Nintendo shuts down Zelda fan film, four years in the making

by Griffin McElroy on Jan 4th 2010 12:59PM

A few weeks ago, the fruits of four years of labor finally paid off for independent film studio BMB Finishes when its Zelda-based movie, The Hero of Time, was released for public consumption over the internets. Reaction to the film was mixed, but it seemed like everyone appreciated the 1,460 days of hard work that went into the feature-length film's creation. Apparently, that's not the case -- the movie's official site was updated on New Years Day, explaining that the studio had come to an agreement with Nintendo to stop distributing the film online.

The update sounds less miffed than you might imagine, stating, "we understand Nintendo's right to protect its characters and trademarks and understand how in order to keep their property unspoiled by fan's interpretation of the franchise, Nintendo needs to protect itself - even from fan-works with good intentions." The missive jokingly ends by saying, "I'm sure our next project will be right around the corner! No, it's not Majora's Mask." Yeah, that would be ridiculous. Twilight Princess, on the other hand, seems like a logical choice.

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Tags: bmb-finishes, copyright-infringement, fan-film, movie, nintendo, the-hero-of-time, the-legend-of-zelda, zelda

Reader Comments (147)

i like how Kojima or Konmai did not say anything to the people that made a Fan made MGS

To everyone villianizing Nintendo: they could have just as easily shut this project down long before it was completed. But they not only waited until after it was finished, they also waited until it was "out there." The filmmakers completed their dream, and it's available to those who want to see it. Nintendo did what they had to in order to protect their IP. Everyone wins.

This is true, too. They let them keep distributing it until the new year, which is certainly more mercy than they've showed in the past with their rather vicious C&D's.

Shutting this down before it was finished would have been better for these people since then they wouldn't have put so much effort into something only for it to get shut down. No, Nintendo did not do what they had to to protect their IP, this wouldn't have weakened Nintendo's copyright on Zelda or any of that bullshit, copyright doesn't work like that. They could have easily turned a blind eye to this or even encouraged it, much like Valve or Microsoft. Leaving this on the internet would have hurt Nintendo in no measurable way and, given that the consensus seems to be that it was terrible, if they'd left well enough alone, people would have just forgotten about it anyway. Yes, ultimately Nintendo is in the legal right and this movie is technically infringement, but since it doesn't really damage Nintendo in any way (in some ways, the opposite), this constitutes a "dick move". These guys weren't running a torrent site full of Nintendo roms and isos, ffs, they're a bunch of devoted fans who made a tribute to the object of their affection. Get some perspective.

Did you read their website? They seemed pretty pleased that they could finish their labor of love. No rantings about the big bad corporation, no red herrings about piracy, and certainly no laments about not being shut down sooner. If they're satisfied, I'm satisfied.

Perspective indeed. Enjoy your jihad.

"Shutting this down before it was finished would have been better for these people since then they wouldn't have put so much effort into something only for it to get shut down. "

They put so much effort into something and it got "shut down" after there was nothing left to shut down besides one channel of distribution. The film was finished and production wasn't shut down. Who gives a crap if they have to get it from Pirate Bay or whatever instead of the official website?

Seriously? 'Dick move"?

Nintendo is IP owner of the strongest gaming franchises in the gaming universe. Why should they be permitting non-company controlled elements from re-envisioning their work?

We don't know if Nintendo ever would turn this property into a movie, or even if they want to.

But Nintendo is in every right to not allow a non-Nintendo effort in possibly smearing a very important game franchise.

See what happens if you try to make Disney porn. Or god forbid, a second SUPER MARIO BROTHERS movie.

If anyone tried to make a second SMB movie, the universe would implode.

"Polka-Hot-Ass" or "101 Fellations"?

(now we shall see who gets the reference)

Of course it's their IP but a fan fic doesn't effect them in the slightest. It's like LucasArts sending a C&D order to all the idiots waving their lightsabers around on youtube. It's not hurting anyone, and sometimes can be quite funny.

And this coming from a company that doesn't even bother to connect the various games with each other. I love most of the Zelda games and OoT was awesome but it's not like they've ever been concerned with Canon so why does it matter?

Lucas is a whore.

Well excuse me Princess, I don't see how this could be worse publicity than that awful Zelda Cartoon.

Or the CDi games...the horror.

I don't care about the quality of the movie. It's as though Nintendo isn't making enough money already. I think they should have let this one slide but make it known that none of their other properties are going to be allowed in fan movies this way.

Screw Nintendo. They made a crap system, ignored hardcore gamers, and have been producing low-quality games for a while now. Wii Music? Wii Fit? Then, they make a hand held system, two years later release the good version, then two years later make a new version that's "not supposed to replace" the old version. I'm on to Nintendo, and I don't like it.

I believe I speak for everyone when I say

http://cakepillows.com/4chan/zomg-torrent-plz.jpg

Already posted. Though if someone wants to post links to other torrent sites or rapidshare/mediafire/etc. sites, that would be cool too.

They spent 4 years making that? Yikes.

And not one friend, editor, fx guy said "Uhm...wow, this is really bad".

FX: Over-the- top
Outfits: atrocious
Acting: I've seen better elementary school plays.

Verdict: I'd rather shove the master sword straight up my ass, then to watch that again.

Let's be honest here: This is the best publicity this movie is ever going to get.

If they don't protect it, then they can't protect it. Copyright law has somewhat of a use it or lose it mentality. Their options at that point are either buy up the rights to the project, shut it down, or let it lie, which would be rather damaging to their legal position as the IP holder.

I love how the internet works. Any opportunity to demonize Nintendo is presented, and all these people come out of the woodwork yelling "Fuck you, Nintendo!" and then proceeding to ramble on about how much they've hated the companies recent moves. No real effort to comprehend the story, just a nice excuse to vent.

Mr Khan, copyright law has no such stipulations. You're thinking of trademark law. Copyright protection lasts until it expires due to age or until the rights holder explicitly puts it out in the public domain. There is no "use it or lose it" with copyright.

Mr Khan,

Star Wars.

QED

I was unaware of that difference, though i suppose it makes sense.

That's weird.. There's 2 seasons of "Legend of Neil" out and that show is a huge parody of Zelda games. If any of you have seen The Guild, the guy who made is the Indian guy (sorry forgot his name!). It's a pretty funny show.

Parodies are legal, direct copies are not.

what are these people, fucking retarded? havent they heard of torrents? piratebay just got my google click comission, and nintendo...did not.

The bright side? Syfy potentially has a cheap secondary unit to help film "Rock Monster 2".

I saw the movie and quite frankly it made me sick! I felt it was a horrible attempt at a Zelda film, the master sword looked nothing like what it was, Goron was just a dirty fat asian, Sheik looked like a pussy and above everything else

Link and Zelda kissing!!!!!

No wonder Hollywood can't make a good video game movie, the fans can't even get the shit right

Also, like w10002 said Nintendo isn't heartless like when it came to the Mother 3 translation, my guess they took it down because it was just awful.....ok probably not but still, I remember watching Legend of Neil which I loved because it was suppose to be a parody. The Hero of Time is serious and sadly becomes the bigger joke

Maybe if the film didn’t suck so much Nintendo might have actually gotten behind it. However, judging by the quality of the final product (it’s bloody terrible) I don’t blame them in the least for protecting their trademark against backyard film projects.

But seriously, terrible acting and dialogue, a crappy wig that doesn’t really cover his hair and a “mom” that looks younger than him? It’s just asking too much of Nintendo to turn a blind eye to this. Maybe if it was a short but a feature film is an entirely different story….

yes dick move and all, but i just skipped through it, and i have to say, if i was nintendo i would be embarrassed

Nintendeo is so nice.
Clearly have a lot of money yet still feel the need to shut down a fan film after release.
Really nintendo really? Would it have hurt you in any way?

It was a fan film, if I spent time making it and nintendo pulled this out, i'm not sure I would still be a fan.

Judging by everyone's reception, it was apparently a terrible movie. And based on that, had this never happened, I would have never watched it. Hell, I never even heard about it till now.

However, Now that Nintendo has decided to pull the plug, I've gone to piratebay, and now the movie is sitting in my Utorrent, downloading. And I'm gonna let it seed for a while as well. I'll watch it and judge from there.

Way to go Nintendo, You've given this movie free publicity.

Well, the movie sucked when I saw the trailer for it years ago, and the final product didn't improve anything at all.

I've seen friends of mine make better outfits than this movie did.

Nintendo did the right thing. They didn't want another Zelda Cartoon or CD-i like product roaming around.

Downloading........Now!

I was seriously pissed when this news came out considering all the hard work they put into the film.

Then I watched it, and I kinda understood why Nintendo wanted to brush it under the rug. No offense guys, but ehhhhh...

Dick move by Nintendo?? Hardly... They are protecting their property, and have the right to do so.

When I saw it I thought of this. The IGN April Fools prank of 2008 was better quality than this film actually if the trailer is anything to go by.

Nintendo's next stop: deviantART, to scour for any Zelda fanart that's gotten over 1000 views.

This movie blows. Nintendo did us all a favor, kthx.

Really nintendo you had to let them finish the whole film, which took them 4 years to make, and then you precede to say " No you can't do that with Link, we made him he's ours!" Nintendo I'm pretty sure that they're are many fan made videos of your characters and now the people that spent 4 years doing this have to pay because the like the character you made so much that they spent 4 years to make the movie. And now I quote "Dick move!"

yay replyfail

Being a person who's actually watched this thing, allow me to give the general consensus of everyone who watched it with me. 'It's fucking terrible' and I agree. Take the IGN April Fools trailer, turn it into a high school grade production and acting skills, while adding some gratuitous GC violence for good measure. When your Goron is a chubby Asian and your Zelda has a horribly fake English Accent. Something is horribly wrong. I'd rather watch an Uwe Boll directed Zelda movie than this again.

Also before anyone shits on Nintendo, since this 'movie' clearly would do damage to the Zelda label, it shows how benevolent Nintendo was for allowing this to train wreck to be shown at all. They could have pulled a Square Enix dick move like with that chrono trigger fan-made sequel, or pulled the plug on the Mother 3 English patch (along with the merchandise being generated from it) The fact they came to agreement and made a deadline for them to continue to air speaks volumes.

At least the music was good.

I heard it was only shut down because they were asking for donations. If they didn't Nintendo might have let it stay? Apparently they only do stuff like this if the people are asking for money of some sort.

At least this is what I've heard, not stating it as "fact", because I don't know and anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong.

Even that Zelda movie IGN made as an April Fool's joke looked more believable.

I guess Nintendo is trying to really protect their character's image.. Link on the movie sucks... is a movie alright, pretty bad...lot of guts to complete the project... but awful no less than that...

I'm a little shocked at this, but from what everyone is saying about the quality of the movie... I'm not to upset about it. I'd be much more upset is something like, say, There Will Be Brawl were shut down. That stuff is awesome, while this... Yeah. No.

Previous 50 Comments

Nintendo shuts down Zelda fan film, four years in the making

Reader Comments (147)

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 1:36PM Solid Jackal said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 1:36PM Hellion42 said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:17PM Mr Khan said

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Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:48PM Ravnos said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:05PM TheCabbage said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 5:53PM gatotsu911 said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:13PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:21PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 4th 2010 2:35PM Ravnos said

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