The Tragic End of Button's Adventures

[@bonbonpony]

He didn't "appropriate" the character - he took someone's drawing and GAVE character to it. He drew and animated everything himself. He didn't take any footage from the original material. He gave him soul. He put a lot of HIS OWN work and resources into it that Hasbro had nothing to do with, until they noticed that he can single-handedly do a better job than their entire team of paid animators. Then they crushed him. I talked to the guy in person, the entire story is very sad, and it was devastating for him.

[@clockwork3494]

Unironically I'd say he gave personality to an otherwise generic, minor and somewhat forgettable background character that probably wouldn't have returned otherwise It genuinely sucks how Hasbro targeted Jan over his series on Button when they never went after other fans making similar projects about characters like Lyra and Bon Bon or even any of the main cast, which makes it all the more hypocritical.

[@Victor-056]

@@clockwork3494 And what makes it all the more annoying? They attempted to write out _Applejack_ for being too "Southern" and Hardworking. Yeah. They claimed "Applejack is too generic" and that "her toys don't sell well"... Nevermind that they barely even _MAKE_ Applejack toys. Yeah, they are willing to put in _Suri Polimere,_ or _Starlight Glimmer_ into the roster rather than Applejack. In fact, when listening to their "reason", the reason sounds more like Hasbro realized they were caught, and were reaching for excuses.

[@GOLD4DJ]

That is pretty much the only thing that Patent and Copyright is used for these days. to make sure that nobody else get to the big Companies level. It's not made to protect big companies because they couldn't give less of a sh*t. It's only made to hinder and discourage ordinary people in creation.

[@sonicgen20]

I really don’t get what Hasbro was thinking. Loads of fan content creators make fan works of their show. Why was Jan animations targeted specifically? No one else, least that I know of got the same harsh treatment for their works. I’m not so much mad about the Button mash series being ended, but of the fact that one fan creator got this treatment directly from the company yet every other content creator who did the same thing Jan animations did never got that harsh treatment.

[@multigamer8894]

I know it’s honestly just upsetting how Hasbro targeted one specific fan. Just for making a fan series revolving around one specific background character from the show? That really is harsh.

[@unripetheberrby6283]

Whenever the fanworks look or sound too accurate to the source it usually gets striked down, so sad...

[@MrBiggyfoot69]

​@@unripetheberrby6283I agree, they messed with MisterDavie as well. If you don't know, he made Smile HD, Cupcakes HD, and a few others. Everyone literally spammed comments after awhile on the video after a year or two later of his videos release saying, "if Hasbro has this taken down, it's canon" and I had no idea why. Now I know.

[@Renkencen]

It's not too wild per say. Like remember that MLP fighting game that reworked to become "Them Fightin Herds"?

[@DefaultFlame]

The closest to the treatment that Jan Animations got was Fighting is Magic, the amazing MLP fighting game. Which is more understandable considering the type of game. That later because, with some help from Lauren Faust herself, Them's Fightin' Herds.

[@Lynxthegreat]

I’m glad I got recommended to this because I seriously thought Button Mash having his own lil series was all in my head when I was little

[@DakkaScrappa]

a prime example of JEALOUSY "those that are better than them instead gets silenced instead of partnering for either ego or profits" this and Nintendo are prime example of JEALOUSY

[@RainStripes]

Dude, all these animations were my childhood. I had no idea they were all connected like this when I was younger, or what happened to the series.

[@KittyCatMeowMeowTime]

So sad. Hasbro is anything but smiles. Nice looking tree.

[@Godzilla5675]

Yeah That Smile on the Logo is nothing but a False the true meaning if Hasbro is not Happiness no no it's the opposite Greed Money Franchise Cheap stuff

[@Victor-056]

@@Godzilla5675 Add in "Racism" too. They tried to write out Applejack because she was too "Southern" and Hardworking.

[@Godzilla5675]

@@Victor-056 wow They Really Hate Applejack she's the most loved one and she Got Eclipse for being Southern is atrocious

[@Godzilla5675]

They have Weird Standards for those they racist to Applejack for being "Southern" but they Literally have an Entire Episode about Racism Bridle Gossip and that makes this subject super duper confusing

[@Godzilla5675]

@@KittyCatMeowMeowTime Applejack is Literally my Favorite character along with Rainbow Dash

[@All-PowerfulKing]

I'm not surprised Hasbro ruins everything

[@silveryuno]

Still hurts...

[@Aussieroth7]

You know.. I honestly don't get why Hasbro didn't take advantage to capitalize on this somehow. The Brony fandom's creativity is second only to Star Wars. Back in the day, George Lucas let people go crazy with fan films, series and such. It exposed SO MANY people to the fandom, even introduced people to Star Wars. But what made the Bronies creativity so unique was that so many of them were making REALLY good animations! Then you had Jan with what he did with Button Mash. If I was the head of Hasbro, I would have made a deal with him to go all out with minisodes that focused mainly on Button and his family and that there would be shared profits or something. Copyright, while important and necessary, is in a DESPARATE need of an update, along with execs line of thinking. This was never piracy, this was flattery.

[@clockwork3494]

Kinda makes me think how people in the music industry see getting a Weird Al parody of your song as a sign you made it, the greatest compliments can be someone loving something you made so much they wanted to make their own thing about it or something inspired by it. Shame Hasbro had (and maybe still has) such a hatred for people making fan content of their IP's during mlp's run, Jan's cease and desist felt so much more targeted but iirc some others did get smited with Hasbro's threats back in the day.

[@rioulethebeats9717]

Don't forget guys it doesn't matter what you upload. That is my little pony base it's if it looks good or sells well. You will get a cease and desist. This also includes Nintendo

[@thelittleal1212]

I’ve always wondered what happened to the series. Man this brings back so many memories

[@RJ71409]

It still hurts my heart that button adventures never got a full picth series

[@PhoenixRedtail]

They should’ve hired him instead. Hasbro’s move really didn’t win them many points with the fandom. Maybe he’d get away with it today since the show has been over for 5 years. But this very thing is why some fan animators hesitated to bring their work to light and it SUCKS.

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

The one truly bad thing about Button Mash is his voice actor. Not that his VA does a bad job voicing him, it's that his voice actor is Blake Swift.

[@Jamestheyapper]

What did he do?

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

@@Jamestheyapper You can look up the controversies surrounding him, but he has harassed multiple people, including LittleKuriboh -- who has the most information on Swift's actions.

[@Jamestheyapper]

@@SmokeTheHorsehog ok thanks for letting me know

[@TheBreadGroup]

Josh here: Yeah, I had heard about it and contemplated including it, but I don't think I should be calling out people just this early, I don't like to shame people for what they did because It's not my room to judge.

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

@@TheBreadGroup Just this early? It's been, what, over a year since the controversy? I know it's not necessarily worth including in a video about Button's Adventures, but still.

[@Goat81093]

They destroyed a brilliant vision of a very talented animator. I remember watching an animatic version of episode 2, it was hillarious

[@jaxsterminator8634]

It’s such a shame that the only MLP related thing (besides Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice but that’s not JUST a MLP related thing) I actually liked had to be ruined.

[@flashstudiosguy]

Truth of the matter? Hasbro got jealous someone was more clever than them

[@hannahlamagna]

I watched it when I was younger he was a good backround character but mlp animations are so good

[@Omerizorman]

Oh my god the Nostalgia HIT ME A TRACK back when i used to be Bronie

[@ActuallyYoda69]

Hasbro would have made SO much money if they had instead picked up the show and made it an official spinoff of MLP G4. Morons, aren't they?

[@bonbonpony]

They couldn't even use their own show for its full potential and ended it prematurely when it was on its peak. "One does not slaughter a chicken laying golden eggs" is the saying that Hasbro probably never heard of, and they have a long history of doing precisely the opposite to what it advises… \_(ツ)_/

[@ArcticFFox]

Hasbro executives don't understand WHY G4 was appealing to such a wide audience and why it was successful even with the reputation that it was a girly baby show. Lauren Faust's insistence to make an actually good show that the writers could keep expanding on well after her departure was what made the generation what it was. Fan animators saw it and replicated it. Hasbro however didn't care to learn what made it good, so when the talented people behind G5 had ambitions to make the show just as good as G4, Hasbro would clip their wings and meddle. G5 was originally gonna be a 2D animated show with the concepts giving Gravity Falls vibes, but Hasbro canned it in favor of a CGI show that ended up feeling more like paw patrol than my little pony. They didn't even make new models for said show, they just threw the movie's models onto the animators laps and expected them to rush out an unfinished product. All this to basically say, Hasbro isn't made up of morons, it's made up of penny pinching accountants that don't care about art nor the quality of their products, animated or toys.

[@StefonTV1]

​@bonbonpony the show literally been making episodes for 10 years. I don't think it ended prematurely. It's been long enough.

[@bonbonpony]

@@ArcticFFox Some things make me lean towards the morons hypothesis though. If they really were "penny pinching accountants", they would know how to act when people were literally throwing their money at them. They would make high-quality merch that doesn't look like some cheap bootlegs. They would make collectibles. They would employ whatever fan initiatives are there and license their stuff to them for their share in that business. They would utilize the pre-existing business models and fan content distribution channels. Meanwhile, they have difficulty selling their own toys because of how crappy they are, and they can't even spell the name of their company correctly (remember "Hasboro" in the old MLP Movie, and other spelling mistakes in end credits in G4?) :q

[@ClipperMcflipper]

Congrats on 300 subs my man, honored to be your 301st. Always brings a smile to my face when I see a someone I've never seen before upload a retrospective on something that doesn't get talked about as much anymore. Excited for what you have next.

[@wellysocks]

This is a really well made video I'm surprised it has only 402 views good job

[@AdityaDwiKusuma1646]

So sad about Button Adventure and other Jan's MLP-related project was forced to halt by hasbro. But anyways, he is become an Video game animator, at Cult of the Lamb, thanks to his Doom and Shroom that i really love it, and i think that indie corporation (especially video game corporation) are more suitable to him, and yeah, this is a stepping stone for Jan as Animator. Meanwhile Shadyvox's popularity is on downfall right now, after get accused by someone on twitter, who is got harrashed by Shadyvox.

[@HissPhunnyCat]

how did i get this recommended minutes after it got uploaded

[@Avistyl]

Ikr

[@Bloobleeblu427]

Same

Hiss that for attention

[@Randy_Racc00n]

Its just that good

[@frank_calvert]

through the algorithm. its not that weird, it has to happen to some people

[@AnthonyGotterminated]

I forgot all about that series, I never knew it was a ceased and desist letter

[@americanaspie]

I still think they could have continued the stories using SFM but under a different name instead of Jan. The lawyers said they only could nab fans if they had their name and contact info. Seth MacFarlane always gets away with using Hasbro stuff without permission and nothing even happens.

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

wait is that true i wan tot make mlp fan games and i know SHUT UP AND DON;T SAY IT OUT LOUD but i want to know.. if i never tell anyone my realname.. i can get away?

[@walrusesarecute1]

I watched all those and was obsessed and so sad when it happened. Just seeing it now makes me long for the old fandom lol.

[@SimulatedGoat]

From what I remember there was an infamous dhx asset leak that happened around that time. With how professional the animation looked, they didnt want people confusing his content with the official hasbro brand. The leak most likely erroded any trust hasbro had with the communtiy and decided to double down on shutting down fanworks.

[@TheRedStinger82]

I remember seeing this when watching was younger

[@jonathanrolle2046]

I used to watch a let's play of this guy playing games as button mash with the CMC to great times.

[@ShadowYeeter]

thought the series went on after i first saw it, sad it died of hasbro

[@opaIine]

These mlp videos keeping ur channel alive 😭😭

[@damotoneko1500]

Button's adventures would've made mroe money and been more successful than all of gen 5.

[@DomausCharles]

( Son on the mother phone ) my favorite character

[@johneon52productions]

It's just sad that happened.

[@hearmeout1767]

My mother put up our Christmas tree already too 😁

[@DecoderWalrus]

I love Mutton Bash

[@EmilyCallahan-qj7ng]

Fellow mlp fan? *gasp*

[@Itsyaboyshiro]

5:29 Took me a minute to realize who she was until it hit me Ive seen things only the farthest peeks can roam 😭

[@ArtToonsOfficial.]

OMG HE VOICED LUIGI FROM THAT MARIO VIDEO FROM MASHED?!

[@TechGodJeff]

I always wondered what happened to that guy 🤔

[@bonbonpony]

He tried to negotiate with Hasbro's lawyers while they've been fooling him for a couple of years and eventually duped him anyway. He grieved for a couple of years, being unable to do what he loves, but eventually gave up and moved on to different things, making his own animated projects.

[@banniethecat]

So steve from alex & Steve was voiced by shadyvox/Blake swift? I'm surprised i didn't know that voice actor :0

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

point and case: if i ever become a large company. i will not send C&Ds to my fans for no reason. if it is a fan project that's just for fun and to make the fans happy and out of passon and love.. i'll support it.... if they person wants to steal.. theni will send a C&D

[@Beezu_.]

6:07 oml I remember i watched this so many times

[@silverflash2889]

Alot of these finally put a close to questions i had thnk un😢😊

[@hellokxttyy]

this is a pretty good video, remember me when you go viral

[@TheBreadGroup]

Josh Here: I will note it

[@bealea1127]

I watched that one episode about button mash playing pong. It was pretty cool

[@YeetSpace]

Basically TLDW: Hasbro is always in the wrong

[@thatcherrycat1198]

The only reason My Little Pony got so big and get Hasbro so much money was because of the fan so that’s super Dum

[@degeneratewilson]

Huh…. damn it hasbro

[@Princ3ssEll4]

Good vid bro!

[@哲杨-r2g]

The Hasbro of all bad things

[@JaboovoDNermel]

It was taken down due to quality and the style copyright and the fact it was making money. If it was in an original style that did not mimic the original show they would not have had any legal standing in my opinion. The mistake of the animator was the copying of the style of the show and the environments.

[@KanaTokisho]

I do believe the animation being too close to MLP was the issue. I mean there are a lot of other fan projects that are just as popular: Lullaby for a Princess, Rises the Moon, Smile HD. I don't fully blame Hasbro here, copyright is a tricky thing to work around even if it's all free/fair use. Plus even if it's been taken down once something is uploaded it's hard to erase.

[@bonbonpony]

In these situations, it's funny/sad how people always talk about the corporation's copyright, but never say a single word about the copyrights of the little guy who made this. He didn't take the footage from the show - he drew and animated everything himself. His work is copyrighted too, you know? And it's copyrighted to him, not to Hasbro, because it's not Hasbro who made that. True, it might be considered a dependent/derivative work, but still, regular people and content creators have copyrights too. Let's not forget about that, shall we?

[@KanaTokisho]

@@bonbonpony True but the character belongs to Hasbro. It's like people drawing anything Disney related (especially Mickey mouse). Like I fully support Jan and that Hasbro wasn't in the right but also again copyright is something that is very tricky. Hasbro is the nicer company all things considered (at least with like people making pony content).

[@bonbonpony]

@@KanaTokisho What do you mean by "belong to"? They didn't even care to _name_ that character until Jan did it. And copyright is not about IDEAS - it's about WORKS, that is, ideas put into physical form. Your _idea_ of a character is not copyrightable, because it's immaterial. But if you draw that character on paper, on on film, or write about it in a book, then those works _are_ copyrightable, and _only_ those. You don't automatically own everything resembling your idea made by someone else in the future. Quite the contrary - _they_ own it, because _they_ made it, with _their own_ resources. Copyright is not something reserved only to big corporations, it applies to ordinary people in the same amount. True, if your work is a _derivative_ work, your copyright might be _dependent_ on the original work, but the copyright to _your_ work still belongs to _you_ , not the author of the original. The fact that ordinary people are regularly being convinced that they have no rights, and that the judicial system works more in favor of those who have more money, is whole another story…

[@Ort3ga1]

Is this a reupload? I think I’ve seen this in a dream before

[@TheBreadGroup]

Josh here: It is in fact not an upload, but lmk if you have any more dreams because I need video ideas lol

[@Ort3ga1]

Your My Little Pony videos seem to get lots of views. Maybe try that

[@deerzv]

Underrated fr

[@ChrisOwens-n9u]

This is just the same thing that happened to SML Expect button mash adventures didn't get age restricted 😂 Lucky theres reuplouds

[@austincody4332]

Thank you 😊

[@bowser3017]

Dont mine at night

[@erickkisreal9398]

are there any archives of the videos?

[@Intriga1220]

Underrated

[@MASTERCHIEF1062]

John Fucking Delance or better known as the voice of god aka Q from Star Trek the Next generation.

[@ledbullet100]

hate to say it but by now its way too late there are quite a few reuploads and well its gonna live on for a long time

[@TrojanStrikeAnimations42069]

*cease and desisist*

[@princkleminckle1159]

5:24 this is for you, hololive fans

[@soullessphantom9872]

Wait what happened?

[@princkleminckle1159]

@soullessphantom9872 eilemonty is recruited by a really HUGE vtuber company known as Hololive and became part of their English branch

[@soullessphantom9872]

@@princkleminckle1159 no not that, I know what Hololive is but what did the fans do to her?

[@soullessphantom9872]

@@princkleminckle1159 is it some kind of harrassment or something

[@princkleminckle1159]

@@soullessphantom9872 to know that their oshi voices a hot mommy pony before

[@MilkAndCerealYTP]

why is everyone good at editing nowadays

[@soullessphantom9872]

Mostly they hire a professional editor with a premium editing app that cost around maybe $60-$100 for good amount of entertainment

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

first of all. mlpfim is the best show ever..i want the ponies in foster house for imaganry firends to know thye area wesome and and not girly 2nd off. welp that takes care of my dream of making mlp fan games :/

[@angelthegamer928]

You Like Why Find Cold Batman Bad Bunny Like Freaking Funny Hades Friday Holy Night Batman

[@TheADHDCat]

Hate hasbro. 🐱’s.