fuckkkkk I was literally coming to the comments to write this

[@scottneil1187]

​@@DiestroCorleoneWhy involve Sandler and his talent vacuum friends though?.

[@jimpanzee4063]

@@BIRDVOID this was also my exact idea. I figured that some scientist would notice that while it moves through anything in it's path, the cube is adhering to the Earth's surface, so it must be effected by gravity. They then create a gravity gun or something and fire it off into space, where it eventually destroys an alien civilisation, who in turn trace the trajectory back to Earth. The sequel would be the subsequent invasion: Pong 2: Indepongdence Day.

[@josephmathes]

Edit: "Thanks for the link, it was very entertaining. I continue to be amazed that Pong has captured so much attention for so long." ^ Response from Al, the guy who created Pong. He *is* still alive, and he *does* live in a house in California. It's normal sized, not giant like one you illustrated. I sent him a link to this video. Really great guy. He co-founded.Atari, he's the only guy ever to be Steve Jobs's boss, and his name is on the patent for slot machines the way they're made these days. Until COVID shut everything down, he was helping run a tech education nonprofit.

[@Popepaladin]

That's neat, didn't know Al was that advanced.

[@AlexanderPhipps]

So if he ends up being the next guest on BotW, we know who to thank.

[@Agentflit]

Nolan Bushnell is still around too! Gotta have both of em in the film as cameos at least

[@gsesquire3441]

I refuse to believe "Al Alcorn" is an actual humans name.

[@kostyasaushkin2450]

Awesome!

[@itsd0nk]

The fucking Twin Towers lmao. Jesus Christ. The animation quality for this is so wonderful.

[@TaCo0oCaT]

The highest point you can imagine

[@Vaporvice84]

I hope your comment gets exactly 911 likes and NEVER goes any higher.

[@MyChemicalBromance]

The score is 9-1. If that ball gets past the towers it will never come again.

[@simonsancartier7417]

“Hey… has anyone done a horror version of a classic game?”… Mike pulls out a full fucking PowerPoint presentation with slides and shit

[@puffd4nny]

"Anyway, back to 9/11" from their Star Wars Holiday Special vid hits different now

[@TheTrueRandomGamer]

So glad to see reigning star trek trivia champion Rich Evans get the animated portrayal he deserves.

[@okeefe757]

Such a realistic drawing and animation of Rich

[@Amanwithbones]

It’s funny how, despite Mike winning the previous Star Trek trivia game, we just collectively decided to ignore that entirely.

[@robertwild9447]

​@@AmanwithbonesThat was rigged and you know it!

[@michaelterry464]

@@Amanwithbones It's because Mike is a mean-spirited sore-winner, and he makes cheering for him impossible!

[@SpaceWanderer03]

⁠@@AmanwithbonesWe’ll see who’s the true Star Trek Nerd after eight more rounds.

[@llYossarian]

5:28 - Mike only remembering how Pong works after being reminded halfway through and then _"explaining"_ how Pong works in a way only Mike, a young child, or Beaker from the Muppets can...

[@bbbnuy3945]

hes off his dementia meds..

[@d3nza482]

@@bbbnuy3945 Which ones? Cocaine or meth?

[@dukeofthedance8062]

@@d3nza482 It's just whisky and too much beer.

[@auronius7332]

"You can't just have 60 minutes of balls flying around" -Rich Evans, 2024

[@Notme195]

In one of the first scenes, one of the main characters should get upset. He keeps losing his high score on Pong and he can't figure out why. But then we figured out it was the cleaning lady unplugging it so she could plug in her vacuum.

[@synth-wave_steve]

I can’t tell if your talking about a dropped plot line or the writer doesn’t understand electronics But I love it

[@Maldo666]

Yes!

[@inquisitivetelevisionsales2761]

Chekov’s Vacuum Cleaner

[@deetvleet]

@@synth-wave_steve Did pong have non-RAM storage capabilities? I'm a zoomer and never been in an arcade

[@Notme195]

@@deetvleet A lot of old arcade machines would lose all their high scores once they lost power.

[@Gumper30]

that whole bit about the kids not realizing they're killing the trapped people is legitimately pretty unnerving. reminds me of Enders Game

[@TheMarkoSeke]

They also did that in Psycho Pass

[@williamdittmann9281]

​@@TheMarkoSekeAnd Lain

[@dukeofthedance8062]

Never saw the movie but in the book Enders Game, ya, that's a good call.

[@swimteamizzle1114]

The revelation that Mike was thinking of Frogger the whole time he was talking about Pong was the biggest twist of the movie

[@adammonroeproductions]

Jay's glorious locks live on, Rich looks like "moon landing" Kubrick, and Mike is the most sober he's ever been; the power and magistry of animation.

[@mishab4065]

Bruce Lee dies a hero.. trying to deflect a pong cube. My favorite touch in this animation.

[@barnesguides]

I thought for sure it was gonna be Robert Duvall and Space Shuttle Columbia paddling it out into space.

[@tailsknuxfan101]

Inspiring his relative, 'Chin' to follow in his footsteps

[@Dr170]

You either die a hero or play Pong enough to become a villain

[@lilwyvern4]

@@tailsknuxfan101 Chin blamed it on Red China and trained himself to stop it from happening again. When he heard about them turning Tong Xiao Ping into a super weapon, he remembered the devastation from the Pong incident and went on the warpath.

[@PopfulFrost]

Did we expect any less?

[@seanfager8063]

The nerd character(s?) realize that the machine only has so much RAM, so they have to cause a buffer overflow, which will either release them or kill them all. There's soooo much gore when someone gets splattered, and it disappears after a few seconds, that the criminal asks the obvious "So a bunch of us need to die, all at once, and then it'll crash?" Then it's briefly a purge/hunger games scenario as they all make and break alliances to kill/sacrifice each other. After getting ejected, the rest of the movie plays out as described.

[@maxcoseti]

So, like Circle but with Pong

[@CosmicWaltz7]

It could be that when one person dies, there's no slow-down, but they see two people die at once and the world stutters. So, they realize that if three or more people die at once, the game may break and theoretically they can escape. But, they have to decide who will die, and for an uncertain goal, and everyone that dies in the process of determining who to sacrifice is one less person taxing the RAM. For every non-sacrificial death, more sacrifices must be made to compensate. It's a losing game.

[@radim279]

But one of the kids in the real world accidentally downloads more RAM into the game, raising the stakes

[@beepster991]

A character will realize it's been created by a current Bethesda programmer and will simply wait for the game to crash.

[@jbmcb]

The original pong game wasn't digital, it was all analog. The fake nerd guy thinks it's digital and gets killed, while the real nerd guy realizes it's analog, changes the timing of the vblank so the pong ball stops.

[@MrRudiMentary]

The movie opens with a montage of the characters knocking down bowling pins with bowling balls in the alley, foreshadowing their own death.

[@IkeyCaptain]

I love this fantasy of making Jay tall lmao

[@gunhaver23]

All these ideas you guys are constantly giving to Hollywood for free!

[@evlofenn]

@@notmethnx Hollywood don't got no giant axe either!

[@MultiTaureanCalvinKevinDC]

once the pitch was animated it belongs to redletter media. mike, rich and jay know exactly what they're doing. If any major studio uses the simplest story beat from this short they would be sued immediately by rlm.

[@PopfulFrost]

I mean, anyone who's seen a movie before can come up with this, that's the joke.

[@spacemanspud7073]

The "actors and filmmakers apologizing for the movie at the end" idea would be appreciated nowadays

[@benjaminfisher5351]

I am endlessly pissed that they don’t legitimately write scripts that get produced, or make another movie of their own! They are genius.

[@PR0MAN01]

I like how Mike just makes Wreck it Ralph with traveling through the surge protector.

[@itsd0nk]

The whole “traveling through the surge protector” cop out really annoyed me when watching Wreck-it-Ralph with my kids. But I guess, how else do you get to the other arcade cabinets or other devices besides this? It’s a tough nut to crack.

[@benjaminthefox]

​@@itsd0nk If they were modern games, you could just travel through the modem, but since the machines are all retro, power strip is the only option.

[@mortrek]

Wreck it Ralph kinda ripped off an old episode of Duck Tales, in that case.

[@NavonDemhier]

This so entertaining! I'm really digging all the details and little synergies, like Mike's voice ticks and how everyone smokes cause it's the 70s and so on. Love it!

[@RedLetterMedia]

Thanks!

[@esotericVideos]

@@RedLetterMedia It's weird seeing RLM be... seemingly... authentic.

[@EliseGray-rx5dl]

Wonderfully animated; and not only does it fit the conversation, it adds additional visual humor and gags to further elevate it without intruding on the original audio even a little. Sign of a genuinely skilled animator.

[@joshuacarrig9370]

The Pac-Man shirt reference is an elite way to kick this off, dancing his way through the funeral. Well done on this, love the animation style too

[@jameswells9403]

You want me to do it winnie the pooh style?

[@monoremu3200]

MANNERS! Who needs them!?

[@ShoRyuBarbie]

Paddles, who needs 'em?

[@terig5584]

A Pong horror movie would be frightening, but could you imagine if someone was forced to watch a seemingly infinite supply of new additions to 70s and 80s movie franchises? Unspeakable terror!

[@scottneil1187]

Sounds like heaven to me.

[@pnoptic]

ENDLESS TRAAAASH

[@TheLazySamurai]

Panicking board member: "Our copyright is expiring on this 80's horror franchise! What do we do?" Older experienced board member: "Simple, take one of those random scripts that we bought in bulk, you know that ten thousand scripts for $20 deal that our CEO made back when they were just an aspiring middle manager... back when middle managers existed before being laid off for our bonuses last quarter? Just take one of those and replace a few words here and there to make it fit the franchise." Panicking board member: "But won't it tank at the box office?" Older experienced board member: "Who cares? If it performs poorly, its a tax write off. If it performs well, we start a bidding war for usage rights, and milk it for more cash."

[@PopfulFrost]

Pure nihilistic terror.

[@102938475646665]

Better than the horror of having to sit through the crap Hollywood churns out nowadays

[@hpalpha7323]

I love how this hypothetical movie just keeps escalating and getting more silly

[@gorway6807]

the creator of pong having 5 tennis courts around his house is a stroke of genius

[@SkorgeSlaps]

I was waiting for the "I get it! Guys... we have to WIN." and then the crew starts pushing the left toggle up and down to defeat the program.

[@curleyqreviews9793]

We have to survive until one side scores 10

[@bradleyanderson8311]

Rich Evans looking like Kubrick

[@jkee9760]

Kubrick looks like International Playboy Rich Evans

[@user-lw2ck1dr3y]

This is why Red Letter Media are the GOAT they don’t shill and you get the best god dam quality in film making ideas ever !

[@nkjmeh]

Jay’s casual “Mr. Pong” to Mike’s “the guy who invented pong”- And no one acknowledging how utterly stupid that is. I guffawed. lol, so stupid I love it.

[@Type666HeavyMachine]

Gonna be thinking of the line "it's out" for a week.

[@scales78]

These guys have always had a knack for pitching pretty decent movie ideas or those pitches being some of the funniest jokes they do, it's nice to see them leaning into it for a new series. This is just a fantastic idea and I'm excited to see more

[@dabbad9831]

RLM "shooting the shit" is always more creative and thoughtful than most movies being made. Really annoying how creatively bankrupt the industry is right now. Indie film makers "could" do better, but a lot of them just create future BOTW content for this channel. So... I guess it all works out in the end.

[@chartreux1532]

The Spitballs Episodes are one of my new Favourites. I hope the rest of the RLM Subscribers will start to chersih them as well because i want to see more of them! Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden (yes that Berchtesgaden) in the Bavarian Alps

[@mrmogford8117]

Same here, love this format

[@Undead-Caesar]

The last time I was this early Rich Evans was only prediabetic

[@cradiculous]

Excuse me how dare you imply he's not a peak ideal male

[@jesuslovespee]

You mean he was a preemie with diabetes

[@eatpant1412]

@@cradiculous Diabeetus is an evolved state of man

[@pogglywoggly3292]

And Mike was still refusing to budge from step 11

[@kwhitney6737]

I love that you left in the stuttering at 1:11. Hilarious.

[@lowdownpapaya7292]

Reminds me of smiling friends

[@barnesguides]

After Credit rips off Raiders: a sad-looking Rich dollies the Pong cabinet into an endless govt warehouse.

[@FutureDeep]

They usually have top men for that but Rich is more of a bottom.

[@BackdoorBarnyard]

Pong already has a cinematic universe, of sorts. Every single game made by Bungie features the same hero and universe, including their inverted-color pong clone 'Gnop'. Master Chief is the pong ball, reincarnated. That's not even a joke, it's canon established in Marathon's hacked-together mess of a story.

[@spookmeyer970]

Marathon's story is beautiful. hush

[@HighSlayerRalton]

Where can I read about this?

[@catcherinthesky4106]

Poor Mike and Rich, even the animators enlarge the attractiveness gap in favour of Hot-Jay.

[@diablodevil2]

Damn a ten minute animation of a silly conversation from the olds. So good, it must have taken a while. Really awesome.

[@jajssblue]

7:51 Was actually the perfect solution to the deflection mechanic. Every time it hits an object, the object gets deleted and also deflects. So the peril is getting things in front of it to change its course. And of course, trying to figure out the least destructive path.

[@seangiglio]

I’m mad that I put this off for a week, this is golden.

[@chriscasperson5927]

It's always fascinating to watch RLM's Calvinball Method of Movie Creation™. Like watching sausage being made.

[@detectivebloor4011]

I saw a man on a seldom travelled backroad the other day. He was sitting parked on his motorcycle drinking a beer and enjoying the sunset. He looked EXACTLY like a healthier Rich Evans

[@averbalin]

That was Daniel Evans, a Tulpa created by Rich during one of his diabetic comas. He roams the countryside helping the weak and innocent with a double barreled shotgun and his kung fu fists.

[@munchjrgames942]

Daniel "Poor" Evans

[@Deadwolf27]

Absolutely love that because it's the 70s almost every single character is smoking.

[@SwoleCrozius]

Most entertaining 10 minutes of 2024 so far.

[@Kinanation]

I hope you all make more of these! This was fun!

[@jesseo2394]

Mike re-watched Wreck It Ralph and said "what if this were a horror movie instead?"

[@scottneil1187]

More like Tron.

[@pogglywoggly3292]

Not a single holodeck reference... Doubt Mike is even aware of this... Jay probably just recorded him talking in his sleep, thinking it would be funny if they animated it. Rich is still laughing.

[@toadelevator]

The most detailed storyboard ever made for presentation to a major studio. I can't wait for the release!

[@89thomasjones]

Always amazes me that the guys' jokey half-arsed ideas are more compelling and creative than what the movie studios are coming up with.

[@Demendred]

Glad to see another animated RLM! Looks great!

[@wheelz-qk2qs]

Top notch animation work! 🤯🤯

[@ThomasRoiloup]

I figured a later plot detail would be that they have to go BACK into the game to get one of the pong paddles to deflect the pong ball.

[@ChrisWTFern]

This reminds me of the classic Loren Bouchard animated shows. Just let the actors riff and then animate over it. Beautiful!

[@jasondamron1766]

Absolutely love Home Movies and Dr. Katz!

[@originalsteveo]

beautiful. I would love to see a haunted arcade series of shorts based like this.

[@williammitchell5201]

This is really brilliant. I would 100% watch this as a new portion of their programming every time.

[@underthemayo]

Mr. Pong's mansion having half a dozen tennis courts is a genius touch.

[@michaeljamesmccabe]

Do Pong Paddles Dream of Electric Pong Balls?

[@connor48880]

The art style of these is fantastic

[@chamberlainric6]

This was incredible and will be so under appreciated

[@jukeboxfandango]

Wee Zachary P does a bang up job on these. Well done, sir

[@TheJudge1933]

An extremely generous portrail of Mike

[@cathalcorcoran2554]

Best birthday gift

[@mrnomore666]

С днем рожденья! Счастья, здоровья, семейного благополучия.

[@Splitboltxful]

happy bday

[@thekrunkadidliacdude5033]

Happy Birthday fellow RLM fan!

[@aflatchestedyandere5483]

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

[@yadito]

5:50 the faces are so adorable i can't-

[@Zarnubius]

3:49 that's the hardest I've laughed in weeks.

[@skyscribe]

Please do more of these!!! I couldn't stop laughing! [Over the PA] "Help us; we're stuck in the Pong game!" 🤣

[@3n3my33]

I really liked the animation, great job WZP!

[@bk138gt6]

It broke new ground!

[@anarchistcop8239]

Holy crap, guys. This is the funniest thing youve done in years. I loved it!

[@billowspillow]

A movie idea that in 1994 would have sounded like a total joke but now 30 years later sounds like a breath of fresh air.

[@Th3L0v3P4nd4]

This started as a Pong Horror Movie and then became the Adam Sandler movie Pixels. In all honesty Pixels might actually be scarier.

[@C0n7ax]

I love these animated episodes and the crazy movie ideas. It's amazing what you guys have managed to do on this channel over the years, and I look forward to many more.

[@millennialboomer6780]

Mike making a game adaptation while not knowing how the game works is pretty accurate to how older Hollywood adaptations of VGs were tbh

[@JamesinAZ]

This should have 4x as many views. They're wonderful. These pitch meetings are just too much😂. Loved the animation, too. Sub'd to the creator of the animation.

[@Howlrunner82]

Now I want that PONG movie

[@Chalts64]

It's great how lifelike Rich looks in this

[@Br00kie1991]

Fantastic! You guys have always been good but the little crazy tangents that you go off in during BOTW and HITB have always been great and to see this in animation awesome. This is definitely a direction you should be going towards in my opinion but regardless just keep doing what you guys love

[@Sodaholic6502]

This is even better than the last one. I hope you guys keep this collab up with WeeZackaryP!

[@rustled]

Feels like Midnight Gospel kinda! Would love to see more!

[@grunkleg.3110]

If Pac-Man was smart, he'd just call Zak Bagans

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Please make more of these! I mean the premises are inherently silly yet honestly really engaging and interesting what u guys come up with. U guys have talked about how awful it is to actually make movies, but seeing u guys sketch out the plot like a writers room bouncing ideas back and forth is rlly fun

[@MrNoremac208]

Props to the animator man. That shot of the Pong ball going through the bus was awesome!

[@kylesmitheram5338]

These are the best things you guys have done. So glad to see another one.

[@schboove2668]

It’s always fun to see little animated skits on KZbin like it’s 2009 again.

[@dumpvideo]

I watch this video regularly just to hear Jay trying to stifle a laugh while responding, "yes. That's pong"

[@barry-allenthe-flash8396]

4:38 I kinda need Mike to voice many, _many_ more computer nerd characters now. 😄 Fantastic work, WeeZacharyP!!

[@Brick-dg5ly]

Glad to see a new animation video

[@HG-pi3qp]

I KNEW THERE WOULD BE MORE

[@user-yv5su4iu8x]

Thank you for existential thinking...when most shy away from anything but a retread.2 years and the laugh is still great.

[@MrNotJoker]

I love the animation! I hope this series continues

[@WeeZacharyP]

👍

[@RedLetterMedia]

Fantastic job!

[@dogwithashotgun574]

Crazy good work. 10 mins of animation must've taken agess.

[@sat.chid.ananda]

Bro this was so funny

[@Swarm509]

"it's like playing Air Hockey, Essentially." Mike Stoklasa on Pong 2024

[@Artylandia]

Sound design is ON POINT!

[@ravenholmmusicclub944]

mike is to pong what kurtzmann was to start trek

[@papifuego1581]

Pixles was pretty horrifying

[@Heavysweating]

I still remember seeing some of WeeZacharyP's jerma videos from years ago, crazy to see him now do lengthy "main features" for RedLetterMedia. Keep up the great work!

[@ohthatguy.140]

Brilliant.....the 5 tennis courts caught me off guard, hahaha.