Netflix’s WoW documentary: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Netflix’s WoW documentary, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, explores the inspiring true story of Mats Steen, a remarkable World of Warcraft player.
Table of Contents
Key takeaways
- The Remarkable Life of Ibelin on Netflix tells the true story of Mats Steen, a WoW player who found solace and meaningful connections in the game despite his battle with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
- Director Benjamin Ree discovered Mats’ story and collaborated with his father to create the documentary, which involved digitizing 75 hours of VHS footage and condensing 42,000 pages of Mats’ online logs and diaries.
- Blizzard launched the Reven Pack, with proceeds going to CureDuchenne, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the lives of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
In July 2023, WoW fans may have noticed a small fox memorial near Crystal Lake in Elwynn Forest. The memorial is dedicated to Mats Steen, whose in-game persona was “Ibelin.” Diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease that severely limited his mobility, Mats couldn’t enjoy a normal life in the real world. Fortunately, he found solace and a vibrant social life through WoW. And it was there, in said virtual world, that he forged meaningful connections with players worldwide.
Despite its many ups and downs and occasional drama, the WoW community has, more often than not, supported many players through their darkest days, providing genuine care and encouragement. And it’s the same case with Mats Steen. His friends in WoW supported him in countless ways and cherished his friendship and presence in the online world.
Unfortunately, Mats passed away at 25 on November 18, 2014, leaving behind for his family the password to enter his blog. His father, Robert Steen, accessed Mats’ blog to share the news of his son’s passing, including an email of his family for those who wanted to share their condolences. This simple act of a grieving father then revealed a side of Mats’ online life that left his parents in astonishment:
“I wrote and I cried, then I hit publish. An entire society, a tiny nation of people began to take shape, and it was on a scale that we had no idea existed. More and more emails arrived that testified about the kind of significance Mats had.”
— Robert Steen, Mats’ father
But to truly understand the depth of Mats’ influence on those around him, we strongly recommend watching The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin: Behind the scenes
Director Benjamin Ree stumbled upon the story of Mats “Ibelin” Steen while reading an article about the Norwegian WoW player. According to Animation World Network, Ree’s family had known the Steens since the 1980s. Ree approached Mats’ father, Robert, about creating a documentary. They reconnected and began digitizing 75 hours of VHS tapes from the Steens’ garage. As Ree explored Mats’ life in World of Warcraft, he discovered 42,000 pages of roleplay logs, dialogues, and diaries from Mats’ WoW life. He then condensed these materials into the Netflix WoW documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin blends live-action and 3DCG recreations to portray Mats’ gameplay and his relationships with other gamers. Director Benjamin Ree initially aimed to use in-game footage. However, he soon realized that such footage lacked the emotional depth needed for Mats’ story. This was when animator Rasmus Tukia stepped in with his custom animation.
The animation was initially intended as a 10-15 minute supplement to interviews. However, it evolved into a 40-minute primary storytelling tool that immersed viewers in Mats’ digital world. The team refined animatics for each scene, using Maya for animation and extracting assets from Warcraft files. Tukia also conducted extensive research into Mats’ online logs, blog, family, and the online community’s insights to accurately capture the real emotions and personalities of Mats and his friends to present the world with 105 minutes of exceptional documentary.
WoW Reven Pack: Support CureDuchenne
Blizzard has introduced the Reven Pack to aid in the quest for a Duchenne cure. All proceeds from Reven Pack sales will be donated to CureDuchenne.
What is CureDuchenne?
CureDuchenne is a prominent global nonprofit focused on enhancing the lives of those living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This progressive neuromuscular condition affects about 300,000 individuals around the world.
You can visit Blizzard’s official post to learn more about this Reven Pack as well as CureDuchenne.
At the time of this writing, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is available on Netflix. So, prepare some tissues; you will likely need them to wipe away your tears.
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