just a couple of things: 1. I am now aware that it is infact "tineye" and not "tinyeye". It is the strongest mandela effect I have encountered, but alas: it's tineye. 2. some have pointed out that cathy didnt create the original 3D model. that is true, and I would love to know the origins of that! but that isn't what I wanted to figure out with this video; i set out to learn who created the GIF specifically, i.e rotated it, edited it, made it into a .gif and posted it online. 3. I've seen some expressing concerns about doxxing, and I want to address that: firstly, all the graphics are "incorrect", for example, the animated map (35:40) is of a completely random place, and screenshots have been altered in various subtle ways like changing peoples names with photoshop etc. that being said, I understand the concern, and I have now gone through the video with youtubes built in editor and blurred out a couple of sections. again, these parts were already anonymized in various more or less subtle ways, but better safe than sorry. thank you for watching.
I’d even watch this over anything over at curiosity-stream. I’d even watch this over Mr beast’s documentary. Rest well Cathey, you will live on forever on the internet and on the desks of gamers worldwide.
@@maz4rine1269 entertoyment/entertaining and being a wiser person after? that not easy to pull off and more I was at the start, all most click past, is video, but the hook worked here I am, knowing the true story, or should it documentary, of 2 second hand draw gif from nearly 24 old, there people watch this not that old, and there not much of anything on the internet that in a sort of day use, I wonder if there a grave or something in the real world, maybe someone should add marking to the giff, and maybe even this video?
I literally cried at "in memory of Cathy Jarboe". I often get told I put insane amounts of work/research into my videos, but it's videos like this that humble, inspire, and infuriate me at the same time. This better have a million views the next time I see it.
Thank you so much. Just peeped a bit of your latest vid, you got some banger visuals. lmk if you need another hand at some point, I still freelance as an editor :)
I had a similar experience, but managed to contact the artist. He was a graphic designer for Star Wars games, and he says I'm the only person to have ever found his Easter egg. Star wars has it's own alphabet, yeah? So for in-game computer screens, signs, posters etc the artists need to fill it with something. Sometimes cool technical info, sometimes jokes, poems, sometimes nonsense. So I was looking at a screen in a certain Jedi game reading the blurry letters and translating. (I learned the alphabet in middle school or something when I was bored) Some words on the screen were pointing to parts of a machine labeling them "doodad" and "thingamabob", but at the top of the screen was a name, a short number, and a misspelled type of tree. Having seen this pattern thousands of times delivering pizza, I immediately recognize this as a street address. This artist had literally signed his work. Now, my wife is a paralegal, and used to make a living tracking people down to serve them for personal injury cases and the like, so she knows how to find contact info from old addresses. I corrected the spelling of the tree name, entered the address and game release date, and the names matched. Obviously the number and address were out of date, but another website gave some potential newer numbers (all public info btw) and a reverse phone book website narrowed that list to two. I made a group text with both numbers, introduced myself and asked if either of them were [John Doe] and if they'd worked for lucasarts around that time. And luckily, one of the numbers was his cell! 20 years later! I explained the Easter egg I found, sent a screenshot of it, and asked how many people had noticed it. I didn't want to ask a million questions because I could already the mayor of creeper Town at this point. He said he had worked at the developer company of the game (not lucasarts, so he wasn't just playing along), that the address was a tiny duplex he rented for around two years, and that he'd completely forgotten putting that info there, because no one brought it up in all twenty years. I told him it was friggin hilarious, thanked him for responding, and left it at that. Felt pretty cool being the only one to find it.
that's quite incredible. I can't quite imagine how the developer would feel that you could track them down to their current address and cellphone number because of some data they imprinted in a game. If it were me, I'd be totally shocked. I'd probably also be flattered that someone paid such close attention to detail. Thanks for sharing your story.
If only you had asked me, I would have told you right away, that gif was made on an Amiga2000 with a very old and basic 3D program and ported to a 286 with windows 3.11, some (or many i can't remember) years before the internet. The trumpet was animated with Aldus Photostyler 2.0 (bulge effect) , the frames were assembled with a program (I don't remember, Gif Movie Gear?) and assembled as 256-colour GIFs. I was in contact with Katy at the time, this video made me fly out of my chair! (I remember that her site had a different name, Katie's World, but the data in my brain is vanishing)
Thank you for making this video. I wish I had known about Cathy and her art at the time and I regret not being able to properly credit her in the youtube video description and in that Gawker article. Very sad to hear that she has passed away. I would like to retract what I wrote in my last message in the video as both you and Cathy put a lot of thought and effort into The Mystic Trumpeting Skull.
Your replies were great, and just for the record/for clarification I don't think you did or said anything questionable to me or to the gawker journalist. Thank you for helping me figure all of this out.
Perhaps this is the over-optimistic side of me speaking, (that does tend to happen sometimes) but I feel that Cathy likely knew of the lovely skull gif's proliferation to some degree. Or at least could have expected it. The way gifs were shared back then, I'm sure she saw hers floating around at some point. Though I imagine it could have been a shock to her how widespread it is now. Though I'm certain we can all rest assured she would be delighted to hear it given the comments on her own websites. RIP Cathy, and long live The Mystic Trumpeting Skull!
Internet dinosaur here. I don't think this is easy to understand nowadays, but this kind of animation was kind of a big deal back in those early years - if you built your website, you HAD to put in there a few animated gifs, a midi song and, for those fancy enough, a visitor counter and a guestbook. So people like Cathy were actually performing an important public service, by allowing anyone to get an interesting GIF to plaster their Angelfire/Geocities website with. So, thank you Cathy, your legacy lives on. Doot doot.
I've been so fascinated with the early internet lately,keeps me inspired to work as web-dev even though every website today seems like a copy of the previous one. Every now and then i come across websites that look very personal and dear to someone.
I remember putting a website together as a kid, and I feel so called out. Animated gifs from some PC magazines (mostly spinning cog under construction), a guest counter and a medi I nabed from.... an old game? XD
This video goes in with my collection "Who wrote the Disney Channel theme tune" by Defunctland, these uncoverings of forgotten artists are heartwrenching. It fills me with bittersweet joy to see the artists behind cultural landmarks be finally recognised and appreciated.
Guys I’m sad to say that my attention span has been rapidly declining thanks to brain rot and fast colourful media… but I’m also happy to say that I was able to watch this entire video in full without getting bored. I see this as a w
"going SUPER deep into a research rabbit hole to give credit to the creator of a relatively small thing that nonetheless became a huge cultural touchstone" is my new favorite genre of youtube video
Reminds me of Nick Robinson's videos. His quest to find the uncredited voice actor for a game from back in the day is an absolute joy to watch that had positive real life consequences as a result. But yeah, I love this genre of youtube videos
0:22 Wow! I was actually the Wikipedia editor who rewrote that article's "Origin" section back in 2022 (it has stayed around the same since). It was entirely unsourced and poorly written before, so I gathered some sources and gave the section the treatment it deserved (the rest of the article still has a lot to improve). So happy to help you and see over a million people be informed in that video introduction, even just for a minute!
People like you are why Wikipedia evolved from a joke about how nothing on the internet could be trusted to a legitimate valuable resource; thanks for doing that kind of diligent work even for "silly" things like this.
It is really amusing to me in a morbid way that the final point of contact, the Nephew, is like "please share which of my aunt's works touched you" and the reply is basically Mr Skeltal Dooting at him.
yeah, can't help but feel he was expecting some fancy picture she made that he didn't know about and he gets back a doot, so he immediately just blocked him and thought it was someone taking the piss, I can only hope it wasn't the 2 second video with the sound effect attached
As a now old dude who remembers the beginning of the internet, this video made me cry with not only nostalgia but how touching it is. I knew a middle aged lady just like Kathy who obsessed over her “homepage” back in the mid 90s
There was something special about the old internet before it became what it is now. It was 'the wild west' but there was an incredible amount of creativity just for the sake of it.
I feel the same. I was a child but I was on the internet around that time too. There were some pretty less known websites and creations I saw back then, that I always thought had disappeared forever. Disappeared from the internet, disappeared from the minds of people. And it made me sad. That someone would go through all the effort to track down one of those creations and it's creator, feels like it takes away that sadness somewhat. I always thought almost no one else would care to remember, and certainly no one new would bother to search for something they didn't even know existed. And just like that, things that people once cared about would gradually fade into nothingness. The internet can seem like a callous place sometimes, with everyone just pursuing fleeting, momentary interests and enjoyment. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. But it can make it feel like people online don't really care deeply about anything in particular. It's nice to see something that contradicts that perception, to be shown that it isn't true.
We still say that we “hang up” the phone because of that generation that created conventions surrounding the nascent technology. Just like the “save” icon being a floppy, early Internet surfers created something new that still lives on!
I can just imagine the Jarboe family getting together on thanksgiving and discussing the weird Swede that has cyber stocked them in an attempt to talk to late Aunt Cathy
one small correction, when you were going over that "dragon" kid's profile, they didn't actually mention chess but rather skulls. in polish words can be modified somewhat to alter their meaning (zdrobnienie i zgrubienie), primarily to make them seam small or large, example: kot - cat, kotek - small cat/kitten, kocur - large/unfriendly cat. the word for skull, czaszka can be changed to czacha (plural - czachy) to mean large/bad skull, that is most what they were talking about. the word for chess, szachy is very similar, likely thus the error.
@@jeffiotadding to this, the terms are diminutive and augmentative for smaller and larger, respectively. You find diminutives all over: duck -> ducky, John -> Johnny, etc. Augmentatives seen a bit less common though.
Finding out you had found the right source but accidentally disregarded it was like tearing your house apart looking for your glasses only to find they were on your head the whole time.
That moment in the video reminded me of the many times I have given up on a puzzle in a video game, went to look up the solution and then kicked myself for giving up when I was so so close.
I just wanted to point out that a jazz skull fortunately would not have the problem mentioned above because it would have nothing for the "temple tips" AKA earpieces on the ends of the arms to wrap around and grip. As a result of this, the glasses would not stay up nearly long enough to be forgotten about in the first place...
The message from Ben brought a tear to me eye. A woman who never knew how far her art went. A family who genuinely, almost innocently asked about which of Cathy’s art touch you, not knowing the extent of distance her art really travelled. A forgotten world wide known artist will now be remembered for all time because of you - so thank you.
Imagine the feelings inside, as you find out your aunts art work has touched someone, someone who has done a wide variety of art. Then you just reply with "doot.gif"
@@WobblesandBean they may just want to live a quiet, private life, I got the vibe that they're all probably in their older years and may not even understand internet/meme culture
after a quick skim of this comment section i was surprised not to find more people mentioning this, although it’s probably just as well that they’re mostly sticking to discussing the gif and cathy herself. i found myself wishing that the beautiful painting of jazz skull could be with her family somehow, that they might eventually see this video, agree to a video chat, anything else, but like this video’s creator i also recognise that our desire to spin this search into a satisfying story is kind of inherently dehumanising. her family probably don’t want much attention, and likely wouldn’t know what to make of her creation’s meme status even if they learnt more about it. her art was always influential and now more people know it’s origin, i think that’s what matters most 🙂
I watched this with a friend just now, and after we finally hung up I just immedietly broke down into tears. As an artist myself, still adoring your craft is a hard task, and I hope that Cathy spent the most of her life creating. I hope she knew how this silly little gif brought many people together in many ways, even if the purpose was simply so silly. May she rest peacefully, and wherever she is and whatever she may have believed in, know she inspired a lot of content by other artists. A doot to Cathy.
Cool no one cares, now go consume content about things that are actually relevant and important, such as native Europeans being ethnically replaced as we speak.
As soon as your video got to the section where Cathy wrote about herself, i knew she was likely gone from old age. She was part of a unique online generation of older early adopters. People that had money and skill and creative drive that ended up making most (if not all) of the early gifs. People made those cool spinning skull gifs, flame gifs, and it was an awesome subculture that revolved around making them, collecting them and sharing them. I was too young to make my own gifs back then, but i had a website just like Cathy's (and many, many other geocities websites) where i showcased gifs made from other people. when i say my website was like Cathy's, i mean in its general design; i never created my own gifs. And i'm not sad that Cathy probably didn't know about her art becoming a meme because her art WAS quite popular while she was making it. This isn't a case of an artist becoming popular after their time, but its a case of art going through multiple phases of popularity starting from when it was created. JoJo has had a similar experience where it has had generations of various memes starting in the 90's when it was released. Also i knew people from Cathy's generation that were online back then, and they all kind of went offline at a certain point. Basically, the internet just went a different direction and they generally didn't go with it. Its like all the people who were obsessed with BBS posting, but never even bothered signing up for any forums that used the World Wide Web (having an actual webpage). I think Cathy is an inspiration to try new technology as you get older, and to not just stick with whatever was cool when you were 20.
We entered the Eternal September when AOL made the Internet popular and some of the Ents went offline or went into hiding. When social media, starting with Myspace and later Facebook, came around, individual, personal websites started tapering off.
the thing is people forget how weird most people thought we were for using computers for fun back in the late 80's and early 90's. we were nerds but pushed through and connected to each others BBS's to play LORD and download jpegs during the night when no one in the house would using the phone. we are getting old and dying but we will always be ghosts here forever and people will hopefully uncover the stories of what we helped to build.
Cathy managed to achieve what many artists dream of: Be immortalized through their art by having the creation outlast the creator. RIP Cathy, your artistic legacy lives on
There's only two videos on UA-cam that have ever made me cry, Defunctland's 'Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery', and this. Bravo man, this was beautiful.
It's like Defunctland's brilliant documentary about who wrote the Disney Channel jingle, it's insane how many artists go into the shadows before their fame could really bring them up to recognisability. Also, really scary how both Cathy and Alex died in the same year. 2020. I knew that year was evil for something.
@@Allanbuzzythe year known for a literal virus that killed millions of people around the world… such a mystery what might’ve happened to all these dead people
This video has genuinely changed my perspective on everything I see on the internet. Every image, every gif, every video, every song, every piece of audio, every single piece of media on the internet has a creator, a mind behind it that thought something up and put it out there for the world to see. So many other things on the internet have a backstory just as in depth as this one has, and I personally find that remarkable. Say what you want about the modern state of the internet, or AI, but none of that can take away from the human creativity and passion we can witness all across the internet, even for the dumbest of things.
Having watched this video you've probably already seen Nick Robinson's video about Michaelsoft Binbows, but just in case you haven't I strongly recommend it. You'll get that same crazy perspective about so much online lore that we take for granted being the result of someone's weird hobby.
@@chux4w This also feels a lot like that one video that made the rounds a while back about the search for the composer behind the Disney Channel jingle. It sounds like a bit of a silly and niche topic on the surface, and maybe you go into it not thinking much of it, but by the end, you're wiping your eyes and feeling like a bit of a different person.
Oh man, Cathy's gifs were hugely popular back in the day, everyone I knew in the early 2000s would go to one of her sites to download 'em so they could use 'em on MSN Messenger Plus, including jazz skeleton.. I didn't know its origin was considered "obscure", guess people forgot about her when Tenor rolled around (which is weird since she was a guest of honor at a few conventions and was talked about on quite a few blogs). RIP Cathy, you were a big part of Internet history
Now that would be some cool internet history to preserve, in addition to just further remembering the early internet gif scene. I def remember such gifs crossing my path but never knew such sources.
I think that's a major difference between the old wild-west internet. Compared to the modern day version, Centralised and commodified to hell. Back then, nearly anyone could get a URL and make a page. The coding was arguably much more simpler than it is today. Have an Angelfire, Have a Geocities, or a Beebo page and go nuts. There were a multitude of index sites to help you navigate, before Lycos, Jeeves, Yahoo or Google. Today, everything either goes through Tenor, Imgur or even Discord, Meta data is lost. To even get a URL today, you have to go through a handful of companies. Godaddy, Squarespace (with templates that kind of kill off personalisation) and a couple more. Just to add to a cacophony of people wishing she knew how popular her gifs were. How she actually shaped the internet, but having these GIFs being as iconic as they are.
God bless Wayback Machine. I hope that archive remains for generations to come. This really touched me as a small-time artist online. Cathy made something that became a part of the landscape of the internet itself and you gave that thing more meaning by crediting her and sharing even more of her work. It's good to know that someone can get so passionate about things that seem so small and everyday, to create a dedication to it, and to see that shared with so many others. Well done :)
@@KodakYarrAt least he owned up to it in the video, and made sure the person that allowed him to see his f-up had a spotlight in the video. I think it's important to show moments where you get lost in the details. It's so easy to do, and it's a humanizing moment for the creator. Rather appropriate, considering the conclusion.
I hope that, when cathy won an award for her Jazzy Skull GIF, she might've imagine her work going around the wolrd and being an internet sensation on the daily for this many years since and beyond.
I'm an illustrator myself and have recently been thinking that I should give up because it's not getting me anywhere. I know that boost that Cathy mentioned when people appreciate your work. You never know who it will touch and it really is always worth it to keep creating. Thank you for this video and thank you for this memorable little gif that's made me laugh so many times, Cathy ❤️
Good morning Katrina! Thank you for sharing, I'm sure many of us whom I'm sure can relate to what you're feeling. I noticed your profile doesn't have any links, and wanted to ask if you'd be interested in sharing so we can check out some of your work?
Unfortunately the artist who becomes famous posthumously is a tale as old as time. More often than not, humanity does not appreciate creative people until they're gone.
i have known UA-cam for a long time and no video has touched my soul and heart so deeply until i saw your video you put a lot of hard work into making this beautiful video and i love your work. and the memory of jazzskull shall live on "in memory of cath jarboe".
Honestly, this feels so much like all the artists I learned about when I was an art major in college and had to take art history courses. This is EXACTLY how a lot of their art was discovered or made. A lot of them died starving and unappreciated having never known of the impact their art would have. It’s a genuine travesty that she joins that list of unappreciated legendary artists. It feels like I’m witnessing art history in the making.
To add to this, It’s kind of incredible how much of that basic principle-artists not getting appreciated for their art till after they die-applies to many more mediums, such as music. Even with artists like bach, you’d think he would’ve had an insane following at the time, but a lot of his fame came decades after he passed. People never understood his insane contribution to music that it went under everyone’s noses. We even see this today with many artists who’ve died and only got famous posthumously, like Wesley Willis. (the rock n roll McDonald’s guy) who knows what other artists are out there, whether in the art world, music world, etc, that will make a huge contribution to society without even knowing it.
@@noentiendonothing Same the wesley refrence is out there haha. But he is just as much an artist as anyone else! thats what makes art great its subjective and has no boundaries
Its amazing how a "derpy little gif" can have such an extensive backstory and make me cry. In the comments it is quite clear Cathy knew how popular her gifs were. Rest in peace Cathy. Doot Doot.
God dammit, I was beginning to worry Cathy had passed away and was deeply saddened when that ended up being the case. It's unfair she never got to see one of her artworks blow up and touch so many people. But such is the life of an artist, I suppose. I think she would've been overjoyed. May her legacy live on.
Did not expect to come out of this video crying. I will forever think and congratulate Cathy anytime I see Jazz Skull from now on. May her art live on. Fly high Cathy 🕊️
It’s so easy to forget that this channel is so small. Your stuff is such high quality Edit: I should have waited til the end to comment. People are behind art and to be remembered is to be immortal. Thank you Cathy, I love how you enjoyed your art, and I love the joy you’ve inspired in others. She will be remembered.
Indeed, a lot of artist got credited and recognized for their talents "post-mortem". I'm happy we had the chance to give back this piece of internet history to whom it does belong to
know everytime i see this gif anywhere, my heart hurts for Cathy and this story that somehow effected my emotions so well 😭its such a random topic, let alone such a random gif, but this whole entire story has just genuinly effected me, great job Jeffiot 👍
dude that's weird i assumed she was dead because the stuff was made in 99 and it was pretty mature so that would place her at 45 - 65 and most 80s kids grew up in the chemical age
Oddly enough, I had a similar thing happen recently to the end of this video. I use my voice, editing know-how, and sound design skills to dub fan-comics. Because of a problem with UA-cam I had to remove the descriptions of my videos earlier in the year. I took this last week off of work, so I decided to re-write the descriptions for all of them. Since many of my videos are over 6 years old, I decided to check all the links to make sure they were working. Many unfortunately weren't, and while Wayback Machine saved some of them, not all were so lucky. A couple days ago I finished, but just before I did, I came to a comic I dubbed back in 2020 a bit before my multi-year burnout hiatus. I checked the links to the original artist's account and the last post on the account was from a friend of their's, stating the artist had passed and providing an image of a Russian Death Certificate. I did a little digging through the friend's accounts to be sure, and it looked legit. Of course, the Certificate was entirely in Russian and it was late, so I went to bed. The next night, the 30th, I decided to run the image through a translator, maybe for closure since it had been nagging at me all day or maybe out of some morbid curiosity. This revealed the deathdate, which opened up a whole line of thought. I checked my DMs with the artist where I asked permission and realized I had asked a month, almost to the day, before they passed. And the video itself, which they had asked to see when it was finished, wasn't out until almost 3 months after their passing. I had sent a link, but never got a response. Of course, that happens all the time, so I thought nothing of it, but it was such a shock to realize this. To see that art, which touched me enough to make a video about, and which touched many more through my reinterpretation of it, had already been an echo of the thoughts and feelings of a life snuffed out, at its end, before I even finished my work with it. It's a strange feeling, but I'm also happy to know that it means this art was able to take on a new life beyond her own. I think that might be why art is worth so much more after the creator's death. Not just because the supply is now limited, but because they're the echoes, the words, the dreams of minds now lost, etched into reality after they expire, in stone, or wood, or canvas, or ones and zeroes. I think it's the same reason we look into the eye sockets of a skull with such curiosity. We want to know what they have left to say. After all, they were just like us, and soon, we'll be like them too. Memories and creations, and copies of tendencies and eccentricities copied into all the people we've influenced in our short time, and copied into the people they influence, and so on.
Wow, you have a way with words that is beyond touching. Thank you for sharing and summarizing the thoughts of pretty much everyone, or if not everyone at least my own.
I like to think Cathy knew but she liked a quiet life and decided to keep her cards close to the vest. She didn't want fame; she just wanted to know that people loved her artwork.
This has been one of the most well made and enjoyable youtube vids I've seen in years. On a platform that seems to get more generic and chewed out with every year stuff like this makes me happy to still be roamin around here. Instant sub homie, also those water reflection shots were sick
the story telling, script writing, editing, animation, video pacing, music, the time spent researching. I think you carry that passion to create and i LOVE to see it. This was amazing, when I clicked this video I had no idea how pleasantly surprised & inspired I was going to be. Keep creating youtube needs more stuff like this !
I have always wondered in the back of my mind about the origin of the gif and it has been solved. Thanks to the community and Jeffiots team the amount of work put into this video, is outstanding and deserves to be a very popular video. Thank you for solving my childhood wonders and to Cathy, your legacy will live on, may you rest in peace.
Im trying to make one right now, I'll try to add the bare minimum for it to pass the review. After that im hoping someone will pick it up and add to it
@@NovumSB She probably isn't notable enough to get an article of her own. You have better chances making one for the GIF and citing any news stories that come out about this. I would recommend checking out the verifiability guidelines if you do want to continue with your draft as it is, though.
I was a gif obsessed child and somewhere between 2006-2008 I stumbled upon Cathy's website several times and always knew it as the origin of the "brown beckoning skull" and "swamp ghoul" but completely overlooked years later that this was also the skull Trumpet creator. The entire halloween gifs world is only getting more buried as years go on and needs saving! Certain midi files I have heard and will probably never find again!
Hi Jeff, Thank you for making this video. It reminded me a lot of the Defunctland video: "Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery", where he tries to find the original creator of a short jingle used on the Disney channel. I am a computer science professor, and always love to find little bits of history to insert into otherwise mathematical lectures. Simple things like why files have a certain structure, who created a tool we all now take for granted, or traditions like using the Lena image in academic papers. It really helps bring things back to a human level, and I'm glad you were able to add a little bit more to the story.
At the point where you talked about trying to contact her, i was already fearing that kind of outcome. Based on her website and what her friends looked like, she seemed like being something around her late 40s, which would make her around 70-75 by now
I am absolutely astounded by the insane quality of this video. It's very rare I ever get recommended a video half this good by UA-cam out of the blue, but this is probably one of my favourite videos of the whole year. I'm so glad this went viral, both to introduce me to such a fantastic channel, and to spread awareness of Cathy's art. RIP Cathy Jarboe.
I can't help but remember a quote by David Eagleman: “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.” I believe now that Cathy will never truly die thanks to this video, at least not until the last time someone remembers Jazz Skull. Thanks for this video, it was very well put together and I hope your channel takes off because of it.
So, I was a fairly early adopter of the internet back in the day (1994ish, initially) and I... can't even imagine if someone contacted me now about stuff I did back then. I can still remember my first website... neon blue and fuschia and COVERED in animated gifs, all coded by hand in notepad. I was so fortunate to be involved at that point, and to have watched how the internet has evolved over the last 30 years has been mind-blowing. I'm glad that Cathy's work has become such a huge part of internet culture, and it's finally been linked back to the proper person at last.
Back then the internet had so much individual creativity, web 2.0 was the start of completely killing it all and corporatizing everything. There's really no parallel anymore, the closest thing of "recent" years was Tumblr. Even the main social media of back then (Myspace) was heavily slanted towards personal creativity.
People who have adopted the internet in the 90's must have been the most autistic people of that generation, especially if they were female. While Cathy was obsessed with creating gifs, you seem to be hyperfused on actor Sebastian Stan. You have a dedicated fanpage on most websites, links to erotic fiction about the guy, his family photos from when he was a kid through highschool, clips from everything he's ever acted in. You have this whole guy's life on showcase, you even get mad at Marvel for not treating his character more seriously. Whatever gets your rocks off. Internet be wild tho.
At first, I was thinking, why is this guy obsessed with just an old GIF, but your result has led me to a realization where this guy is a legend, this made me cry, thank you.
She was an artist that was very much in tune with the online landscape. Trust me, even though Cathy was probably in her later years, she definitely knew. I hope you sent this video to her loved ones, I'm sure they'd love to see all of the loving comments made for Cathy by people that adore her work. Even if they choose to not respond, and even though the loss may still deeply affect them, they can at least be comforted by the thought of millions of people having seen and genuinely appreciated something that Cathy invested a lot of time into and enjoyed creating.
excellent video, I realized when you were showing Cathy’s gifs that I’ve definitely run into her art before on old gif aggregators. I love that style and her passion for creating is so inspiring. RIP Cathy.
What a journey that was. I found myself genuinely tearing up a bit at the end and feeling a sense of togetherness in a way that only the internet can bring. The early internet was a place that had some of the most passionate and creative art since so much of it was made for the sole purpose of doing so. Thank you for all the work you've done here. Rest in peace Cathy, thank you for your art.
Rest in peace Cathy, thank you for creating such wonderful art that we’ve been able to enjoy for so many years! And thank you Jeff for another amazing video ❤ your storytelling and presentation are second to none
What makes me real sad is even though nothing bad directly because of this happened to Cathy, it's still terrible that she never knew how much of an impact to the world her little gif had. Especially since it sounds like she just wanted to make art and get recognized. And if Rose and Ben could see this. This is not some weird prank or joke. It's silly that a skeleton going Doot is the thing she made a mark on the world, but it brought some happiness into all our lives. And for that, we not only respect her, but honor her.
there have geniunely been dark days in my life where being sent the "thank mr. doot" meme brightened it. I don't care how cheesy or cringey that sounds (and potentially, is) - it's true.
Fun fact, TinyEye is actually TinEye, and it's a reference to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn novels, where the word refers to people whose magical power is that they can trace others by eating small amounts of tin. The whole magic system in those books involves eating metal
@@FelisImpurrator their blog says it isn't, but 1) I'm assuming they're trying to avoid copyright issues and 2) the story they have for coming up with the name just doesn't make sense to me. Sounds extremely fake, I mean.
UA-cam is being oversaturated with high quality channels like this. Feels wierd to say but the amount of "underrated" channels I came across the last 3 years is huge and there's really no difference between 1 million sub and 50k sub channels other than luck at this point. I can only watch so much. Strange. Good job and I hope you succeed.
I disagree that there is only "luck" separating these channels with 1m and 50k subcounts. Usually the 50k channels hit 1m if they consistently make videos like this long enough. On the whole, this is this guy's first big break and I'm excited to see how his channel turns out.
I did not expect to burst into tears when you announced that Cathy had died. I do not know this person. But your story telling let me feel like I did. This video ended up being a lovely tribute.
I bawled like I'd lost my own grandmother. I suspected she might've passed away when he said 1999, but the revelation still gut-punched me especially since it'd only been fairly recently that she passed. 😢
Yeah same. I was like.. she's gotta be old right now, and the chances are small she's still with us @@Tyanu_Khah May she rest in peace and if she's somewhere there, may it be a great place
I think this is the most beautiful and important piece of media I've ever seen. I clicked on the thumbnail with the intention to use this as silly background noise while I worked on a project, but you had my full, dedicated attention for all 42 minutes of this video and managed to bring more than a few tears to my eyes. The internet, through it's many flaws, is a weird and wonderful place. We always hear warnings like "Be careful what you post online, because it will never go away". And while that is good advice to follow, I think that concept is pretty beautiful. JazzSkull will always be a part of the internet's history. More importantly, Cathy and her passion and creativity will be here forever, too. And now, thanks to you, her creative legacy will live on in the minds of millions. JazzSkull is forever. Cathy Jarboe is forever. Thank you, Mr. Skeltal.
I never thought I’d cry about jazz skull by Cathy Jarboe but here we are. I’m an artist myself, I teach mostly but I decided a while back my art lives best in obscurity. My grandmother passed a few months ago and I’ve been making art around those feelings, and legacy keeps coming up. There’s a quote from this zine I read from a post-punk album about a dead lost and forgotten religion, “deathconsciousness” that goes “if it were you that had disappeared, unknown, into history, you would want someone to try to remember you. You would want someone to try to understand. So that’s what I’ll do.” It’s been lingering with me. There’s also this amazing scene in the graphic novel Building Stories by Chris Ware where the main character, a nameless disabled woman who gives up her life as an artist for a simple life as a suburban mother, finds the book you are reading on a shelf in a dream. As she flips through illustrations of her memories, she begins to cry and says “I just thought nobody would care” The last time I cried looking at a work of art was when I last visited one of Van Gogh’a bedroom paintings in Chicago. I had recently read his letters to his brother, and the one he wrote while planning that painting was all about how he just wanted to create a place of peace, real peace, all the way down to the color choices, which he would list like he was writing poetry. You could tell through the letters and the painting that all he wanted was to make something that gave people the peace he so struggled to find for himself. The struggle to feel and then to put that feeling out into the world is so hard, and something Cathy Jarboe made, a silly little gif, gave so many people feelings. The fact that the majority of what she put out into the world was this gentle and communal amusement is a beautiful thing. Jeffiot, your work reaching back into the fading threads of the internet to pull Cathy’s story out of obscurity is also a work of art, give yourself that credit at least. You helped us care and that’s a beautiful thing. You got yourself a new follower today, happy birthday. Thank you for existing.
This is beautiful. Cathy's reason for creating really hit home. As an artist, the hope that people will even want to see the art is so real. Thank you Cathy for jazz skull and thank you Jeffiot for making her name known. I'm also in the process of making a video essay on another "lost" creator and want you to know that your video has really inspired mine so thank you for that as well
Ending was painful and sour. Cathy was a myth but she's still alive in our hearts for making great arts that people love. Cathy you were a legend that when nobody knew about internet you made those arts possible. Thank you for this meme....(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
Cathy is inspiring to me, because her seemingly reckless desire to create has immortalized her. she made wonderful things, that people used and loved and connected with. and even long after her name had been divorced from the gif she made, it continued. carrying with it her passion, and the thinnest, most fragile thread back to her. and for so many reasons i find hard to express, that is beautiful. her passing is a shame, but she contributed something to the internet that lives on, and is beloved by many. and thanks to Jeffiot, the way back machine, and now youtube, that thread leading back to her is more solid. one sobering thought is that the Wayback machine is not something we are guaranteed, it isnt a perfect record, and lawmakers and financial situations alike threaten its existence every day. i count myself fortunate to live in a time where videos like this are possible.
I really appreciate your self-awareness and ability to appreciate her art as a regular person and a real artist. I hope her family knows how beloved her creations have become at the very least. Your effort is so appreciated by all of us who were curious about this silly little meme.
Videos that make me cry are usually puppies, kittens, kids, y'know, pictures of life that we kind of expect to be emotionally invested in. Your video made me cry about art and time - longing for a time that no longer exists, longing for the artists that are no longer with us. That felt special. Thank you.
The way it made me tear up when you said she'd passed away, even though I was kinda already assuming she had died at some point prior to the creation of this video, Says something. I dunno what, but. Something.
I've never been so invested and hit so hard in the feels by a topic I've never cared to take more than a second of a passing glance. Just wow! Damn good video. Your entire journey was laid bare here and I truly felt the rush of discovery, the anxiousness of waiting for a reply, the gut punch finding out she had passed. This was awe inspiring. Great job!
Agreed. The only "media mystery" video I can think of that's hit like this is Defuctland's Disney Channel Theme video which I hope comes across as the incredible praise that I mean it to.
I was first getting online as I teenager/young adult when Cathy was making the art we looked at in the video. As soon as you stopped at 2011 I was like "nooooo that website is ten years older!!! don't stop!" This whole video reminded me of the older women who were online and running all kinds of important stuff at the time and are now not just forgotten individually but as a class of people who were even there. Family websites, blogs, art and hobby pages, genealogy pages, forums for anything you could think of. Some of my first online friends were women in their 30s-50s (30 was old to me at the time lol). Anyway. Thanks for reminding everybody and hopefully teaching some other young people that the internet was pretty great before social media 😂
The final few minutes of this unexpectedly moved me to tears, I’m still crying as I write this. As an artist myself who frequently mourns the rapid loss of artist credit & general information on a transient internet I am deeply touched that you went to the trouble to credit the nearly-lost work of someone who influenced millions. I remember Skull Trumpet from the early 2010s, back when she was still in this world. I wish she could have known just how much simple & beautiful joy her work has brought me and so many others. Thank you for honoring her and for sharing her passion with us. Rest in peace Cathy 🎺💀🩵
You’re an incredible storyteller. So happy to see you’ve gained more subscribers with this video. I was SHOCKED to see how little following you had. Wish you the best of luck. RIP Cathy.
Holy fuck that was like a journey, first you are curious, then you get intrigued and as minutes passes by you get more and more involved. Then you see the light and the good ending but it's just a bitter end. And boom you find yourself crying about the story of a trumpet skull gif. What a masterpiece, thank you for making this and obviously thank you to Cathy
In your search you broke open a treasure trove of unique and whimsical art from an era many hold dear, and that alone makes the video worth it. Makes me really bitter learning about that date, because its tied to many implications which people just want to forget and leave buried, even if its a really big and atrocious mistake doing so, screaming at the void here but whatever. Its a sad and bitter closure but through her art shes remembered and lives on Rest in peace Cathy ❤
This came into my recommended feed & I thought to myself, why on earth is there a 40+ minute video about the origin of a gif? Well, I figured I give it a go & just click off if it was boring... This was an absolutely beautiful & informative video. I had a feeling Cathy was going to be deceased as the search for her progressed, but even then, when it was made official, my whole body broke out in goosebumps as my heart sank into the floor. This video was not only informative & highly entertaining, but it was a beautiful tribute to an artist. Thank you for making it.
I never would have expected to get emotional over a spooky skeleton gif. This video is beautiful and I hope your art gets all the recognition it deserves. RIP Cathy
just a couple of things:
1. I am now aware that it is infact "tineye" and not "tinyeye". It is the strongest mandela effect I have encountered, but alas: it's tineye.
2. some have pointed out that cathy didnt create the original 3D model. that is true, and I would love to know the origins of that! but that isn't what I wanted to figure out with this video; i set out to learn who created the GIF specifically, i.e rotated it, edited it, made it into a .gif and posted it online.
3. I've seen some expressing concerns about doxxing, and I want to address that: firstly, all the graphics are "incorrect", for example, the animated map (35:40) is of a completely random place, and screenshots have been altered in various subtle ways like changing peoples names with photoshop etc. that being said, I understand the concern, and I have now gone through the video with youtubes built in editor and blurred out a couple of sections. again, these parts were already anonymized in various more or less subtle ways, but better safe than sorry.
thank you for watching.
Very cool, and quite considerate all the way through. I notice you redacted user names and post dates from byob too!
THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR INVOLVING REDDITORS LMAO
Thank you for addressing the concerns! i subbed your channel last night, am excited to see more of your work!
I *always* read Tinyeye, even though I know it isn't
I called it tinyeye too for awhile, it looks like it should say that 😊
How dare you make me cry over a jazzy skeleton? Fantastic video. Thank you for making it.
You made me watch this
Finally learned about your master's origin
dafuq
Hello, Tomathon Skater
Tom.
A 40 minutes UA-cam documentary about a 2 seconds GIF has better storytelling than 90% of what's on Netflix
I’d even watch this over anything over at curiosity-stream. I’d even watch this over Mr beast’s documentary. Rest well Cathey, you will live on forever on the internet and on the desks of gamers worldwide.
if this was a Netflix original the skull would have came out half way through the documentary.
4 years too late :(. If anyone searched earlier then
.yea
Its 50% "I'm a sensitive young man" filler.
@@maz4rine1269 entertoyment/entertaining and being a wiser person after? that not easy to pull off and more I was at the start, all most click past, is video, but the hook worked here I am, knowing the true story, or should it documentary, of 2 second hand draw gif from nearly 24 old, there people watch this not that old, and there not much of anything on the internet that in a sort of day use, I wonder if there a grave or something in the real world, maybe someone should add marking to the giff, and maybe even this video?
I literally cried at "in memory of Cathy Jarboe". I often get told I put insane amounts of work/research into my videos, but it's videos like this that humble, inspire, and infuriate me at the same time. This better have a million views the next time I see it.
Thank you so much. Just peeped a bit of your latest vid, you got some banger visuals. lmk if you need another hand at some point, I still freelance as an editor :)
youre not alone dude. we all cried ):
I cried too! This was an amazing video. Also, have to say, the original visuals and animations in this video were pretty amazing throughout.
same here, my eyes filled with tears the second that message appeared :')
Veritas!
I had a similar experience, but managed to contact the artist. He was a graphic designer for Star Wars games, and he says I'm the only person to have ever found his Easter egg.
Star wars has it's own alphabet, yeah? So for in-game computer screens, signs, posters etc the artists need to fill it with something. Sometimes cool technical info, sometimes jokes, poems, sometimes nonsense. So I was looking at a screen in a certain Jedi game reading the blurry letters and translating. (I learned the alphabet in middle school or something when I was bored) Some words on the screen were pointing to parts of a machine labeling them "doodad" and "thingamabob", but at the top of the screen was a name, a short number, and a misspelled type of tree. Having seen this pattern thousands of times delivering pizza, I immediately recognize this as a street address. This artist had literally signed his work.
Now, my wife is a paralegal, and used to make a living tracking people down to serve them for personal injury cases and the like, so she knows how to find contact info from old addresses. I corrected the spelling of the tree name, entered the address and game release date, and the names matched. Obviously the number and address were out of date, but another website gave some potential newer numbers (all public info btw) and a reverse phone book website narrowed that list to two. I made a group text with both numbers, introduced myself and asked if either of them were [John Doe] and if they'd worked for lucasarts around that time. And luckily, one of the numbers was his cell! 20 years later!
I explained the Easter egg I found, sent a screenshot of it, and asked how many people had noticed it. I didn't want to ask a million questions because I could already the mayor of creeper Town at this point. He said he had worked at the developer company of the game (not lucasarts, so he wasn't just playing along), that the address was a tiny duplex he rented for around two years, and that he'd completely forgotten putting that info there, because no one brought it up in all twenty years. I told him it was friggin hilarious, thanked him for responding, and left it at that.
Felt pretty cool being the only one to find it.
that's amazing! :O thanks for sharing
That's so cool! I love these lil rabbit holes handled responsibly.
Make a video essay.
that's quite incredible. I can't quite imagine how the developer would feel that you could track them down to their current address and cellphone number because of some data they imprinted in a game. If it were me, I'd be totally shocked. I'd probably also be flattered that someone paid such close attention to detail. Thanks for sharing your story.
amazing!
If only you had asked me, I would have told you right away, that gif was made on an Amiga2000 with a very old and basic 3D program and ported to a 286 with windows 3.11, some (or many i can't remember) years before the internet.
The trumpet was animated with Aldus Photostyler 2.0 (bulge effect) , the frames were assembled with a program (I don't remember, Gif Movie Gear?) and assembled as 256-colour GIFs.
I was in contact with Katy at the time, this video made me fly out of my chair!
(I remember that her site had a different name, Katie's World, but the data in my brain is vanishing)
If true, this needs to be seen.
So did she know about that meme? Did she stop making art for some reason?
m.ua-cam.com/video/4Emlv6XAn8w/v-deo.html
This must be it!!!
This is all very exciting.
What would be the easiest way for me to reach out to you with some further questions?
Thank you for making this video. I wish I had known about Cathy and her art at the time and I regret not being able to properly credit her in the youtube video description and in that Gawker article. Very sad to hear that she has passed away. I would like to retract what I wrote in my last message in the video as both you and Cathy put a lot of thought and effort into The Mystic Trumpeting Skull.
Your replies were great, and just for the record/for clarification I don't think you did or said anything questionable to me or to the gawker journalist.
Thank you for helping me figure all of this out.
❤
👍
Perhaps this is the over-optimistic side of me speaking, (that does tend to happen sometimes) but I feel that Cathy likely knew of the lovely skull gif's proliferation to some degree. Or at least could have expected it.
The way gifs were shared back then, I'm sure she saw hers floating around at some point.
Though I imagine it could have been a shock to her how widespread it is now.
Though I'm certain we can all rest assured she would be delighted to hear it given the comments on her own websites.
RIP Cathy, and long live The Mystic Trumpeting Skull!
Pin this comment?
Internet dinosaur here. I don't think this is easy to understand nowadays, but this kind of animation was kind of a big deal back in those early years - if you built your website, you HAD to put in there a few animated gifs, a midi song and, for those fancy enough, a visitor counter and a guestbook. So people like Cathy were actually performing an important public service, by allowing anyone to get an interesting GIF to plaster their Angelfire/Geocities website with. So, thank you Cathy, your legacy lives on. Doot doot.
I've been so fascinated with the early internet lately,keeps me inspired to work as web-dev even though every website today seems like a copy of the previous one. Every now and then i come across websites that look very personal and dear to someone.
e
XD Geocities!!!!! Whoo! Now THAT'S a blast from the past... Thanks for the nostalgia :)
I remember putting a website together as a kid, and I feel so called out. Animated gifs from some PC magazines (mostly spinning cog under construction), a guest counter and a medi I nabed from.... an old game? XD
E
This video goes in with my collection "Who wrote the Disney Channel theme tune" by Defunctland, these uncoverings of forgotten artists are heartwrenching. It fills me with bittersweet joy to see the artists behind cultural landmarks be finally recognised and appreciated.
I was also thinking of that video when watching this! Both made me cry
Was about to say the same! (also made me think of Qinni and cry some more). Great documentary!
😮
Guys I’m sad to say that my attention span has been rapidly declining thanks to brain rot and fast colourful media… but I’m also happy to say that I was able to watch this entire video in full without getting bored. I see this as a w
Could you let me know more videos in your collection?
"going SUPER deep into a research rabbit hole to give credit to the creator of a relatively small thing that nonetheless became a huge cultural touchstone" is my new favorite genre of youtube video
yes agreed, it hits all the right spots in being constructive and interesting
Reminds me of Nick Robinson's videos. His quest to find the uncredited voice actor for a game from back in the day is an absolute joy to watch that had positive real life consequences as a result.
But yeah, I love this genre of youtube videos
Of course there is hbomberguy and his oof.wav video
To this day I still get emotional hearing the Disney channel theme because of Defunctland
@projectz975 can you recommend some of your other favorites?
I love the genre of UA-cam where you solve a mystery you didn't even know existed
i can recommend @babylonian (Nick Robinson). he has some cool videos which have a similar vibe (to me), mostly about nintendo stuff
I know, these are so good.
Fr
Problem is.... he doesn't know they exist yet... so gonna be hard to make a lot of these
I love this kind of mystery solving videos ❤
Please recommend some if you know. 🎉
Brilliant work, so cool to see a mystery solved like this
Wow LIMC I love your videos‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
thank you for linking this
Love your videos
L I'm C
Oh wow didn't see you there
0:22 Wow! I was actually the Wikipedia editor who rewrote that article's "Origin" section back in 2022 (it has stayed around the same since). It was entirely unsourced and poorly written before, so I gathered some sources and gave the section the treatment it deserved (the rest of the article still has a lot to improve). So happy to help you and see over a million people be informed in that video introduction, even just for a minute!
People like you are why Wikipedia evolved from a joke about how nothing on the internet could be trusted to a legitimate valuable resource; thanks for doing that kind of diligent work even for "silly" things like this.
wow
It is really amusing to me in a morbid way that the final point of contact, the Nephew, is like "please share which of my aunt's works touched you" and the reply is basically Mr Skeltal Dooting at him.
lmaooo
I just feel like I would only be able to laugh and cry at the same time
Honestly 😅
tbh I would think he's a troll
yeah, can't help but feel he was expecting some fancy picture she made that he didn't know about and he gets back a doot, so he immediately just blocked him and thought it was someone taking the piss, I can only hope it wasn't the 2 second video with the sound effect attached
The fact that she passed not too long ago gives me hope that she did know but it also hurts how close you were to telling her
As a now old dude who remembers the beginning of the internet, this video made me cry with not only nostalgia but how touching it is. I knew a middle aged lady just like Kathy who obsessed over her “homepage” back in the mid 90s
There was something special about the old internet before it became what it is now. It was 'the wild west' but there was an incredible amount of creativity just for the sake of it.
@@ptonpc yes. It was great. People discovering what its possibilities were. There was new ideas every day
Same! Those were good times
I feel the same. I was a child but I was on the internet around that time too. There were some pretty less known websites and creations I saw back then, that I always thought had disappeared forever. Disappeared from the internet, disappeared from the minds of people. And it made me sad.
That someone would go through all the effort to track down one of those creations and it's creator, feels like it takes away that sadness somewhat. I always thought almost no one else would care to remember, and certainly no one new would bother to search for something they didn't even know existed. And just like that, things that people once cared about would gradually fade into nothingness.
The internet can seem like a callous place sometimes, with everyone just pursuing fleeting, momentary interests and enjoyment. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. But it can make it feel like people online don't really care deeply about anything in particular. It's nice to see something that contradicts that perception, to be shown that it isn't true.
We still say that we “hang up” the phone because of that generation that created conventions surrounding the nascent technology. Just like the “save” icon being a floppy, early Internet surfers created something new that still lives on!
I can just imagine the Jarboe family getting together on thanksgiving and discussing the weird Swede that has cyber stocked them in an attempt to talk to late Aunt Cathy
one small correction, when you were going over that "dragon" kid's profile, they didn't actually mention chess but rather skulls. in polish words can be modified somewhat to alter their meaning (zdrobnienie i zgrubienie), primarily to make them seam small or large, example: kot - cat, kotek - small cat/kitten, kocur - large/unfriendly cat. the word for skull, czaszka can be changed to czacha (plural - czachy) to mean large/bad skull, that is most what they were talking about. the word for chess, szachy is very similar, likely thus the error.
interesting, thanks for letting me know. I had a polish person translate it, but mistakes happen!
@@jeffiotadding to this, the terms are diminutive and augmentative for smaller and larger, respectively.
You find diminutives all over: duck -> ducky, John -> Johnny, etc. Augmentatives seen a bit less common though.
@@Bobbias cucumb -> cucumber -> cucumberest 🥒
@@FinalWarrior591 Shouldn't that be cucumbest?
@@Kirbman you'd think so
Finding out you had found the right source but accidentally disregarded it was like tearing your house apart looking for your glasses only to find they were on your head the whole time.
My heart literally panged at that reveal, such a brutal moment for the ego
That moment in the video reminded me of the many times I have given up on a puzzle in a video game, went to look up the solution and then kicked myself for giving up when I was so so close.
I just wanted to point out that a jazz skull fortunately would not have the problem mentioned above because it would have nothing for the "temple tips" AKA earpieces on the ends of the arms to wrap around and grip. As a result of this, the glasses would not stay up nearly long enough to be forgotten about in the first place...
@@KenLieck thank you for your insight, Ken.
The message from Ben brought a tear to me eye. A woman who never knew how far her art went. A family who genuinely, almost innocently asked about which of Cathy’s art touch you, not knowing the extent of distance her art really travelled.
A forgotten world wide known artist will now be remembered for all time because of you - so thank you.
Imagine the feelings inside, as you find out your aunts art work has touched someone, someone who has done a wide variety of art. Then you just reply with "doot.gif"
whats crazy to think is that gif will live for as long as the internet exists.
It made me sad her family doesn't even seem to care.
@@WobblesandBean they may just want to live a quiet, private life, I got the vibe that they're all probably in their older years and may not even understand internet/meme culture
after a quick skim of this comment section i was surprised not to find more people mentioning this, although it’s probably just as well that they’re mostly sticking to discussing the gif and cathy herself. i found myself wishing that the beautiful painting of jazz skull could be with her family somehow, that they might eventually see this video, agree to a video chat, anything else, but like this video’s creator i also recognise that our desire to spin this search into a satisfying story is kind of inherently dehumanising. her family probably don’t want much attention, and likely wouldn’t know what to make of her creation’s meme status even if they learnt more about it. her art was always influential and now more people know it’s origin, i think that’s what matters most 🙂
I watched this with a friend just now, and after we finally hung up I just immedietly broke down into tears.
As an artist myself, still adoring your craft is a hard task, and I hope that Cathy spent the most of her life creating. I hope she knew how this silly little gif brought many people together in many ways, even if the purpose was simply so silly.
May she rest peacefully, and wherever she is and whatever she may have believed in, know she inspired a lot of content by other artists.
A doot to Cathy.
The "A doot to Cathy." helped me cope with her being deceased. Thank you.
Cool no one cares, now go consume content about things that are actually relevant and important, such as native Europeans being ethnically replaced as we speak.
As soon as your video got to the section where Cathy wrote about herself, i knew she was likely gone from old age. She was part of a unique online generation of older early adopters. People that had money and skill and creative drive that ended up making most (if not all) of the early gifs. People made those cool spinning skull gifs, flame gifs, and it was an awesome subculture that revolved around making them, collecting them and sharing them. I was too young to make my own gifs back then, but i had a website just like Cathy's (and many, many other geocities websites) where i showcased gifs made from other people. when i say my website was like Cathy's, i mean in its general design; i never created my own gifs.
And i'm not sad that Cathy probably didn't know about her art becoming a meme because her art WAS quite popular while she was making it. This isn't a case of an artist becoming popular after their time, but its a case of art going through multiple phases of popularity starting from when it was created. JoJo has had a similar experience where it has had generations of various memes starting in the 90's when it was released.
Also i knew people from Cathy's generation that were online back then, and they all kind of went offline at a certain point. Basically, the internet just went a different direction and they generally didn't go with it. Its like all the people who were obsessed with BBS posting, but never even bothered signing up for any forums that used the World Wide Web (having an actual webpage). I think Cathy is an inspiration to try new technology as you get older, and to not just stick with whatever was cool when you were 20.
We entered the Eternal September when AOL made the Internet popular and some of the Ents went offline or went into hiding. When social media, starting with Myspace and later Facebook, came around, individual, personal websites started tapering off.
the thing is people forget how weird most people thought we were for using computers for fun back in the late 80's and early 90's. we were nerds but pushed through and connected to each others BBS's to play LORD and download jpegs during the night when no one in the house would using the phone. we are getting old and dying but we will always be ghosts here forever and people will hopefully uncover the stories of what we helped to build.
We had so many communities that are filtered through social media and ads now
True, but to be fair, the modern web is headed in a frightening direction.
That would be such an interesting documentary to watch lol.
Cathy managed to achieve what many artists dream of:
Be immortalized through their art by having the creation outlast the creator.
RIP Cathy, your artistic legacy lives on
There's only two videos on UA-cam that have ever made me cry, Defunctland's 'Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery', and this. Bravo man, this was beautiful.
Cathy getting the classic artist treatment of her work becoming such a huge sensation years after its creation without her knowledge.
It's like Defunctland's brilliant documentary about who wrote the Disney Channel jingle, it's insane how many artists go into the shadows before their fame could really bring them up to recognisability.
Also, really scary how both Cathy and Alex died in the same year. 2020. I knew that year was evil for something.
Yea, i wonder how many cientist and artist live today who have there breaktrough only after they passed away.
@@Allanbuzzy you know, like covid-19 and stuff.
A lot of artists are often recognized posthumously. Bittersweet.
@@Allanbuzzythe year known for a literal virus that killed millions of people around the world… such a mystery what might’ve happened to all these dead people
This video has genuinely changed my perspective on everything I see on the internet. Every image, every gif, every video, every song, every piece of audio, every single piece of media on the internet has a creator, a mind behind it that thought something up and put it out there for the world to see. So many other things on the internet have a backstory just as in depth as this one has, and I personally find that remarkable. Say what you want about the modern state of the internet, or AI, but none of that can take away from the human creativity and passion we can witness all across the internet, even for the dumbest of things.
It was a wild and wonderful time to be alive
sorta sonder feeling
But then ai came to town...
Having watched this video you've probably already seen Nick Robinson's video about Michaelsoft Binbows, but just in case you haven't I strongly recommend it. You'll get that same crazy perspective about so much online lore that we take for granted being the result of someone's weird hobby.
@@chux4w This also feels a lot like that one video that made the rounds a while back about the search for the composer behind the Disney Channel jingle. It sounds like a bit of a silly and niche topic on the surface, and maybe you go into it not thinking much of it, but by the end, you're wiping your eyes and feeling like a bit of a different person.
Oh man, Cathy's gifs were hugely popular back in the day, everyone I knew in the early 2000s would go to one of her sites to download 'em so they could use 'em on MSN Messenger Plus, including jazz skeleton.. I didn't know its origin was considered "obscure", guess people forgot about her when Tenor rolled around (which is weird since she was a guest of honor at a few conventions and was talked about on quite a few blogs). RIP Cathy, you were a big part of Internet history
That’s so cool!
This at least gives better hope that she was aware of the success of her goofy little jazz skelly.
Now that would be some cool internet history to preserve, in addition to just further remembering the early internet gif scene. I def remember such gifs crossing my path but never knew such sources.
I think that's a major difference between the old wild-west internet.
Compared to the modern day version, Centralised and commodified to hell.
Back then, nearly anyone could get a URL and make a page.
The coding was arguably much more simpler than it is today.
Have an Angelfire, Have a Geocities, or a Beebo page and go nuts.
There were a multitude of index sites to help you navigate,
before Lycos, Jeeves, Yahoo or Google.
Today, everything either goes through Tenor, Imgur or even Discord, Meta data is lost.
To even get a URL today, you have to go through a handful of companies.
Godaddy, Squarespace (with templates that kind of kill off personalisation) and a couple more.
Just to add to a cacophony of people wishing she knew how popular her gifs were.
How she actually shaped the internet, but having these GIFs being as iconic as they are.
lost between generations probably. when something like msn messenger dies there's no skeleton left
Well damn, didn't think I would tear up at the Jazz skeleton meme. Fantastic video
Cathy Jarboe has achieved true immortality in a way most of us can only dream of. Thank you for sharing her story.
@@angriimann8349 she's known to fifty thousand people at this point, I think she will be remembered.
@@navienslavement Do trans people live so rent free in your head that you have to bring up bigotry on a video about a skull with a trumpet?!?
@@navienslavement lol, what?
@@navienslavement And you'll never touch one
@@videojuegos9379 she achieved fame then lost it then got it back again, at one point she went to conventions and stuff apparently
God bless Wayback Machine. I hope that archive remains for generations to come.
This really touched me as a small-time artist online. Cathy made something that became a part of the landscape of the internet itself and you gave that thing more meaning by crediting her and sharing even more of her work. It's good to know that someone can get so passionate about things that seem so small and everyday, to create a dedication to it, and to see that shared with so many others. Well done :)
If you or anyone else agree with this, please consider donating to the Internet Archive, as they really need the money to keep funding the servers
dude, for real. WaybackMachine is an invaluable resource to internet history that must never die.
@@joaovitormatos8147 YES
well done, excellent sleuthing
Yoo!! Thanks bud
Not where I expected to see wavywebsurf but I guess it makes sense
Well done indeed, still quite sloppy not checking for the oldest version of the website lol but it ended up not mattering in the end either way :)
@@KodakYarrAt least he owned up to it in the video, and made sure the person that allowed him to see his f-up had a spotlight in the video. I think it's important to show moments where you get lost in the details. It's so easy to do, and it's a humanizing moment for the creator. Rather appropriate, considering the conclusion.
Game recognises game!
This video is a piece of art. It is wonderful in every way. Thank you.
I hope that, when cathy won an award for her Jazzy Skull GIF, she might've imagine her work going around the wolrd and being an internet sensation on the daily for this many years since and beyond.
I'm an illustrator myself and have recently been thinking that I should give up because it's not getting me anywhere. I know that boost that Cathy mentioned when people appreciate your work. You never know who it will touch and it really is always worth it to keep creating. Thank you for this video and thank you for this memorable little gif that's made me laugh so many times, Cathy ❤️
Good morning Katrina! Thank you for sharing, I'm sure many of us whom I'm sure can relate to what you're feeling. I noticed your profile doesn't have any links, and wanted to ask if you'd be interested in sharing so we can check out some of your work?
@@undauntedExpounder ahhh I was using the wrong acct haha, but I see you found me :) I want to thank you for asking. That was very kind of you
nah give up, I can tell u suck
A real shame that Cathy never knew how much her art reached the world.
@ascalpipe wasnt the meme already popular before 2020?, but yeah she probably didnt know even up to that point
She might have. We'll never know.
Nothing can be confirmed if she knew or not.
yeah, it was popular even before the megalovania edits of it @@jainysail2941
Unfortunately the artist who becomes famous posthumously is a tale as old as time. More often than not, humanity does not appreciate creative people until they're gone.
i have known UA-cam for a long time and no video has touched my soul and heart so deeply until i saw your video you put a lot of hard work into making this beautiful video and i love your work. and the memory of jazzskull shall live on "in memory of cath jarboe".
Honestly, this feels so much like all the artists I learned about when I was an art major in college and had to take art history courses. This is EXACTLY how a lot of their art was discovered or made. A lot of them died starving and unappreciated having never known of the impact their art would have. It’s a genuine travesty that she joins that list of unappreciated legendary artists. It feels like I’m witnessing art history in the making.
To add to this, It’s kind of incredible how much of that basic principle-artists not getting appreciated for their art till after they die-applies to many more mediums, such as music. Even with artists like bach, you’d think he would’ve had an insane following at the time, but a lot of his fame came decades after he passed. People never understood his insane contribution to music that it went under everyone’s noses. We even see this today with many artists who’ve died and only got famous posthumously, like Wesley Willis. (the rock n roll McDonald’s guy) who knows what other artists are out there, whether in the art world, music world, etc, that will make a huge contribution to society without even knowing it.
@@catalinadog157 Wasn't expecting to see Wesley Willis mentioned lmao. Incredible human being with weird yet catchy and fun music.
R.I.P
E
@@noentiendonothing Same the wesley refrence is out there haha. But he is just as much an artist as anyone else! thats what makes art great its subjective and has no boundaries
Its amazing how a "derpy little gif" can have such an extensive backstory and make me cry. In the comments it is quite clear Cathy knew how popular her gifs were. Rest in peace Cathy. Doot Doot.
God dammit, I was beginning to worry Cathy had passed away and was deeply saddened when that ended up being the case. It's unfair she never got to see one of her artworks blow up and touch so many people. But such is the life of an artist, I suppose. I think she would've been overjoyed. May her legacy live on.
Agreed. I wish she knew
In 2020 too 😢 that year claimed so many people.
Same man 😔
I know I was thinking that too
It would have been too amazing to have the trumpet skeleton artwork signed by her :7 rip
absolutely beautiful piece. RIP Kathy, and thanks to you Jeffiot for existing.
Did not expect to come out of this video crying. I will forever think and congratulate Cathy anytime I see Jazz Skull from now on. May her art live on.
Fly high Cathy 🕊️
at first I was like, yeah right, cry, and now at the end of the video I am sobbing
It’s so easy to forget that this channel is so small. Your stuff is such high quality
Edit: I should have waited til the end to comment. People are behind art and to be remembered is to be immortal.
Thank you Cathy, I love how you enjoyed your art, and I love the joy you’ve inspired in others. She will be remembered.
This is beautiful. People need to be credited for their art. No matter how long it takes. Thank you for giving Jazzskull back to it’s creator.
Indeed, a lot of artist got credited and recognized for their talents "post-mortem". I'm happy we had the chance to give back this piece of internet history to whom it does belong to
know everytime i see this gif anywhere, my heart hurts for Cathy and this story that somehow effected my emotions so well 😭its such a random topic, let alone such a random gif, but this whole entire story has just genuinly effected me, great job Jeffiot 👍
Thank you, Mrs. Skeltal. Rest in peace, Cathy.
dude that's weird i assumed she was dead because the stuff was made in 99 and it was pretty mature so that would place her at 45 - 65 and most 80s kids grew up in the chemical age
@@thomasslone1964 looks like someone didnt watch the entire video
Oddly enough, I had a similar thing happen recently to the end of this video.
I use my voice, editing know-how, and sound design skills to dub fan-comics. Because of a problem with UA-cam I had to remove the descriptions of my videos earlier in the year. I took this last week off of work, so I decided to re-write the descriptions for all of them.
Since many of my videos are over 6 years old, I decided to check all the links to make sure they were working. Many unfortunately weren't, and while Wayback Machine saved some of them, not all were so lucky.
A couple days ago I finished, but just before I did, I came to a comic I dubbed back in 2020 a bit before my multi-year burnout hiatus. I checked the links to the original artist's account and the last post on the account was from a friend of their's, stating the artist had passed and providing an image of a Russian Death Certificate.
I did a little digging through the friend's accounts to be sure, and it looked legit. Of course, the Certificate was entirely in Russian and it was late, so I went to bed.
The next night, the 30th, I decided to run the image through a translator, maybe for closure since it had been nagging at me all day or maybe out of some morbid curiosity. This revealed the deathdate, which opened up a whole line of thought. I checked my DMs with the artist where I asked permission and realized I had asked a month, almost to the day, before they passed. And the video itself, which they had asked to see when it was finished, wasn't out until almost 3 months after their passing. I had sent a link, but never got a response. Of course, that happens all the time, so I thought nothing of it, but it was such a shock to realize this. To see that art, which touched me enough to make a video about, and which touched many more through my reinterpretation of it, had already been an echo of the thoughts and feelings of a life snuffed out, at its end, before I even finished my work with it. It's a strange feeling, but I'm also happy to know that it means this art was able to take on a new life beyond her own.
I think that might be why art is worth so much more after the creator's death. Not just because the supply is now limited, but because they're the echoes, the words, the dreams of minds now lost, etched into reality after they expire, in stone, or wood, or canvas, or ones and zeroes. I think it's the same reason we look into the eye sockets of a skull with such curiosity. We want to know what they have left to say. After all, they were just like us, and soon, we'll be like them too. Memories and creations, and copies of tendencies and eccentricities copied into all the people we've influenced in our short time, and copied into the people they influence, and so on.
This is a great addition to the video's topic man.
Thanks for sharing this bit of history with us.
This is so eloquently written. Thank you for adding this. I think this is a very true perspective. We really do continue to live on through our work.
Wow, you have a way with words that is beyond touching. Thank you for sharing and summarizing the thoughts of pretty much everyone, or if not everyone at least my own.
thank you for this addition, especially the last part. what a beautiful way to surmise a sentiment i think about so frequently.
Sorry to burst your bubble, its a commonly known fact that art is used for money laundering. Thats why art is so expensive.
I like to think Cathy knew but she liked a quiet life and decided to keep her cards close to the vest. She didn't want fame; she just wanted to know that people loved her artwork.
just like how all other meme creators are famous
This has been one of the most well made and enjoyable youtube vids I've seen in years. On a platform that seems to get more generic and chewed out with every year stuff like this makes me happy to still be roamin around here. Instant sub homie, also those water reflection shots were sick
the story telling, script writing, editing, animation, video pacing, music, the time spent researching. I think you carry that passion to create and i LOVE to see it. This was amazing, when I clicked this video I had no idea how pleasantly surprised & inspired I was going to be.
Keep creating youtube needs more stuff like this !
didnt expect to see my goat here. hope youre doing well brother.
E
I have always wondered in the back of my mind about the origin of the gif and it has been solved. Thanks to the community and Jeffiots team the amount of work put into this video, is outstanding and deserves to be a very popular video. Thank you for solving my childhood wonders and to Cathy, your legacy will live on, may you rest in peace.
You’re a legend
🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑
We might get an update
🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑
Someone should make her a wiki page and include all of her art! It is worth immortalizing
Im trying to make one right now, I'll try to add the bare minimum for it to pass the review. After that im hoping someone will pick it up and add to it
@@NovumSB🫡
@@NovumSB She probably isn't notable enough to get an article of her own. You have better chances making one for the GIF and citing any news stories that come out about this. I would recommend checking out the verifiability guidelines if you do want to continue with your draft as it is, though.
This was beautiful. You are really skilled in making powerful videos. So happy to have discovered this channel.
I was a gif obsessed child and somewhere between 2006-2008 I stumbled upon Cathy's website several times and always knew it as the origin of the "brown beckoning skull" and "swamp ghoul" but completely overlooked years later that this was also the skull Trumpet creator. The entire halloween gifs world is only getting more buried as years go on and needs saving! Certain midi files I have heard and will probably never find again!
May Cathy's spirit jazzily live on along with her legacy for as long as time.
❤️
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for making this video. It reminded me a lot of the Defunctland video: "Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery", where he tries to find the original creator of a short jingle used on the Disney channel.
I am a computer science professor, and always love to find little bits of history to insert into otherwise mathematical lectures. Simple things like why files have a certain structure, who created a tool we all now take for granted, or traditions like using the Lena image in academic papers. It really helps bring things back to a human level, and I'm glad you were able to add a little bit more to the story.
At the point where you talked about trying to contact her, i was already fearing that kind of outcome. Based on her website and what her friends looked like, she seemed like being something around her late 40s, which would make her around 70-75 by now
I am absolutely astounded by the insane quality of this video. It's very rare I ever get recommended a video half this good by UA-cam out of the blue, but this is probably one of my favourite videos of the whole year. I'm so glad this went viral, both to introduce me to such a fantastic channel, and to spread awareness of Cathy's art. RIP Cathy Jarboe.
I can't help but remember a quote by David Eagleman: “There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.”
I believe now that Cathy will never truly die thanks to this video, at least not until the last time someone remembers Jazz Skull.
Thanks for this video, it was very well put together and I hope your channel takes off because of it.
So, I was a fairly early adopter of the internet back in the day (1994ish, initially) and I... can't even imagine if someone contacted me now about stuff I did back then. I can still remember my first website... neon blue and fuschia and COVERED in animated gifs, all coded by hand in notepad. I was so fortunate to be involved at that point, and to have watched how the internet has evolved over the last 30 years has been mind-blowing. I'm glad that Cathy's work has become such a huge part of internet culture, and it's finally been linked back to the proper person at last.
SAME. Holy crow.
Back then the internet had so much individual creativity, web 2.0 was the start of completely killing it all and corporatizing everything. There's really no parallel anymore, the closest thing of "recent" years was Tumblr. Even the main social media of back then (Myspace) was heavily slanted towards personal creativity.
People who have adopted the internet in the 90's must have been the most autistic people of that generation, especially if they were female. While Cathy was obsessed with creating gifs, you seem to be hyperfused on actor Sebastian Stan. You have a dedicated fanpage on most websites, links to erotic fiction about the guy, his family photos from when he was a kid through highschool, clips from everything he's ever acted in. You have this whole guy's life on showcase, you even get mad at Marvel for not treating his character more seriously.
Whatever gets your rocks off. Internet be wild tho.
At first, I was thinking, why is this guy obsessed with just an old GIF, but your result has led me to a realization where this guy is a legend, this made me cry, thank you.
She was an artist that was very much in tune with the online landscape. Trust me, even though Cathy was probably in her later years, she definitely knew.
I hope you sent this video to her loved ones, I'm sure they'd love to see all of the loving comments made for Cathy by people that adore her work.
Even if they choose to not respond, and even though the loss may still deeply affect them, they can at least be comforted by the thought of millions of people having seen and genuinely appreciated something that Cathy invested a lot of time into and enjoyed creating.
excellent video, I realized when you were showing Cathy’s gifs that I’ve definitely run into her art before on old gif aggregators. I love that style and her passion for creating is so inspiring. RIP Cathy.
What a journey that was. I found myself genuinely tearing up a bit at the end and feeling a sense of togetherness in a way that only the internet can bring. The early internet was a place that had some of the most passionate and creative art since so much of it was made for the sole purpose of doing so. Thank you for all the work you've done here.
Rest in peace Cathy, thank you for your art.
Perfect edit. Great story. Thank you.
Rest in peace Cathy, thank you for creating such wonderful art that we’ve been able to enjoy for so many years!
And thank you Jeff for another amazing video ❤ your storytelling and presentation are second to none
What makes me real sad is even though nothing bad directly because of this happened to Cathy, it's still terrible that she never knew how much of an impact to the world her little gif had. Especially since it sounds like she just wanted to make art and get recognized.
And if Rose and Ben could see this. This is not some weird prank or joke. It's silly that a skeleton going Doot is the thing she made a mark on the world, but it brought some happiness into all our lives. And for that, we not only respect her, but honor her.
happens all the time, Kafka Van Gough, Hayden gone to depression for his role as Anakin but atleast he lived to see people appreciate his role
Perfectly said
E
there have geniunely been dark days in my life where being sent the "thank mr. doot" meme brightened it. I don't care how cheesy or cringey that sounds (and potentially, is) - it's true.
Fun fact, TinyEye is actually TinEye, and it's a reference to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn novels, where the word refers to people whose magical power is that they can trace others by eating small amounts of tin. The whole magic system in those books involves eating metal
Thanks, I was about to say the same thing
Damn, wait, it's REALLY a reference? Holy crap. Where does it say that? I guessed that the second I saw the site but never saw proof.
@@FelisImpurrator their blog says it isn't, but 1) I'm assuming they're trying to avoid copyright issues and 2) the story they have for coming up with the name just doesn't make sense to me. Sounds extremely fake, I mean.
@@CJWproductions Dang. Well, I hope it is.
I assume it's because their character is a robot. Perhaps a tin man. His TinEye has seen many images, and he remembers them.
Perfect video all around. Ending was amazing. Glad I found you from a random live stream reviewing your page
R.I.P Cathy.
Your art is amazing. A trophy of the past and a mark to tell people "Just do it for fun. Not the Money."
Nice thought. That's how it should be, and how it could be, but we are forced to work so other people can get rich.
@@marcomoreno6748you are braindead or a moron if you REALLY think thats stupidity you say
UA-cam is being oversaturated with high quality channels like this. Feels wierd to say but the amount of "underrated" channels I came across the last 3 years is huge and there's really no difference between 1 million sub and 50k sub channels other than luck at this point. I can only watch so much. Strange.
Good job and I hope you succeed.
That's what I'm thinking. There's just so much to watch! Such a good algorithm.
He will have a million soon! This quality wont go unrecognized
I disagree that there is only "luck" separating these channels with 1m and 50k subcounts. Usually the 50k channels hit 1m if they consistently make videos like this long enough.
On the whole, this is this guy's first big break and I'm excited to see how his channel turns out.
I did not expect to burst into tears when you announced that Cathy had died. I do not know this person. But your story telling let me feel like I did. This video ended up being a lovely tribute.
The moment he found a name, i kinda guessed it was someone who was not with us anymore. I can't tell why.
Same
I bawled like I'd lost my own grandmother. I suspected she might've passed away when he said 1999, but the revelation still gut-punched me especially since it'd only been fairly recently that she passed. 😢
Yeah same. I was like.. she's gotta be old right now, and the chances are small she's still with us @@Tyanu_Khah May she rest in peace and if she's somewhere there, may it be a great place
I think this is the most beautiful and important piece of media I've ever seen. I clicked on the thumbnail with the intention to use this as silly background noise while I worked on a project, but you had my full, dedicated attention for all 42 minutes of this video and managed to bring more than a few tears to my eyes. The internet, through it's many flaws, is a weird and wonderful place. We always hear warnings like "Be careful what you post online, because it will never go away". And while that is good advice to follow, I think that concept is pretty beautiful. JazzSkull will always be a part of the internet's history. More importantly, Cathy and her passion and creativity will be here forever, too. And now, thanks to you, her creative legacy will live on in the minds of millions. JazzSkull is forever. Cathy Jarboe is forever. Thank you, Mr. Skeltal.
I never thought I’d cry about jazz skull by Cathy Jarboe but here we are.
I’m an artist myself, I teach mostly but I decided a while back my art lives best in obscurity. My grandmother passed a few months ago and I’ve been making art around those feelings, and legacy keeps coming up. There’s a quote from this zine I read from a post-punk album about a dead lost and forgotten religion, “deathconsciousness” that goes “if it were you that had disappeared, unknown, into history, you would want someone to try to remember you. You would want someone to try to understand. So that’s what I’ll do.”
It’s been lingering with me.
There’s also this amazing scene in the graphic novel Building Stories by Chris Ware where the main character, a nameless disabled woman who gives up her life as an artist for a simple life as a suburban mother, finds the book you are reading on a shelf in a dream. As she flips through illustrations of her memories, she begins to cry and says “I just thought nobody would care”
The last time I cried looking at a work of art was when I last visited one of Van Gogh’a bedroom paintings in Chicago. I had recently read his letters to his brother, and the one he wrote while planning that painting was all about how he just wanted to create a place of peace, real peace, all the way down to the color choices, which he would list like he was writing poetry. You could tell through the letters and the painting that all he wanted was to make something that gave people the peace he so struggled to find for himself. The struggle to feel and then to put that feeling out into the world is so hard, and something Cathy Jarboe made, a silly little gif, gave so many people feelings. The fact that the majority of what she put out into the world was this gentle and communal amusement is a beautiful thing.
Jeffiot, your work reaching back into the fading threads of the internet to pull Cathy’s story out of obscurity is also a work of art, give yourself that credit at least. You helped us care and that’s a beautiful thing. You got yourself a new follower today, happy birthday. Thank you for existing.
This is beautiful. Cathy's reason for creating really hit home. As an artist, the hope that people will even want to see the art is so real. Thank you Cathy for jazz skull and thank you Jeffiot for making her name known.
I'm also in the process of making a video essay on another "lost" creator and want you to know that your video has really inspired mine so thank you for that as well
gonna sub to you because im really interested in what you're cooking up for us in the future :)
Very cool
Ending was painful and sour. Cathy was a myth but she's still alive in our hearts for making great arts that people love. Cathy you were a legend that when nobody knew about internet you made those arts possible. Thank you for this meme....(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
crazy too see you go from 4k subs to posting this video and blowing up, congrats dude
Cathy is inspiring to me, because her seemingly reckless desire to create has immortalized her. she made wonderful things, that people used and loved and connected with. and even long after her name had been divorced from the gif she made, it continued. carrying with it her passion, and the thinnest, most fragile thread back to her. and for so many reasons i find hard to express, that is beautiful.
her passing is a shame, but she contributed something to the internet that lives on, and is beloved by many. and thanks to Jeffiot, the way back machine, and now youtube, that thread leading back to her is more solid.
one sobering thought is that the Wayback machine is not something we are guaranteed, it isnt a perfect record, and lawmakers and financial situations alike threaten its existence every day. i count myself fortunate to live in a time where videos like this are possible.
Yes you're so right. The wayback machine and Internet archive is under treat from corporate entities. We can't ever let them get taken down.
I really appreciate your self-awareness and ability to appreciate her art as a regular person and a real artist. I hope her family knows how beloved her creations have become at the very least. Your effort is so appreciated by all of us who were curious about this silly little meme.
Videos that make me cry are usually puppies, kittens, kids, y'know, pictures of life that we kind of expect to be emotionally invested in. Your video made me cry about art and time - longing for a time that no longer exists, longing for the artists that are no longer with us. That felt special. Thank you.
The way it made me tear up when you said she'd passed away, even though I was kinda already assuming she had died at some point prior to the creation of this video, Says something. I dunno what, but. Something.
I've never been so invested and hit so hard in the feels by a topic I've never cared to take more than a second of a passing glance. Just wow! Damn good video. Your entire journey was laid bare here and I truly felt the rush of discovery, the anxiousness of waiting for a reply, the gut punch finding out she had passed. This was awe inspiring. Great job!
Agreed. The only "media mystery" video I can think of that's hit like this is Defuctland's Disney Channel Theme video which I hope comes across as the incredible praise that I mean it to.
@@MarkBonneaux Don't forget this one too "The 10-Year Hunt for the Lost McDonald's DS Game". but wow this video made me emotional yet inspiring.
i recommend the video about the Disney channel jingle by defunctland if you enjoyed this one!
Can I just say how fucking DELIGHTFUL the editing and storytelling style you have? Had me hooked from the start, fantastic work!
Never thought I'd tear up over funny skeletal trumpet. This video deserves more recognition and RIP Cathy.
And as always, thank you mr skeltal
Wow what incredible work you've done. I'm so glad to have stumbled upon your channel!
Rest in Peace, Cathy Jarboe. I hope those that loved her know how much impact she had on so many people
WHAT, SHE’S DEAD?!?
I was first getting online as I teenager/young adult when Cathy was making the art we looked at in the video. As soon as you stopped at 2011 I was like "nooooo that website is ten years older!!! don't stop!" This whole video reminded me of the older women who were online and running all kinds of important stuff at the time and are now not just forgotten individually but as a class of people who were even there. Family websites, blogs, art and hobby pages, genealogy pages, forums for anything you could think of. Some of my first online friends were women in their 30s-50s (30 was old to me at the time lol). Anyway. Thanks for reminding everybody and hopefully teaching some other young people that the internet was pretty great before social media 😂
This is a wonderful comment ❤
He could’ve used you earlier lmao
The final few minutes of this unexpectedly moved me to tears, I’m still crying as I write this. As an artist myself who frequently mourns the rapid loss of artist credit & general information on a transient internet I am deeply touched that you went to the trouble to credit the nearly-lost work of someone who influenced millions.
I remember Skull Trumpet from the early 2010s, back when she was still in this world. I wish she could have known just how much simple & beautiful joy her work has brought me and so many others. Thank you for honoring her and for sharing her passion with us. Rest in peace Cathy 🎺💀🩵
Me at the start of the video: 😇
Me at the end of the video: 🥹
You’re an incredible storyteller. So happy to see you’ve gained more subscribers with this video. I was SHOCKED to see how little following you had. Wish you the best of luck. RIP Cathy.
Holy fuck that was like a journey, first you are curious, then you get intrigued and as minutes passes by you get more and more involved. Then you see the light and the good ending but it's just a bitter end. And boom you find yourself crying about the story of a trumpet skull gif. What a masterpiece, thank you for making this and obviously thank you to Cathy
So long as her work persists, her spirit will never be forgotten.
Thank you for revealing her legacy to the world.
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well it almost is you just have to have the luck that someone cares enough to remember you
6:42 italo disco baby on the right
First thing I watched this morning, brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Jeff, and thank you Cathy!! ❤ happy holidays everyone!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, thank you very much.
DUDE THIS IS REALLY REALLY REAL QUALITY CONTENT. Congrats, you made such a masterpiece.
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Fr espeially because he had such a small channel when he uploaded this
In your search you broke open a treasure trove of unique and whimsical art from an era many hold dear, and that alone makes the video worth it.
Makes me really bitter learning about that date, because its tied to many implications which people just want to forget and leave buried, even if its a really big and atrocious mistake doing so, screaming at the void here but whatever.
Its a sad and bitter closure but through her art shes remembered and lives on
Rest in peace Cathy ❤
Probably got inspired by Skeleton Frolic (1937)....that got inspired by Silly Symphonies - The Skeleton Dance (1929)
This came into my recommended feed & I thought to myself, why on earth is there a 40+ minute video about the origin of a gif? Well, I figured I give it a go & just click off if it was boring... This was an absolutely beautiful & informative video. I had a feeling Cathy was going to be deceased as the search for her progressed, but even then, when it was made official, my whole body broke out in goosebumps as my heart sank into the floor.
This video was not only informative & highly entertaining, but it was a beautiful tribute to an artist. Thank you for making it.
I never would have expected to get emotional over a spooky skeleton gif.
This video is beautiful and I hope your art gets all the recognition it deserves.
RIP Cathy
POLAND MENTIONED !!!
Btw "czachy" doesn't mean "chess", but its rather a commonly used distorted version of word "czaszki", which means skulls.
One of the most important videos of the 21st century