What is the oldest AMV?

[Katranat]

Apologies if this topic has come up before! I tried searching to see, but all I got were people talking about their own oldest AMV's.

I've often wondered what the oldest AMV is. Does anyone around here know? Or can anyone make an educated guess?

The oldest I am aware of, are ones that were made by the animation studios themselves to go along with their anime. A couple for reference, the "Music Image Videos" they made for Please Save my Earth and the Tokyo Babylon Vision video, these were released in 1994 and 1992 respectively.

It would be interesting also to know if the general public made any kind of AMV in/before the early 90's as well!
I'm betting there's probably vids from the 80's I don't know about.

[CrackTheSky]

The first fanmade AMV is generally thought to be a Star Blazers AMV set to "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles, edited by Jim Kaposzstas in 1982. It is not on YouTube, but I have a copy and will gladly share it with you if you want it. The Daicon IV Opening from 1983 is also considered among the first AMVs, although it's not an "AMV" in the usual sense -- it's not a fanmade creation (it was edited by a proto-Studio Gainax), and it didn't use existing anime -- it's all original animation.

[Kionon]

There are definitely stories I've heard about AMV-adjacent stuff (or proto-AMVs), mostly Star Blazers (such as what CrackTheSky references) when it comes to "western" fandom. Now, there is M@D-adjacent (or proto-M@Ds) earlier than that in Japan. The Daicon IV Opening CTS is referencing is probably something I'd put in the M@D category, but honestly, the difference between AMVs and M@Ds is itself kind of culturally indistinct and arbitrary. Japanese vs North American, but... Almost certainly there are lost items from the late 70s and early 80s, made by someone with access to university equipment, and shown to a very small group. Proto-Studio Gainax likely made some of this stuff themselves, we just don't have access to it.

[Katranat]

The first fanmade AMV is generally thought to be a Star Blazers AMV set to "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles, edited by Jim Kaposzstas in 1982. It is not on YouTube, but I have a copy and will gladly share it with you if you want it. The Daicon IV Opening from 1983 is also considered among the first AMVs, although it's not an "AMV" in the usual sense -- it's not a fanmade creation (it was edited by a proto-Studio Gainax), and it didn't use existing anime -- it's all original animation.

Wow, this is amazing thank you so much! I had a guess it would be the 80's but 1982, my goodness! I would be really grateful if you did share the video, it must be fascinating to watch.
Watching that interview has made me realise that anime fandom in the west has been going back quite a long time, I had no idea anime conventions had been around that long.

Also, I'm a dumbass who thought "Daicon IV Opening" was a real opening to an anime for a few minutes there.

There are definitely stories I've heard about AMV-adjacent stuff (or proto-AMVs), mostly Star Blazers (such as what CrackTheSky references) when it comes to "western" fandom. Now, there is M@D-adjacent (or proto-M@Ds) earlier than that in Japan. The Daicon IV Opening CTS is referencing is probably something I'd put in the M@D category, but honestly, the difference between AMVs and M@Ds is itself kind of culturally indistinct and arbitrary. Japanese vs North American, but... Almost certainly there are lost items from the late 70s and early 80s, made by someone with access to university equipment, and shown to a very small group. Proto-Studio Gainax likely made some of this stuff themselves, we just don't have access to it.

Thank you for your thoughts. It's kind of inspiring to think that people were most likely determined to make AMV's with limited resources back in the day. I guess such is the power of fandom!

[seasons]

There's no information at either of these links indicating when either of these were made. I can't seem to find either in the database here. What are these?

[Katranat]

There's no information at either of these links indicating when either of these were made. I can't seem to find either in the database here. What are these?

Here's the info on MAL

https://myanimelist.net/anime/10036/Bok ... i_Nagarete
https://myanimelist.net/anime/24139/Tok ... %20babylon

And my bad! I assumed that since Please Save My Earth came out in 1993 that the music videos were of a similar age, but they were actually made in 2001.

[Scintilla]

There's no information at either of these links indicating when either of these were made. I can't seem to find either in the database here. What are these?

Here's the info on MAL

https://myanimelist.net/anime/10036/Bok ... i_Nagarete
https://myanimelist.net/anime/24139/Tok ... %20babylon

I'm pretty sure Seasons meant the AMVs, not the animé used.
And if they were in fact made by the studios themselves like you said they were, then it stands to reason that they never would have been entered into the database here. Reminds me of the AMV that was on the last disk of Fushigi Yuugi that was an AMV to the ending theme song using spoileriffic scenes of particular impact, I guess to tell a condensed version of the ending of the series?

[Katranat]

The first fanmade AMV is generally thought to be a Star Blazers AMV set to "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles, edited by Jim Kaposzstas in 1982. It is not on YouTube, but I have a copy and will gladly share it with you if you want it. The Daicon IV Opening from 1983 is also considered among the first AMVs, although it's not an "AMV" in the usual sense -- it's not a fanmade creation (it was edited by a proto-Studio Gainax), and it didn't use existing anime -- it's all original animation.

Reviving this thread just in case anyone is interested - Jim Kaposzstas seems to have made his own YouTube channel and is uploading all of his old AMV's: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFMCHI ... tkw/videos

[CrackTheSky]

Holy crap, thanks for sharing!

[Zarxrax]

Wow, that's a lot!