No year is ever truly over without a commemorative YouTube Rewind video to show everything that went down on YouTube and on the internet throughout the year, and 2016 is no different. YouTube’s annual rewind, billed this year as “The ultimate 2016 #challenge” has the same distinct flavor to it that this entire year has had, for those who keep their fingers on the pulse of the internet. The video probably could not be more appropriately introduced for this year; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson retrieves a YouTube button from a fanny pack, an accessory that has made a strange ironic comeback of sorts, gives the camera an apprehensive sigh, as if to mentally prepare for the barrage of silliness he’s about to induce, holds up the button, and says, “Bring it.” You know this one’s going to be good.
Dan and Phil fans are the first to get their fix, right before the inevitable acknowledgment of the legal and emotional roller coaster ride that has thus far been Pokemon GO. The Pokemon decide to stay inside their Nintendo 3DS units this time, however, and the would-be trainers end up finding magical YouTube play buttons embedded in the environment instead. These buttons, when touched, kick off journeys back through some of 2016’s biggest internet sensations, featuring some of the internet’s most prominent people. Christopher Poole, for example, takes a break from his new job at Google to help with a YouTube-themed construction project that happens to include smashing donuts with a hydraulic press.
Naturally, the video features people getting hit in the face with stuff in slow motion, along with some of the year’s biggest dance crazes. A large number of prominent YouTubers are featured, and, of course, they get into a massive pillow fight with somebody in a panda costume; this is the internet, after all. Mannequin heads are on board, and there are even a few brief tributes to some of the late, great stars that we’ve lost this year, such as David Bowie. For those who are wondering, there is, of course, the obligatory PPAP appearance. All this is just a little bit of the craziness, and you’ll want to watch the video multiple times, probably at least a few of those slowed down, to catch everything. This year, the quirky side of the internet has been all about dank memes, crazy random silliness, and dancing, and the video does not disappoint. Check it out below.