Jelle's Marble Runs

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Jelle's Marble Runs
Personal information
Born
Jelle Bakker

1983
Wervershoof, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
OccupationYouTuber
Websitehttps://jellesmarbleruns.com/
YouTube information
Years active2013–present
GenreSports
Subscribers1,250,000
(1 September 2020)
Total views98,432,613 views
(1 September 2020)
100,000 subscribers2019
1,000,000 subscribers2020

Jelle's Marble Runs is a YouTube channel based in the Netherlands, run by Jelle and Dion Bakker. It is based around marbles, marble runs and marble races. Content on the channel includes spoofing the Olympic Games, Formula E, Formula 1 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.

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. 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 Maze 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.[6] He currently lives in Nijmegen.

In 2006, Bakker created the first version of the Jelle's Marble Runs YouTube channel. He received the Guinness World Record for the world's longest marble run on May 21, 2009, a record that he held until 2011.[7] 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.[8][9]

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.[10] 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.[11] By March 2020 the channel had regained all subscribers and surpassed its former peak.[12]

On May 17th, 2020, British-American comedian and late-night show host John Oliver announced on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that the show will be the head sponsor for the 2020 Marble League.[13]

Popular series

Marble League

The Marble League (formerly known as the MarbleLympics) is an annual series featuring marbles competing in Olympics-inspired events. At its inception in 2016, 16 teams were invited to compete in 12 events, including the 10 meter sprint, hurdles, and the long jump among others. Each team consisted of four marbles of matching colors and patterns. The champions of the Marble League are crowned based on the aggregate points in all events. Starting in 2017, the qualifiers were held in advance of each Marble League season, with the top four teams from the previous year automatically qualifying for the subsequent season.

Beginning in 2018, the Marble League features a host team that took one of the four automatic qualification spots alongside the top three teams from the last year. The 2018 Marble League was the first and only 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 had faced cancellation due to 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 National Rescue Committee in the overall winners’ name, allowed for the 2020 league to commence as planned.[14][15][16]

Among the most well-known teams in this series include: the Savage Speeders, the most successful team here; the O'rangers, one of the most popular teams and the 2017 champions; the Midnight Wisps, another popular team that debuted in the 2017 edition and won the 2018 edition; and Team Galactic, the hosts of the 2020 edition.

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 Final event was held at the Bakker Bowl 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 2021 TBD 2021 Crazy Cat's Eyes TBD TBD TBD TBD

Marble League Showdown

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

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 or dirt course that has been constructed. The courses feature a variety of obstacles that will impede competing marbles on their way to the finish line. It is worth noting that marbles used for the Marble Rally are larger than marbles used for the Marble League, with a diameter of 25mm compared to the Marble League's 16mm marbles. Starting from the 2017 edition, top-ranked marbles automatically qualify for the next year's Marble Rally championship. Starting from the 2019 edition, bottom four marbles are relegated to the lower Showdown division.

The 2020 edition was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but episodes have been filmed and are expected to be released sometime in September 2020.

Red Number 3 is the most successful marble in this series, finishing runner-up in the 2017 edition (his debut season) and winning the next two editions. Other well-known marbles in this series include: Ghost Plasma, the champion of the inaugural edition; Pollo Loco, the first ever race winner; Dragon's Egg, the 2017 edition champion; Comet, a popular veteran competitor; and Superball, another popular competitor who debuted in the 2018 edition.

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 Includes one Final Race 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 September 2020 TBD TBD TBD TBD

Marble Rally Showdown

The Marble Rally Showdown (formerly known as the Sand Marble League 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 qualify for the next year's Marble Rally championship, while other marbles may have to attend qualifiers or, as of 2020, the Race-Off, to qualify for the championship.

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

Marbula One

The first season of Marbula One premiered in early 2020. Marbles race multiple laps around a track with a conveyor belt returning them back to the top. As its name suggests, this series is directly inspired by the Formula One racing series. Sixteen teams from the Marble League were invited to compete in the first two seasons.

Team Championships

Season Year Started Finished Races Champion Runner-Up Third place
1 2020 17 February 2020 5 April 2020 8 Savage Speeders Hazers O'rangers
2 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Individual Championships

Season Year Started Finished Races Champion Runner-Up Third place
1 2020 17 February 2020 5 April 2020 8 Speedy
(Savage Speeders) 		Snowy
(Snowballs) 		Smoggy
(Hazers)
2 TBD TBD TBD
(TBD) 		TBD
(TBD) 		TBD
(TBD)

Marbula E

Marbula E is inspired by the Formula E racing championship and is sponsored by Envision Virgin Racing. It features marble teams named after real FE teams (unlike other series which feature fictional teams) and racetracks closely based on real-life Grands Prix.[17][18][19] 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. After some negative feedback from marble racing fans, mainly over the absence of popular announcer Greg Woods, all races starting from the second race in a circuit based on the Seoul ePrix had Woods commentate the races alongside Nicholls.

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
September 2020 New York City TBD TBD TBD
TBD London TBD TBD TBD
Overall TBD TBD TBD

Last Marble Standing

Last Marble Standing was announced on 21 May 2020 to celebrate the channel's 1,111,111 subscribers milestone. This tournament, sponsored by Arla UK's Cravendale, featured six brand new, dairy-themed teams, and included six endurance-based events.[20][21]

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 series contested on a course constructed with Hubelino marble tracks and using 20mm marbles. The tournament series is confirmed to be discontinued as of 2020.

Only two teams from this series have actually made an appearance in the Marble League so far, namely the Minty Maniacs and the Bumblebees. The Black Jacks and the Golden Orbs also participated in the qualifiers for the 2018 Marble League edition, but did not qualify.

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. ^ Themadmuseum.co.uk Editors. "Jelle Bakker", The Mad Museum, United Kingdom. Retrieved on 5 February 2019.
  7. ^ Bakker, Jelle. "JELLE’S PASSION" Archived April 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Knikkerbaan.nl, Netherlands. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  8. ^ Capelle, Romain. "The balls also have their Olympic games", Télérama, France. 9 September 2016. Retrieved on 4 April 2019.
  9. ^ Meany, Marty (May 21, 2020). "Jelle's Marble Runs: MarbleLympics 2020 Gets John Oliver Sponsorship". goosed.ie. Retrieved May 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Matsakis, Louise. "Inside the Hypnotic World of YouTube Marble Racers", Vice, Canada, 5 May 2016. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  11. ^ Li, Grace. "Miss the Olympics? Try Marble Racing.", The Harvard Crimson, United States, 27 March 2018. Retrieved on 27 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Jelle's Marble Runs". YouTube. March 2020.
  13. ^ Oliver, John. "Coronavirus VII: Sports: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)". YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Coronavirus VII: Sports: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), retrieved June 29, 2020
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ Dicker, Ron (May 18, 2020). "John Oliver Offers Well-Rounded Solution To Coronavirus Sports Void". HuffPost. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "ENVISION VIRGIN RACING GET THE BALL ROLLING WITH LAUNCH OF WORLD'S FIRST 'MARBULA-E' SERIES". Envision Virgin Racing. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  18. ^ Mogg, Trevor (April 20, 2020). "Formula E team rolls with marble racing during pandemic postponement". Digital Trends. Retrieved June 29, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ "Formula E team fills the sports void with online marble races". Engadget. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "Last Marble Standing". www.arlafoods.co.uk. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  21. ^ McGuire, Pauly (June 21, 2020). "Last Marble Standing: Graze of Glory Dominates Cravendale Cup". OnlineGambling.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

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