Y3K: A Stupid Movie was the working title for a science-fiction feature film that was being developed by Ted Phillips beginning in 1998. The film had a screenplay which was only partially written and only partially filmed.
Premise
The film, called just "Y3K" until 2000 and in the vernacular thereafter, was intended to serve as a satire of the frenzy revolving around the Y2K bug at the time, which was a theory that many computer systems would not be able to handle the transition from 1999 to 2000, due to only supporting 2 digits for the year, and that chaos would ensue worldwide due to crashing systems and major software bugs. Y3K would also serve as a parody of several films of the era.
In "Y3K," the film suggested that the world would arbitrarily end in a cataclysm on January 1, 3000, due to cosmological effects set up by the Big Bang that would become unsustainable on that date. Like with the Y2K bug, scientists wait until the last minute to realize the problem and to try to come up with solutions.
The film opens with a ridiculous depiction of God's creation of the universe, and the story unfolds with a series of scientific discoveries met with bafflement and wild theories by humans. It presents those in a position to address the problem as inept, and follows a group of schoolchildren who would be the ones to inherit the world were it not for the inevitable disaster that occurs in the final moments of the film.
Like other films written by Ted Phillips in that era, Y3K contained characters with absurd names, such as Joe Schmodelli (derived from the term "Joe Shmo"), Han Kerchiph ("handkerchief"), and Frank Stuart Pid (who doesn't like his first name and insists to be called "Stu Pid"). This trend continued with other films like The Return to the Lost World: Jurassic Park, Dannick Studios' The Prisoners (1999), and even into 2002's Ni-Ki-Oh!.
In "Y3K," the film suggested that the world would arbitrarily end in a cataclysm on January 1, 3000, due to cosmological effects set up by the Big Bang that would become unsustainable on that date. Like with the Y2K bug, scientists wait until the last minute to realize the problem and to try to come up with solutions.
The film opens with a ridiculous depiction of God's creation of the universe, and the story unfolds with a series of scientific discoveries met with bafflement and wild theories by humans. It presents those in a position to address the problem as inept, and follows a group of schoolchildren who would be the ones to inherit the world were it not for the inevitable disaster that occurs in the final moments of the film.
Like other films written by Ted Phillips in that era, Y3K contained characters with absurd names, such as Joe Schmodelli (derived from the term "Joe Shmo"), Han Kerchiph ("handkerchief"), and Frank Stuart Pid (who doesn't like his first name and insists to be called "Stu Pid"). This trend continued with other films like The Return to the Lost World: Jurassic Park, Dannick Studios' The Prisoners (1999), and even into 2002's Ni-Ki-Oh!.
Early History
Ted Phillips outlined Y3K in a marble notebook in 1998. In late March 1998, the web site Ted's Fun Site launched and announced the project, posting several pages from the screenplay online over the next few months. However, by the time Ted's Fun Site rebranded to "Ted's Web Site," its "Y3K" content had been removed.
On July 4, 1998, Ted Phillips filmed part of the third scene, called "Dr. Pepper Factory," which involved the destruction of the factory due to mishandling of volatile chemicals. The scene was filmed using miniatures and fireworks. The name of the scene came from the use of a Dr. Pepper 12-pack box as the factory facade. It was a fitting choice for the satire for facilities for Dr. Pepper, which in real-life has pride for their secret recipe, to contain unspecified unstable chemicals.
On July 4, 1998, Ted Phillips filmed part of the third scene, called "Dr. Pepper Factory," which involved the destruction of the factory due to mishandling of volatile chemicals. The scene was filmed using miniatures and fireworks. The name of the scene came from the use of a Dr. Pepper 12-pack box as the factory facade. It was a fitting choice for the satire for facilities for Dr. Pepper, which in real-life has pride for their secret recipe, to contain unspecified unstable chemicals.
Further Parody
In 2000, Ted Phillips visited a friend's house where they watched Disney's A Goofy Movie, likely due to the sequel releasing that year. Around that time, Ted Phillips also watched the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which had a year as its title, followed by a subtitle, and was science-fiction. In a parody of both movie titles and obvious self-parody, Ted renamed his film "Y3K: A Stupid Movie."
After watching both 2001 and the 1997 film Mars Attacks!, Ted Phillips envisioned a new scene near the beginning of Y3K where distant damage caused by the cosmic barrier had released a series of large asteroids that were tumbling towards the solar system, while variations of Strauss's "The Blue Danube" from 2001 and the Mars Attacks theme played. The asteroids plummeted into Earth's sun, unleashing large mass ejections that alerted scientists to the looming threat.
After watching both 2001 and the 1997 film Mars Attacks!, Ted Phillips envisioned a new scene near the beginning of Y3K where distant damage caused by the cosmic barrier had released a series of large asteroids that were tumbling towards the solar system, while variations of Strauss's "The Blue Danube" from 2001 and the Mars Attacks theme played. The asteroids plummeted into Earth's sun, unleashing large mass ejections that alerted scientists to the looming threat.
Data Loss
By fall 2000, Ted Phillips created a prototype set of 16 Y3K Trading Cards. 6 of the cards were included in Ted's portfolio for his successful application to the High School of Art and Design, which he decided not to attend. Of the 16, only the cards saved in this portfolio are known to have survived to the present day.
For many years, it was believed that the source footage for the Dr. Pepper Factory scene was lost in the Millbrook Fire, because the tape was not on Cracked Egg Studios premises after John Phillips moved to Millbrook in October 2000. The only tape Ted Phillips could find in the apartment before the fire was labeled "Firewor Scott" which he decided did not contain studio footage, and it was left behind in the apartment. It was assumed that "Firewor Scott" and any other tapes melted in the fire.
By 2003, the Y3K notebook was lost. The only surviving records of the film's development were novelizations of various scenes.
For many years, it was believed that the source footage for the Dr. Pepper Factory scene was lost in the Millbrook Fire, because the tape was not on Cracked Egg Studios premises after John Phillips moved to Millbrook in October 2000. The only tape Ted Phillips could find in the apartment before the fire was labeled "Firewor Scott" which he decided did not contain studio footage, and it was left behind in the apartment. It was assumed that "Firewor Scott" and any other tapes melted in the fire.
By 2003, the Y3K notebook was lost. The only surviving records of the film's development were novelizations of various scenes.
Partial Recovery
In the 2010s, John Phillips gifted an apparently unburnt "Firewor Scott" to Ted Phillips. In 2022, Ted Phillips finally discovered that the Y3K footage was in fact on the tape and had survived to the present day.
In March 2024, Ted Phillips discovered Y3K-related content in surviving data that, in April 2022, had been scraped from corrupt floppy disks containing portions of Ted's Fun Site. This content was re-released as part of the reproduction of Ted's Fun Site released March 19, 2024.
In March 2024, Ted Phillips discovered Y3K-related content in surviving data that, in April 2022, had been scraped from corrupt floppy disks containing portions of Ted's Fun Site. This content was re-released as part of the reproduction of Ted's Fun Site released March 19, 2024.
Categories:
Lost Projects
1998