The Legend of Vox Machina
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name(s): | Critical Role Kickstarter series |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Scope/Focus: | animated series |
| Date(s): | March 4, 2019 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Legend of Vox Machina is an animated series based on a long-running D&D web series called Critical Role, their first campaign more specifically. Initially planned as a 22-minute animated special, it was expanded to a full season after an enormous success of the Kickstarter. Later, after signing a deal with Amazon Prime, it was announced that the show would be getting two full seasons, to air exclusively at Amazon prime.
Kickstarter
The Kickstarter launched on March 4, 2019 aiming to fund $750,000 for a 22-minute special. That goal was met within the first 40 minutes of the kickstarter. The fans raised a million within the first hour. Within the first 24 hours Critical Role fans raised over 2 million dollars. The next day, fans smashed through all remaining stretch goals hitting over 3 million dollars. On March 6, 2019, Critical Role released additional stretch goals, which were all met by April 5, 2019. On April 19, 2019 the kickstarter was fully funded with 88,887 backers pledging $11,385,449. It became the most funded TV or film project ever.[1] As of September 24, 2020 it remains the 7th most funded kickstarted project ever.[2]
Fan involvement in the production
It was revealed that some of the employees of Titmouse, the studio responsible for the animation of the series, were Critters before they started to work on the project.
Fandom
After the deal with Amazon, there was some backlash within the fandom. Some fans accused the cast of Critical Role of selling out. Some fans were upset that Critical Role went with Amazon for the deal, a corporation that is notorious for disregarding their employees, after the Wendy's controversy. Other fans defended the distribution deal. Some of those arguments mentioned that a deal with Amazon offers great exposure and the potential of reaching many more new fans.
Links
- "Kickstarter page". Archived from the original on 2022-06-03.
References
- ^ Critical Role’s ‘Vox Machina’ D&D Animation Project Breaks Kickstarter Record, published Mar 7, 2019, accessed Sept 24, 2020
- ^ Most Funded Kickstarers