Jelle's Marble Runs

Jelle's Marble Runs is a YouTube channel based in the Netherlands, run by the brothers Jelle and Dion Bakker. It is based around marbles, marble runs and marble races. Content on the channel includes spoofing the Olympic Games, Formula One, and other sporting events. Additionally, they create stand-alone competitions around holidays, with the marble names in the style of the holiday. These videos treat the cast of marbles as though they were athletes.[1][2] Acting as though the inanimate marbles use actual tactics, training, and psychology to compete, fans participate in an elaborate kayfabe to create engaging marble sports.

Jelle's Marble Runs
Personal information
BornJelle & Dion Bakker
1983 & 1981
Wervershoof, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
OccupationYouTubers
Websitehttps://jellesmarbleruns.com/
YouTube information
Years active2006–present
GenreSports
Subscribers1,299,000
(January 2021)
Total views106,577,740 views
(January 2021)
100,000 subscribers 2019
1,000,000 subscribers 2020

The Marble League (formerly MarbleLympics and previously Marble Olympics), portrayed as the "Games", has a choreographed Opening and Closing Ceremony, often created using stop motion. Many of the sports are designed to resemble Olympic sports.[3] Each year, the channel uploads a new series of the Marble League, with different events and teams each year, which are introduced in the Qualifying round. As of 24 July 2020, the current channel has over 1.2 million subscribers with more than 90.7 million views, a number that has steadily increased, likely as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.[4][5]

Overview

Jelle's Marble Runs has built a following personifying marbles throughout a variety of competitions. Each video is produced in the form of a sporting event with commentary provided by Greg Woods.[6] The channel features annual series such as the Marble League, the Marble Rally, Marbula One, and the Hubelino Tournament. Additionally, Jelle produces seasonal Halloween and Christmas content, as well as one-off events such as the A-Maze-ing Marble Race. Interspersed between the competition videos, Jelle releases a wide variety of marble runs without commentary exhibiting his marble course constructions (some of which are on display in museums).

History

Jelle Bakker was born in 1983 in Wervershoof, Netherlands. He has stated that he has a form of autism, and said that because he has no occupation, making marble machines was one of his biggest hobbies.[7] He currently lives in Nijmegen, which is also where his videos are produced.[8]

In 2006, Bakker created the first version of the Jelle's Marble Runs YouTube channel.[9][10] He received the Guinness World Record for the world's longest marble run on May 21, 2009, a record that he held until 2011.[11] Greg Woods, an early fan of the channel, produced a commentary on his own for one of the marble race videos. Bakker liked the video so much that he ended up partnering with Woods, who became the English-language commentator for the entire series.[12][13]

The channel soon started gaining attention and a fanbase in 2015, and started the MarbleLympics in 2016 as a mock version of the Olympic games.[14] Originally, Bakker planned to end the MarbleLympics series after the 2017 MarbleLympics. "The MarbleLympics will end in early August with an ending ceremony," he said in an interview by The Irish News, "but I will still continue in making great marbles-related videos." However, he continued the series due to popularity.

In late 2018, Bakker accidentally deleted his original channel of 620,000 subscribers while attempting to delete his Google+ account and was subsequently forced to relaunch.[15] By March 2020 the channel's subscriber number had surpassed this former level.[16]

On May 17, 2020, British-American comedian and late-night show host John Oliver announced on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that the show would be the head sponsor for the 2020 Marble League.[17]

Marble League

The Marble League (formerly known as the MarbleLympics) is an annual series featuring marbles competing in Olympics-inspired events. Sixteen teams compete against each other to win medals across multiple events, including hurdles, long jump, and funnel endurance. The champions of the Marble League are crowned based on the aggregate points from all events.

At its inception in 2016, 16 teams were invited to compete in 12 events. Each team consisted of four marbles of matching colors and patterns. Starting in 2017, the qualifiers were held in advance of each Marble League edition, with the top four teams from the previous edition automatically qualifying for the subsequent edition. Beginning in 2018, the Marble League features a host team that takes one of the four automatic qualification spots alongside the top three teams from the previous edition. The 2018 Marble League was the first (and currently the only full-length) winter edition, featuring events such as speed skating, ice hockey, and snowboard cross. Other changes included the addition of a fifth team member. In 2019, the MarbleLympics changed its name to Marble League due to trademark issues, increased the number of events to 16, and added a coach marble for each team.

The 2020 Marble League faced cancellation due to a lack of funding, but a fully paid sponsorship from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was announced on May 17, 2020 for all 16 events, with $5,000 going to food bank charities in the event winners’ name and $20,000 donated to the International Rescue Committee in the overall winners’ name, allowed for the 2020 edition to commence as planned.[18][19][20]

Results summary
Year Originally broadcast Events Host Location Champion Runner-up Third place
2016 5 August 2016 9 September 2016 12 n/a Bakker Bowl Savage Speeders Mellow Yellow Thunderbolts
2017 1 July 2017 19 August 2017 O'rangers Savage Speeders Mellow Yellow
2018 9 February 2018 28 April 2018 Snowballs Arctic Circle Midnight Wisps Savage Speeders Oceanics
2019 19 April 2019 11 June 2019 16 Oceanics Seven Seas Stadium Raspberry Racers Green Ducks Hazers
2020 21 June 2020 16 August 2020 Team Galactic Andromedome Savage Speeders O'rangers Minty Maniacs
2021 TBD TBD Crazy Cat's Eyes TBD TBD TBD TBD

Marble League Showdown

The Marble League Showdown was introduced in 2019 as the lower division for teams who did not qualify for the year's Marble League championship. The Showdown effectively serves as the preliminary round for the next year's Marble League, where top-ranked teams will be given a chance to compete in the next year's qualifiers.

Year Originally broadcast Events Champion Runner-up Third place
2019 16 August 2019 13 September 2019 4 Snowballs Hornets Rojo Rollers
2020 15 August 2020 Kobalts Jungle Jumpers Chocolatiers

Special tournaments

Starting from 2020, JMR occasionally announces special Marble League tournaments during the off-season. Unlike the usual yearly tournaments, these tournaments are much shorter, with no more than five events, and teams participating in the tournament are picked via invitation.

On 13 December 2020, the Marble League Winter Special was announced. This tournament will be contested on five events taken directly from the 2018 Marble League edition. Sixteen teams have been invited to participate in this special tournament.

Year Name Originally broadcast Events Champion Runner-up Third place
2020 Winter Special 3 January 2021 30 January 2021 5 Oceanics O'Rangers Hazers

Marble Rally

The Marble Rally (formerly known as the Sand Marble Rally) is a series of off-road marble races, where individual marbles race against each other down a sand course that has been manually constructed. The courses feature a variety of obstacles that will impede competing marbles on their way to the finish line. Marbles used for the Marble Rally are larger than marbles used for the Marble League, with a diameter of 25 mm compared to the Marble League's 16 mm marbles. Starting from the 2017 edition, top-ranked marbles automatically qualify for the next year's Marble Rally championship.

The 2020 edition was initially delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the first six races had been filmed and were eventually released weekly from 15 September 2020 to 20 October 2020. The next six races are being planned to be released in 2021 after a mid-season break.

Results summary
Year Originally broadcast Races Champion Runner-up Third place
2016 18 June 2016 12 November 2016 12 Ghost Plasma Big Pearl Dragon's Egg
2017 1 April 2017 8 December 2017 13 Dragon's Egg Red Number 3 Slimer
2018 18 August 2018 2 December 2018 8 Red Number 3 Phoenix Superball
2019 20 September 2019 28 December 2019 Red Number 3 Ghost Plasma Superball
2020 15 September 2020 TBD 12 TBD TBD TBD

Marble Rally Showdown

The Marble Rally Showdown (formerly known as the Sand Marble Rally B-League) was introduced in 2018 as a lower-division series of races for marbles who did not qualify for the Marble Rally championship, giving those marbles a chance to qualify for the next year's championship. Top-ranked marbles automatically qualified for the next year's Marble Rally championship, while other marbles may be required to attend qualifiers.

The 2020 Marble Rally Showdown was cancelled altogether following an announcement from the JMR, though no reason has been given yet. Marbles eligible for the 2020 Marble Rally championship were instead selected via invitation.

Year Originally broadcast Races Champion Runner-up Third place
2018 1 September 2018 6 January 2019 4 H2 Blue Pollo Loco White Widow
2019 11 January 2020 Big Pearl Rastafarian Lollipop
2020 Cancelled

Marbula One

Marbula One is a series of circuit-based marble races, where marbles race multiple laps around a racetrack made of Quercetti Big Marbledrome tracks with custom paper stock add-ons, as well as a conveyor belt that returns all marbles back to the top. As its name suggests, this series is directly inspired by the Formula One motor racing championship. Each race event in this series is referred to as Grand Prix, and includes a qualifying session to determine who will qualify for the main race event, as well as the starting grid.

The first edition of Marbula One premiered in February 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen teams from the Marble League were invited to compete in the inaugural edition, which consisted of eight events. The qualifying session for this edition was a simple single-round session, with each marble given one flying lap to complete. The points system for this edition was also adopted directly from Formula One, including a bonus point for setting the fastest lap time during the main race event.

The second edition of Marbula One premiered in November 2020, and consisted of 12 events, an increase from the previous edition's 8. The number of teams participating was also increased to 20. To accommodate this change, the qualifying and points systems were updated. The new qualifying session format is divided into three rounds, with each marble given one flying lap to complete in the first round, but the number of marbles eligible for the main race event remains 16. The next two rounds have the top half of the qualified marbles from the previous round race along the course in a two-lap race-off.

The first half of the second edition, consisting of six races, was broadcast weekly from 7 November 2020 to 12 December 2020, with the second half of the edition expected to be broadcast from 12 February 2021 after a mid-season break.

Season Originally broadcast Races Teams' Champion Racers' Champion
1 15 February 2020 5 April 2020 8 Savage Speeders Speedy (Savage Speeders)
2 7 November 2020 TBD 12 TBD TBD

Other series

Marbula E

Marbula E is a circuit-based marble racing series directly based on the Formula E racing championship. Created as a spin-off of Marbula One, this series is sponsored by Envision Virgin Racing. It features marble teams named after real Formula E teams (unlike other series, which feature fictional teams) and racetracks closely based on real-life ePrix.[21][22][23] The first episode premiered on 18 April 2020, consisting of a race in a recreation of the Paris Street Circuit, and was narrated by British professional Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls. JMR commentator Greg Woods later joined Nicholls from the second race in a circuit based on the Seoul ePrix.

Year Originally broadcast Location Champion Runner-up Third place
2020 18 April 2020 Paris Mercedes-Benz EQ ROKiT Venturi Racing BMW i Andretti Motorsport
2 May 2020 Seoul Panasonic Jaguar Racing TAG Heuer Porsche Mercedes-Benz EQ
6 June 2020 Jakarta BMW i Andretti Motorsport Mercedes-Benz EQ DS Techeetah
7 August 2020 Berlin TAG Heuer Porsche Mahindra Racing NIO 333
3 November 2020 New York City TAG Heuer Porsche Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler DS Techeetah
14 December 2020 London Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler DS Techeetah NIO 333
Overall TAG Heuer Porsche Mercedes-Benz EQ DS Techeetah

Last Marble Standing

To celebrate the channel's 1,111,111 subscribers milestone, Last Marble Standing was announced on 21 May 2020. This tournament, sponsored by Arla Foods UK's Cravendale, featured six new dairy-themed teams, and included six events. The tournament was won by Graze of Glory, who had dominated the entire tournament by staying in first in the standings for all but one event, winning three gold medals and one silver medal in the process.[24][25]

Year Started Ended Events Champion Runner-up Third place
2020 1 June 2020 20 June 2020 6 Graze of Glory Team Purity Semi-Skimmers

Hubelino Tournament

The Hubelino Tournament was a tournament series contested on courses constructed with Hubelino marble tracks and using 20 mm marbles. The tournament consisted of multiple events run on Hubelino marble tracks, including funnel endurance, which was eventually added to the Marble League. This series was discontinued after the 2018 edition.

Only two teams from this series have made an appearance in the Marble League so far, namely the Minty Maniacs and the Bumblebees. The Black Jacks and the Golden Orbs (previously known as the Golden Wisps) also participated in the qualifiers for the 2018 Marble League, but did not qualify for the main tournament.

Year Originally broadcast Events Champion Runner-up Third place
2016 24 November 2016 11 November 2017 12 Green Gang Ruby Rollers Golden Wisps
2018 5 October 2018 2 November 2018 8 Bumblebees Minty Maniacs Black Jacks

References
  1. BondeNews Editors. "Youtube channel promotes marbles 'olympiad', BondeNews, Netherlands, 24 July 2017. Retrieved on 4 April 2019.
  2. Bishop, Rollin. "This MarbleLympics Event Pits Marbles Against Fidget Spinners", Vice, Canada, 9 July 2017. Retrieved on 4 February 2019.
  3. Spiegel.de Editors. "Web phenomenon Marbles Olympiad", Spiegel.de, Germany, 17 December 2017. Retrieved on 9 February 2019.
  4. "Jelle's Marble Runs". YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  5. Independent.ie Editors. "This marble version of the Winter Olympics is the best alternative to the real thing", Independent.ie, Ireland, 4 February 2019. Retrieved on 4 February 2019.
  6. Smetana, Jessica (March 23, 2020). "Marble Racing Is the Sport That Can Save Us From Losing Our Marbles". si.com. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  7. Themadmuseum.co.uk Editors. "Jelle Bakker", The Mad Museum, United Kingdom. Retrieved on 5 February 2019.
  8. Ojeda, Hillary. "Fans flock to online marble races with Iowa commentator amid sports cancellations". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  9. "On the run: lack of sport drives fans to madcap world of marble racing". the Guardian. June 1, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  10. Padilla, Mariel (April 18, 2020). "Competitive Marble Racing Finds Fans in a World Missing Sports". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  11. Bakker, Jelle. "JELLE’S PASSION" Archived April 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Knikkerbaan.nl, Netherlands. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  12. Capelle, Romain. "The balls also have their Olympic games", Télérama, France. 9 September 2016. Retrieved on 4 April 2019.
  13. Meany, Marty (May 21, 2020). "Jelle's Marble Runs: MarbleLympics 2020 Gets John Oliver Sponsorship". goosed.ie. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  14. Matsakis, Louise. "Inside the Hypnotic World of YouTube Marble Racers", Vice, Canada, 5 May 2016. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  15. Li, Grace. "Miss the Olympics? Try Marble Racing.", The Harvard Crimson, United States, 27 March 2018. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  16. "Jelle's Marble Runs". YouTube. March 2020.
  17. Oliver, John. "Coronavirus VII: Sports: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)". YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  18. Coronavirus VII: Sports: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), retrieved June 29, 2020
  19. Roskopp, Jack (May 21, 2020). "Longing for the Summer Olympics? This virtual Marble League might be the next best thing". KSAT. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  20. Dicker, Ron (May 18, 2020). "John Oliver Offers Well-Rounded Solution To Coronavirus Sports Void". HuffPost. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  21. "ENVISION VIRGIN RACING GET THE BALL ROLLING WITH LAUNCH OF WORLD'S FIRST 'MARBULA-E' SERIES". Envision Virgin Racing. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  22. Mogg, Trevor (April 20, 2020). "Formula E team rolls with marble racing during pandemic postponement". Digital Trends. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  23. "Formula E team fills the sports void with online marble races". Engadget. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  24. "Last Marble Standing". www.arlafoods.co.uk. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  25. McGuire, Pauly (June 21, 2020). "Last Marble Standing: Graze of Glory Dominates Cravendale Cup". OnlineGambling.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.