Doug, that beet-fueled Nickelodeon cartoon from the ’90s, pumped kids full of ennui before they even knew that lounging about and pondering the inevitability of life was a viable option for spending an afternoon. Fittingly, this homemade trailer for a fake Doug feature film spins the tale of Doug Funnie as a moody indie film along the line of Garden State: Doug returns to Bluffington after college and struggles to reclaim his niche:
Note the liberal use of colorful make-up, inclusion of memorable flashback scenes, and gratuitous shot of an iPad. (I guess Bluffington got an Apple store.) The Internet has become a viable platform for recasting childhood nostalgia, and the resulting videos are quick to go viral.
Even half-formed characters from our past can be given new life. Note this live-action Pacman short film, told from the perspective of the ghosts; even plotless video games are entitled to a second consideration:
For the most part, though, these videos have become an exercise in novelty. The Star Wars Uncut project is the best known—Episode IV was cobbled together using user-submitted 15-second clips. It’s fascinating, if not exhausting, much like this full-length Legend Of Zelda fan-made film. Be thankful the Doug video is only a few minutes long.