Web Animation / Element Animation

Element Animation is an animation team based in Scunthorpe UK on YouTube who specialize in making computer animations, primarily on 3 living eggs^note named Jason, Dan, and Chrisi in a series called The Crack. However, they’re most well-known for creating parody animations based on the popular sandbox game Minecraft, which lead to them animating the game’s official trailers in recent years. They’ve also done an animated series based on Terraria, fittingly called Terraria: The Animated Series.

Element Animation also has a separate channel called Element Shorts. In 2014, they released a Minecraft resource pack called TEAVSRP^note The Element Animation Villager Sounds Resource Pack after their Villagers took over the game on April 1st.

There's a series hosted on Sethbling's channel called Bite-Sized Minecraft with the animation done by Element Animation.

Element Animation joined Youtube on September 30, 2010. The channel can be viewed here. Other social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch can be viewed here.

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Look left, back at me, there's now tropes.

General

• April Fools' Day: 2 of them, During An Egg's Guide to Minecraft, episode 11 was this. The other one was when they were involved with the villagers taking over Minecraft in 2014. Element Animation responded by apologizing the day afterwards.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Jason in An Egg's Guide to Minecraft was constantly talking to the narrator, whose voice kept changing every episode or so. It slowed down a bit once Steve was involved. Jason also ended several animations in the series The Crack with To be continued; Dan occasionally asked who he's talking to. The eggs also do this to their viewers, and in some other videos (typically tied with a narrator).
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Discussed in their "Everything WRONG with our videos" series, such as pointing out shortcuts prior to refining the animation or little ideas that never really caught on (such as Villager houses being Bigger on the Inside in Villager News, which was integrated into the Pokémobs series).
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: There's a couple of them, a few of them are seen in The Crack.
• Narrator: Voiced several episodes of An Egg's Guide to Minecraft, the TEAVRSP, and when they do vlogs.
• Vocal Evolution: Dan Llyod's voice for the villagers started out deeper and less energetic in the Egg's Guide to Minecraft ideos. With the villagers being more monotone. This transfered into the Villager New videos for the first few until they became less deep, and more energetic.

The Crack!

• Anthropomorphic Food: Dan, Jason, Chrisi, Mustache Guy, & several other minor characters, who are all sentient eggs, & Gregg, who's a living pasty.
• Ax-Crazy: Jason on rare occasions, like in Psycho.
• Berserk Button: As Vlog #2 reveals, getting Chrisi's gender wrong is probably not the best idea. The video in question has Chrisi literally exploding in anger upon seeing the wrong pronoun used for her (she gets better), and Ask Element Anything, she shoots lasers from her eyes in a blind rage upon being called a man.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Dan tries to describe what a PC is to Jason in Mac Vs PC, he mentions the tower and the keys. The next scene shows a tower of keys, not understanding the keys refer to the keyboard and the tower refers to the large device that stores the PC's components.
• Cliffhanger: Seen when Jason and Dan end up going inside the computer after entering the password incorrectly (9000 times to be exact).
• Easily Forgiven: Jason in The Fugitive stabs one of the potato cops with a fork and he dies. After the real criminal is found, the cop says the eggs are free to go. Dan brings this up, but the officer shrugs it off.
• Edible Ammunition: In The Crack! - ZOMBIE EGGS!, Jason attempts to stop the titular zombie eggs by throwing cheese at them. It doesn't do anything; one even swallows some & grows in size.
• Hidden Supplies: As revealed in The Crack! - ZOMBIE EGGS!, the kitchen fridge has a secret compartment on the side that holds shotguns & cheese.
• Hostile Show Takeover: Attempted by Special Guest Sam Pepper(he is Sam Pepper, after all) in The Crack! - CHRISTMAS (feat. Sam Pepper). It doesn't last long when Jason's clones get the tank out.
• Identical Stranger: In The Fugitive a potato cop shows a picture of a fugitive that looks like Jason. The fugitive was a potato with mismatched iris colored eyes.
• Misleading Package Size: In The Crack! - CHRISTMAS (feat. Sam Pepper), Chrisi receives a present shaped like a guitar. When she opens it, she finds Mustache Guy inside.
• Noodle Incident: Chrisi's mind reader reveals that Mustache Guy is trying to find a good location to hide a body. This is brought up in "ASK ELEMENT ANYTHING", implying that he still hasn't found a good spot.
• Perpetual Smiler: Mustache Guy. Even when Chrisi's homemade mind reader says he's thinking "I really need someone to help me hide a body!", he simply stops rocking and looks around at everyone, while continuing to smile. Sgt. Clive's Police Brutality threat, somehow is the only thing so far that made him frown.
• Pokémon Speak: The only thing Gregg can say is his name. This also extends to the broccoli(lol) that Jason saved on one of his adventures, causing them to live in his secret storage area and treat him like a god.
• Police Brutality: Referred to by name in The Crack! - The Fugitive:
  Sgt. Clive: This calls for some subtle POLICE BRUTALITY!
• Puff of Logic: Double Subverted in "Zombie Eggs". When Dan and Jason are confronted by vampires and a werewolf (said werewolf is portrayed by an egg version of Jacob Black, abs and all), Jason points out that the vampires should be on fire due to it being daytime, only for the vampires to tell them that they don't burn in the day but glisten. Upon which, Dan tells them that their kitchen follows pre-The Twilight Saga rules, resulting in the vampires and the werewolf burning to death.
  Jacob: Why am I on fire?!
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Gregg, so cute that he doesn't make a good villain when initially selected for the role in Jason becomes a SUPERHERO! Lampshaded by Chrisi:
  Chrisi: Aww, he's so cute!
• Running Gag: Some videos involve Jason going across the kitchen while saying Dan's name. There's also the random appearances of Mustache Guy who is known for his open smile, mustache, and constant bobbing.
• Samus Is a Girl: Many fans mistaken Chrisi to be a boy, and she ends up exploding in anger in Vlog #2, but she quickly revives and cools off afterwards.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Zombie Eggs, Jason throws cheese at the zombie eggs, one of them swallow it and it acts like a super mushroom from the Mario series.
  • When the computer in HACKED ACCOUNT! mentions that the password is incorrect, it says that it's been incorrect for over 9000 times.
• Take That!:
  • The Eggs’ secret stash of weapons is accessed with a password, more specifically:
  Dan: "I want to kill Justin Bieber."
  • The Crack! - The Meeting has one to The Annoying Orange, since one person had the gall to say that he's awesome. Special Guest collaborator PointlessBlog calls whoever they are a monstrosity for it.
• The Voiceless: Mustache Guy.

Villagers (News, TV, etc)

• Actually Quite Catchy: After Santa's revealed to have kidnapped all the children in What's In My Big Sack?, one of the Villagers still can't help but quietly sing the song he had been playing.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • In normal Minecraft, Creepers can only kill by exploding. In Villager News: War!, they can be engage the villagers in direct combat without blowing up, and can hurl blocks at their news helicopter.
  • Unlike their mainstream counterparts, these villagers can use tools and have even built weapons of war out of other villagers! They're even willing to fight, as seen in "Villager News 3" and "War!", something their main game counterparts don't do.
• Adaptational Heroism: In normal Minecraft, Witches are Always Chaotic Evil mobs who are allied with Pillagers and will attack both Villagers and players on sight. In the show, the Giant Mobs arc was started by a Witch who wanted to solve world hunger with giant food, and when the villagers are looking for an antidote to the Giant Creeper, freely offers up antidotes.
• Aliens Steal Cattle: In "Villager News 2", as part of a Funny Background Event, a UFO made out of villagers tries abducting a house, but then steals a cow instead.
• All Crimes Are Equal: Any crime in the village, including littering, is punishable by being thrown into the Pit of Death.
• Anachronic Order: In Christmas with the Villagers 2, one of the villagers believes it's the 3rd one, which doesn't exist. One other villager repeats the number in confusion and the whole thing gets dragged out like in the first one.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The villages have been invaded by giant mobs, one of them being a giant creeper which is capable of blowing up the world.
• Awesome, but Impractical: In one short, it’s reported that a rival group of Villagers is destroying the village in the same manner as the titular antagonists in Space Invaders. The problem is, it’s only effective in taking down the very specific two-dimensional plane they’re flying above, meaning the rest of the village is safe. Unfortunately, this information apparently didn’t help a lot of Villagers.
• Bad Santa: Santa (a Villager) is portrayed as a criminal who kidnaps people with his bag and steals presents from houses.
• Bait-and-Switch: The first verses of "Your Door Was Locked!" seems to begin with a Minecraft telling of Santa Claus, with Santa holding a stack of presents, only for it to be revealed that he's robbing their houses and has to be stopped.
• Beat Without a "But": In Villager News: WAR!, when the General gives an unwilling Villager soldier the task of defeating the giant creeper:
  General Villager: "I'd like to say you're indispensable..."
  (Beat)
  General Villager: "Well... let's get to it."
• Bigger on the Inside: A concept Played With early on. In the second Villager News, we see a SWAT Team of Villagers break into a small hut, and when they get inside it's shown to be a huge maze-like structure with multiple different rooms. Though Element meant to expand on this idea in future videos, they never really did.
• Black Comedy Burst: In the middle of What's In My Big Sack?, a librarian Villager suddenly asks where all the children in the village have gone, revealing that Santa came to kidnap them all.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: In Villager News: WAR!, it becomes increasingly obvious that the General Villager is Testificate Man as he promotes his book and praises his "heroic" actions.
• Credits Gag: Every Villager TV episode ends with the Villager putting on his favorite show: Credits.
• Daydream Surprise: In Villager News: WAR!, as Villager #9 is hanging on top of the giant creeper just out of reach of the antidote, we see him slip and fall to his death. Cut to another Villager, who reveals it was all part of his imagination and #9 is still hanging from the creeper's head.
• Downer Ending: It's Played for Laughs, but What's In My Big Sack? ends with the Villagers realizing Santa's kidnapped all of the children in the village.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Algorithm in the Halloween short is depicted as a floating jumbled mess of binary code.
• Expy Coexistence: Despite Testificate Man's presence, Batman is one of the first two heroes a villager tries to call for assistance in Testificate Man: The Movie, only failing because he's unavailable at the time.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Villagers have a...very strict set of rules. Examples are Villager #14 being chased, brought to court, and sentenced to the Pit of Death just for littering. Another is a villager forgetting to return their library book on time causing the police to raid his house, but he thankfully just gets his book stamped.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Testificate Man is a popular and well loved superhero- who never actually does anything remotely heroic.
• Foreshadowing: One of the programs shown on Villager TV is the opening to Villager News 4, which wouldn't release for one more year.
• Funny Background Event: In VILLAGER NEWS: BREAKING NEWS!, the detective's magnifying glass starts tingling, which he notes only happens when there's ongoing crimes nearby. Behind him, we can see two villagers exchanging a piece of paper that says "TAX FRAUD", before noticing the detective and hiding.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Exaggerated with the villagers, who can use themselves to make things like catapults, tanks and even a UFO!
• Here We Go Again!: By the end of Villager News: WAR!, the giant mob problem at large has still not been taken care of. After Villager #9 digs out of his grave, the shot pans up to reveal a giant Slime and Wither.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Villager News: WAR! has Villager #9, who was hanging on the Giant Creeper's head with the antidote, fall from a large height after kicking the antidote into the Creeper's mouth. Subverted when it's revealed he survived as he ends up digging out of his grave at the end of the video.
• Hostage Situation: The plot of Villager News 3. A Villager holding a knife to make toast with his friend in the house is mistaken as one of these. Despite his insistence that he just wants to make toast, the SWAT Team continues to "negotiate" with him and every time someone enters the house, they're mistaken for a hostage too. Eventually, everyone in the village enters the house and finds themselves becoming a "hostage".
• I Want My Mommy!: The General in VILLAGER NEWS: BREAKING NEWS! after his plan to create a hot air balloon out of villagers fails and sends the participants into orbit.
• Killed Off for Real: In Villager News: WAR!, Villager #4 is blown up. Unlike Villager #9, he isn't so lucky, as it's shown that Villager #5 takes his place in later videos.
• Knight of Cerebus: The Giant Mobs in Villager News. Every previous 'villain' was a minor nuisance at the absolute worst, while the giant mobs pose an existential threat to the village and are played far more seriously. This is especially true of the Giant Creeper, who could potentially destroy the entire world if it explodes.
• Mood Whiplash: "Have you had an accident at work that wasn't your fault? It's time to try Human Sacrifice!"
• Musical Episode: Besides the more traditional songs like You Door Was Locked! and What's In My Big Sack?, VILLAGER NEWS: BREAKING NEWS! is a Villager News segment told almost entirely through song.
• Noodle Incident: In VILLAGER NEWS: BREAKING NEWS!, a detective is put on the case of a suspicious villager who had thousands of melon seeds in their home. Whatever his last case was, Villager #5 says it “ended in disgrace”.
• Obi-Wan Moment: Villager #4 has one in Villager News: WAR!, right before he is caught in an explosion caused by a normal-sized creeper.
• Oh, Crap!: In Villager News: War, everyone (including the Creepers) gasps in horror when the giant creeper is about to explode.
• Only Sane Man: A librarian Villager that is notably smarter and less gullible than everyone else. In End of the WORLD!, he knows how to prevent the world from ending but is cut off by another character, and in What's In My Big Sack? he's the first one to realize Santa is kidnapping the children.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: One Villager subjects Villager #4 to this to avoid getting fired.
• Rewatch Bonus: Several details in What's In My Big Sack?. Some of the lyrics sung subtly foreshadow Santa's plan to kidnap the children, and in one shot a Villager elf can be seen in the background hiding behind a tree, staring at the children menacingly.
• Running Gag: One of the Villagers in the intro to Villager News writing random things on the sign he holds. Lampshaded in the fourth one, when his sign reads "I can't believe I haven't been fired for writing random things on signs".
• Scary Stinging Swarm: In one short, it’s reported that Villager #75 woke up with one in his bedroom. Everyone justifiably grows suspicious of one Villager dressed as a giant bee, who tries to save face by claiming it could have been anyone’s “personal collection of bees”. Eventually, in a panic he unleashes another one to the dismay of the other villagers. Villager #5 is wearing a beekeeper’s uniform when we cut back to him.
  • Angry bees are unleashed unto the failed contestants of "What've U FOUND?"
• Subbing for Santa: The Villager News crew are forced to do this by court law after Santa himself files a defamation sue against them for the attempt at exposing his Bad Santa traits above.
• Shout-Out:
  • The first Villager News involves chasing another villager for littering and choosing to sentence him to the Pit of Death. The whole scene where the Villager is put into the Pit of Death recreates the scene from 300.
  Villager: This. is. MINECRAFT!
  • Villager TV is FULL of these. A good chunk of the programs are references to movies and shows such as Finding Nemo and A New Hope.
  Villager Clownfish: Excuse me! Have you seen Nemo?
  • Villager News: WAR! gives us one of the Villager's lines of defense: The Dalada's, complete with a cover of Duels of The Fates.
  • Also in War, a villager engages a Creeper in a Final Fantasy VII battle, complete wth the battle music being sung in the background.
  • Testificate Man is one to Batman. It's Lampshaded frequently.
• Spoof Aesop: In "Thomas & The Excuse for Us to Make a Puppet Show", Sally steals Thomas's toy. The lesson is that Thomas should never forgive Sally and that she's dead to him.
  • Bob the Snow Golem has the titular character get imprisoned for throwing snowballs at people. He's let out on the condition he never throws another snowball again. At night, he needs to break this oath to protect the village from a pack of zombies. The Villagers, though initially celebrating, imprison him again for breaking his oath, throwing off the set-up "Use powers responsibly" moral.
• Take That!:
  • The "Generic Teenage Soap Opera" in ''Villager TV 3".
  • The end of Villager News: WAR! throws out a couple toward Game of Thrones, specifically the final season.
    • First when Villager #9 defeats the Giant Creeper:
    "Yeah! You did it Villager #9!"
    "Well of course he'd do it, he has Plot Armor, just like everyone in the last season of Game of Thrones."
    • Later when the General is telling Villager #9's story:
    "He [saved the world] by riding a dragon into battle and burning down everything in his path, completely disregarding his previous stance on doing that."
    "No he didn't."
    "No, you're right, he didn't. That would be stupid."
• Themed Tattoos: Per the revised Villager News opening:
  And you’ll always know who’s in the crew, ‘cause we all got matching “News” tattoos
  Villager: I think mine’s infected, it’s started to ooze.
  News, news, news, NEWS!
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: At the beginning of the second Villager News, as Villager #4 is listing off the winning lottery numbers, an alien invasion is happening behind him through the window. Another villager tries to get him to notice, but he's too concentrated on the lottery. Even as he finally sees that villager get abducted, he begins talking about a completely different and more mundane story.
• Visual Pun: Villager News: War!, a Villager gasps at a literal "Offensive Post" sign.
• You All Look Familiar: Every Villager, regardless of gender, looks the same, sounds the same, acts the same, and is named "Villager" followed by a number. The only villagers who don't look exactly the same are Villager #4 (having a mustache), the Handyman with no hands, and the female Villager shown during the parody scene from 300.
  • All baby villagers are also identical to each other on top of having the same high-pitched voice. One is even the mayor.
  • Somewhat toned down when Minecraft was updated to give the Villagers unique outfits based on their roles in the village, and Element updated the designs in their videos to match. The other points still stand, however, and several Villagers actually keep the old design.

An Egg's Guide to Minecraft

• Adaptational Villainy: The Zombie Pigmen are a non antagonistic mob in Minecraft, while in "An Eggs's Guide to Minecraft", they are with the hostile mobs for no reason and served Herobrine.
• Faux Horrific: The Villagers are terrified of a cow, convinced that it is a horrible, murderous beast.
• Too Dumb to Live: Jason can be like this sometimes. Villagers are believed to be slightly dumber especially when Jason points out that a cow is not a beast. One of Jason's clones doesn't even know his own name.

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