Doctor Octoroc
Encyclopedia
]
Levi "Doctor Octoroc" Buffum is an American chiptune
musician and pixel
artist currently based in Philadelphia. Drawing influences from 80's pop culture and beyond, primarily video games from console systems made by Nintendo
, the artist initially gained notable Internet recognition in December 2008 with his chiptunes album of Christmas songs arranged in the style of different NES
games, entitled 8-Bit Jesus.
He later made a name for himself as a freelance artist, creating 8-bit
and 16-bit
parody animations, most notably his re-imagining of the Internet sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
(original film by Joss Whedon
) as a theoretical Nintendo game. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game was released in April 2010 and since then, "the Doctor" has created similar works of animation based on Twilight, Jersey Shore
, Glee
, Harry Potter, Doctor Who
, and Man Vs. Wild
.
The album was originally made available on December 8, 2008 as a free nine-track download from DoctorOctoroc.com, as an extension of the track that Doctor Octoroc contributed to the Foundation 9 Holiday Card, featuring ten other chiptunes artists, including 8-Bit Weapon and ComputeHer. After the small collection of tracks appeared on sites like Kotaku
, Joystiq
, Boing Boing
, and Destructoid
, Doctor Octoroc created nine more tracks for an even eighteen tracks total, which he posted to his blog on December 22. A few days later, he had to take his dog "Einstein" to the vet for an emergency surgery for bladder stones, so he asked fans of the album to consider donating towards the download in order to help pay for the operation and in return, he sent physical copies of the album to anyone who donated $15 or more. The complete physical album became available in a 6-panel digipak
, designed by Jude Buffum, and includes an additional bonus track titled "Let It Snoki Doki Panic".
download.
Tribute Album, and a 16-Bit arrangement of the Doctor Who (series 5)
theme, as well as a similar arrangement of the opening song for the short-lived FOX
TV show, Firefly
.
. As a result of the popularity that ensued after he released Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game, he began creating similar animations for The Station
, CollegeHumor
, Dorkly, and other web sites.
, Neil Patrick Harris
, and Maurissa Tancharoen
made positive mention of the animation on Twitter
. The animation was also mentioned by celebrity gossip extraordinaire Perez Hilton
, incorporating the moniker "Internet genius" into his description of the creator. In addition, a screenshot from the animation showed up during the 2010 Google
I/0 day 2 keynote
during a presentation about the beta of YouTube
Lean Back.
Levi "Doctor Octoroc" Buffum is an American chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
musician and pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
artist currently based in Philadelphia. Drawing influences from 80's pop culture and beyond, primarily video games from console systems made by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, the artist initially gained notable Internet recognition in December 2008 with his chiptunes album of Christmas songs arranged in the style of different NES
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...
games, entitled 8-Bit Jesus.
He later made a name for himself as a freelance artist, creating 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
and 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
parody animations, most notably his re-imagining of the Internet sensation Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 2008 musical tragicomedy miniseries in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet distribution. Filmed and set in Los Angeles, the show tells the story of Dr...
(original film by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
) as a theoretical Nintendo game. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game was released in April 2010 and since then, "the Doctor" has created similar works of animation based on Twilight, Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore (TV series)
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 3, 2009 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast...
, Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, Harry Potter, Doctor Who
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
, and Man Vs. Wild
Man vs. Wild
Man vs. Wild, also called Born Survivor: Bear Grylls, Ultimate Survival, or Survival Game, is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls on the Discovery Channel. In the United Kingdom, the series was originally shown on Channel 4, but later series were broadcast on Discovery Channel UK...
.
Music
As a chiptunes artist, Doctor Octoroc uses a modded NES as an instrument via MIDI CC signals that manipulate the console's hardware. He also composes tracks using soundfonts ripped from Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games.8-Bit Jesus
"8-Bit Jesus is an album of classic Christmas songs arranged in the style of classic video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System."The album was originally made available on December 8, 2008 as a free nine-track download from DoctorOctoroc.com, as an extension of the track that Doctor Octoroc contributed to the Foundation 9 Holiday Card, featuring ten other chiptunes artists, including 8-Bit Weapon and ComputeHer. After the small collection of tracks appeared on sites like Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
, Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
, Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, and Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
, Doctor Octoroc created nine more tracks for an even eighteen tracks total, which he posted to his blog on December 22. A few days later, he had to take his dog "Einstein" to the vet for an emergency surgery for bladder stones, so he asked fans of the album to consider donating towards the download in order to help pay for the operation and in return, he sent physical copies of the album to anyone who donated $15 or more. The complete physical album became available in a 6-panel digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
, designed by Jude Buffum, and includes an additional bonus track titled "Let It Snoki Doki Panic".
Soundtracks
Along with most of the parody animations that "the Doctor" creates, he releases the accompanying soundtrack as a free mp3MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
download.
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Game OST (2010)
- 8-Bit Twilight OST (2010)
- 8-Bit Glee OST (2010)
- Jersey Shore: The RPG OST (2010)
- 8-Bit Harry Potter OST (2010)
- Man Vs. Wild IV: Infinity Bear Saga OST (2011)
Other Music
Doctor Octoroc has arranged and composed many tracks not featured on albums or in collections, including track contributions to Here Comes A New Challenger, Loser: A Sega Genesis Tribute, Iwadon: Hiroyuki IwatsukiHiroyuki Iwatsuki
Hiroyuki Iwatsuki is a Japanese video game music composer who has contributed to the soundtracks of Ninja Warriors, Pocky & Rocky, and Omega Five...
Tribute Album, and a 16-Bit arrangement of the Doctor Who (series 5)
Doctor Who (series 5)
The fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 3 April 2010 with "The Eleventh Hour" and ended with "The Big Bang" on 26 June 2010. The series was led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, who took over after the departure of Russell T Davies. The...
theme, as well as a similar arrangement of the opening song for the short-lived FOX
Fox Television Studios
Fox Television Studios, Inc. is the TV production arm of the News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group, as well as being the production arm of Fox and a production arm of 20th Century Fox Television, Inc., itself a division of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation...
TV show, Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
.
Animation
After the response to his 8-bit Dr. Horrible rendition, Doctor Octoroc secured himself in the "classic video games parody animation" nicheNiche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...
. As a result of the popularity that ensued after he released Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game, he began creating similar animations for The Station
The Station (YouTube)
The Station is an online sketch channel on YouTube created by a number of popular YouTube celebrities in the summer of 2009.-Creation and Growth:...
, CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
, Dorkly, and other web sites.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Game (April 2010)
Initially created to visually accompany Doctor Octoroc's 8-bit arrangement of the Dr. Horrible soundtrack, the 8-Bit Dr. Horrible animation became the focus of the project, gaining attention from many of the cast and crew members of the original film. Among them, Felicia DayFelicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
, Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, and Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon is an American actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist.She co-wrote Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and appeared onscreen as Groupie #1, as well as on the DVD audio track "Commentary! The Musical," in which she sings about the scarcity of non-stereotyped...
made positive mention of the animation on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The animation was also mentioned by celebrity gossip extraordinaire Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...
, incorporating the moniker "Internet genius" into his description of the creator. In addition, a screenshot from the animation showed up during the 2010 Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
I/0 day 2 keynote
Keynote
A keynote in literature, music, or public speaking establishes the principal underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address...
during a presentation about the beta of 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....
Lean Back.
Animated Shorts
Below is a list of animated shorts created for various websites.- 8-Bit Twilight (June 2010)
- 8-Bit Glee (September 2010)
- 8-Bit Harry Potter (November 2010)
- Jersey Shore: The RPG (December 2010)
- Mario's Night Before Christmas (December 2010)
- Mario Paint Torture (January 2010)
- Man Vs. Wild IV: Infinity Bear Saga (June 2011)
- Saved By The Bell Interactive Game (August 2011)
- Game of Thrones RPG (August 2011)
Other Animations
- YTCrackerYTCrackerBryce Case, Jr. , otherwise known as YTCracker , is a former cracker most known for defacing the webpages of several federal and municipal government websites in the United States, as well as several in private industry at the age of 17...
: The Link Music Video (July 2010) - Firewall (November 2010)
- 16-Bit Doctor Who Series 5 Intro (June 2011)