Mr. Binek’s Class 3DMM was animated in 2001 (later finished in 2004) using Microsoft’s 3D Movie Maker. Launched with Windows 95, this primitive 3D software was designed for children to create short movies using pre-made assets, scenes and characters. An online community in the late 90’s dedicated to 3DMM was thriving and that’s where I learned a lot of my techniques.
I made over 300 animations during these years (many of which were lost in a hard drive transfer). 3DMM jump started my interest in storytelling. To say it had a great impact on me would be an understatement.
Mr. Binek’s Class 3DMM was one of many series I had made as a teen. It’s also probably the funniest of the era. The series started as revenge on a teacher I didn’t like. I thought he sucked, so I made a movie making fun of him that my friends enjoyed. As time went on, I continued the adventures, eventually adding some friends in as characters and making Binek more lovable in the process.
And adventures they went on. Alien space ships, bottomless asses (yep) and time tunnels were more familiar to the cast than the classroom. There wasn’t much in terms of character development. What was showcased here was mostly stupid humor that I enjoyed as a teen.
I ran the series for 30 episodes (plus two Halloween specials), all of which were made in 2001. In 2004 I decided to go back and properly finish the series with the 31st episode. I ended up tying the story to the new Flash series (Mr. Binkee’s Class), although I had another ending which went in a different direction. I consider the original ending to be the true one for the series.
To sum up, this series is from a different time. A couple lifetimes ago for me. If you’re able to put that into context, realize I was a 15-16 year old kid fumbling in the dark with primitive animation software, with only stupid ideas I thought were funny as my guide, and hatred for a shitty teacher, you may enjoy it!
