The Mystery of the Day the Moon Woke Up

This article delves into "The Moon Wakees Up," an Analog Horror series on YouTube that recently gained immense popularity, accumulating 19 million views. The series, which centers around a creepy moon with a smile, has sparked discussions about its lore and potential future. The content creator, IP, provides a detailed analysis of the series while also addressing personal experiences with copyright strikes against his previous video essays on animated works like "Other Lily," "Missing Halloween," and "I Heard It." He explains how viral success can lead to streaming services acquiring rights, making third-party content creators vulnerable to exclusivity agreements. This situation led to the removal of many of his older videos. IP decided to break this cycle of fear by discussing "The Moon Wakees Up," despite his initial skepticism about its potential for a deep narrative. He suspects the series was initially an experimental, viral one-shot that only later attempted to build a cohesive storyline.

The Viral Phenomenon and Copyright Challenges

The host, IP, started by noting the impressive viewership of "The Moon Wakees Up," with 19 million views, indicating its viral status. He then transitioned to the common challenges faced by content creators whose works go viral. IP shared his personal experiences with copyright strikes, particularly regarding videos he made about animations such as "Other Lily," "Missing Halloween," and "I Heard It." He explained that when a creation gains widespread popularity, it often attracts the attention of streaming services. These services may then purchase the rights to the project for their catalogs, as happened with "Digital Circles" and "Contrafilé," which were acquired by Netflix and Prime Video, respectively.

You, being the creative, launch a work on the internet, and what happens is it goes viral. And when that happens, it's over for IP. It's true, man, I remember watching Skibidi Toilet multiple times, and everything started turning into copyright issues, my God! And when that happens, it's very common for a streaming service to buy the rights to the project to put it in their catalog. That happened with Digital Circles and with Contrafilé, one went to Netflix and the other to Prime Video. How crazy, man!

IP clarified that some contracts allow third-party exhibition, which explained why his reaction videos to "Digital Circles" and "Contrafilé" were not removed. However, other contracts, like the one for "Pleasant In," demand exclusivity, restricting reproduction solely to the creator's channel and the streaming service. This led to a direct copyright strike on his "Pleasant In" video. IP managed to resolve the issue amicably with the animation's creator, who removed the strike. He stressed that creators often accept these terms for the opportunities and exposure that streaming platforms provide. He also mentioned a similar issue with "Cat Ghost" where a two-minute music segment led to the demonetization of a much longer video with millions of views, resulting in significant financial losses as all revenue went to the music artist's label.

The Mystery of "The Moon Wakees Up"

IP then shifted focus to "The Moon Wakees Up." He admitted that he was hesitant to cover it due to his previous experiences with copyright issues and his low expectations for the series’ potential narrative depth. He believed it was likely an experimental video that went viral and was then retroactively forced into a series format, similar to "Skibidi Toilet" or "Sonic Shin Tapes." He humorously rated it a "5 out of 10" from the outset, predicting it would delve into "weird, unsettling horror for children," akin to "ElsaGate" content, rather than a mature horror narrative. He described the animation as a "hypothetical situation rather than a story with arcs, characters, and twists," asking viewers to "turn off their brains" and embrace the idea of the moon as a living, sentient being.

Episode 1: The Awakening

The first episode of "The Moon Wakees Up" thrusts viewers into a disorienting reality where the moon is a conscious entity. The episode is set in 1969, likely aboard the Apollo 11 mission, involving two astronauts on their way to the moon. This detail raises questions about the timeline and the fate of the iconic moon landing. As the astronauts observe the moon, it begins to move erratically, revealing eyes and a mouth. Despite its sentient actions, the moon ignores the astronauts and passes by their spacecraft. However, this seemingly innocuous movement causes their Apollo 11 vessel to collapse, ejecting both astronauts into space. The moon's movement also appears to cause significant, catastrophic changes on Earth, though the full extent is not immediately clear. The episode concludes by revealing that other planets in the Milky Way also possess similar facial features, implying that the moon's awakening is not an isolated event.

Episode 2: Signs and Prophecies

The second episode jumps back one month before the Apollo 11 launch, offering a civilian's perspective in New York. Here, a street preacher, implied to be Mr. Friend (the creator of the series), warns about "signs" and government deception, although his connection to the moon's awakening remains ambiguous. The narrative then shifts to Surrey, United Kingdom, five days before the Apollo 11 mission. This segment focuses on Michael Collins, one of the real-life Apollo 11 astronauts, who was in the UK for promotional events. In the series, Collins begins to experience unsettling hallucinations, including seeing his child drawing the moon and other planets with faces, foreshadowing their awakening. This also implies that the moon's awakening was a prophesied event, with scenes depicting ancient peoples worshipping the moon as it approaches Earth, even creating ground drawings of its impact. IP drew parallels between ancient beliefs about celestial beings, such as angels in the Bible, and potential extraterrestrial entities, suggesting that these "angels" could be interpretations of alien encounters, much like the giant moon being worshipped in the series. The episode culminates with news broadcasts reporting the moon's imminent impact with Earth, and people across the globe are seen helplessly observing the impending catastrophe.

IP also discussed the real-world implications of a moon-Earth collision. Such an event would cause widespread devastation, breaking the Earth into fragments, forming rings similar to Saturn, and creating a thick layer of fire from debris. Crucially, the absence of sunlight would turn Earth into an ice ball, instantly killing all life due to the colossal shockwave.

Episode 3: Five Years Later and New Threats

The third episode fast-forwards five years after the moon's collision with Earth. Approximately 3.2 billion people have perished, vast oceans have dried up, and sunlight is absent. Despite this, Earth has not completely frozen, which IP finds inconsistent with real-world physics. The moon remains lodged on Earth's surface, and intriguingly, Neil Armstrong is shown alive, appearing to plant the American flag on the moon's surface, despite the previous collapse of the Apollo 11 mission—an apparent continuity error or perhaps an alternate timeline. The surviving human leaders, scientists, and government agents have formed the "Frontline Research Initiative for Earth's New Defense" (FRIEND). Their headquarters are located in the Umbra Zone in Africa (specifically Egypt), the radioactive impact site where the moon struck. FRIEND's mission is to predict future impacts and ensure human survival, even as resources like food and water become critically scarce, with supplies prioritized for researchers. IP highlights a grim detail: a survivor is seen consuming a radiated rat, implying exposure to the moon's radioactive residue. The researchers launch 12 "Orbital Reconnaissance Interplanetary Surveillance" (ORIS) satellites to study Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, which have also awakened and left their orbits to observe Earth without causing gravitational disruption, another point IP questions. Each ORIS satellite, however, is destroyed by the planets themselves, which launch their own moons as projectiles, revealing their consciousness and hostile intent. IP pondered the creators' strategy, suggesting that sending decoy satellites might be a more cost-effective approach. He also noted that Uranus, being rich in hydrogen and methane, could become a massive fireball if it came into contact with Earth's oxygen, suggesting a terrifying future threat. The episode concludes with the discovery of an unidentified, hostile creature within the Umbra Zone, hinting at further escalating threats. IP observes that while the series escalates its themes, the creator seems to have bitten off more than he can chew, creating a grand narrative that may be difficult to resolve coherently.

Takeaways

Analog Horror Popularity: The video highlights the significant viewership and viral nature of "The Moon Wakees Up," an Analog Horror series on YouTube, demonstrating the genre's current appeal.
Copyright Challenges for Creators: The IP discusses the prevalent issue of copyright strikes against YouTube creators, especially when their content relates to hugely successful or acquired intellectual properties, leading to videos being removed due to exclusivity contracts.
Experimental Genesis of Viral Content: Many viral series, like "The Moon Wakees Up" and "Skibidi Toilet," often begin as experimental, one-off projects that are later forced into a multi-episode series format due to unexpected success, often leading to inconsistencies in narrative.
Narrative Inconsistencies and Escalation: The "The Moon Wakees Up" series quickly escalates its premise (a sentient, impacting moon) introducing more complex and unexplained elements like other awakened planets, leading to questions about the creator's ability to maintain a coherent and satisfying storyline.
Disturbing Themes and Predictions: The series explores dark, apocalyptic themes, including mass casualties, environmental collapse, and mysterious hostile entities, while also touching on the creator's predictions about the series' potential descent into "weird, unsettling horror for children."