Yesterday a video was deleted from YouTube: The Sweatbox, an animation documentary that Disney has successfully suppressed for 10 years. Here's how you can use an open BitTorrent tracker on I2P to see it.

The Sweatbox reveals the drama that went on during the creation of "The Emperor's New Groove". To give you an idea of how rare it is, it was only screened twice at film festivals in 2002. Disney then forbade its release and ordered copies of it destroyed. It's so hard to get a hold of that a Disney representative had to accompany a copy at all times during a rare screening at Pixar:

It seems that -- in mid-2002 -- the folks at Pixar Animation Studio wanted to hold a screening of "The Sweatbox" for all of the employees working at their Emeryville, CA. studio. So -- after a little negotiation -- Disney agreed to send a copy of the film up to Pixar ... provided that the print was always accompanied by a Disney studio representative.

And when I say "always," I mean "ALWAYS." The story that I hear is that "Monsters, Inc." director Peter Docter actually offered to take the print's guardian down to Cafe Luxo for a quick bite to eat. The Disney studio representative refused, allegedly saying: "If I ever let this copy of 'The Sweatbox' out of my sight, it could wind up costing me my job."

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So you can see how shocking it is that, two days ago, a 480p version was uploaded to YouTube. It far surpasses the quality of the previous bootlegged version, and is a direct transfer from a master VHS tape. It lasted two days and got 30,000 views before it was removed.

Re-uploading it to YouTube isn't an option, and with seizures of domains like MegaUpload, rampant anti-piracy measures at HotFile, RapidShare, etc., it'd only be a matter of time before it will be removed there. Fortunately, there's still a way for you to see it.

1. Download and install I2P. I2P is an anonymous network. It lets you browse a darknet and share information without corporations like Disney dictating what you can and can't see.

2. Once I2P is running, open "I2P Snark," which is a BitTorrent client. You can do so by clicking "Torrents."

3. Paste the following magnet URL into the "From URL" box under "Add Torrent." This will indicate to the network that you want to download The Sweatbox:

   magnet:?xt=urn:btih:97a76d8e0acb341cbb8811e50a367b197fa9a8f7&tr=http://tracker2.postman.i2p/announce.php

screenshot

(If for some reason this doesn't work, you can click "Postman" to access that I2P BitTorrent tracker. Search for "The Sweatbox" there, or check the recent torrents.

4. Click "Add torrent" and wait. The page will refresh and indicate when the file starts downloading.

Edit Be sure to push start!

I2P will be much slower than the regular Internet as your traffic has to bounce around peers in order to make it anonymous. You can help make the file faster for others by seeding it. Just let your computer and I2P run even after the file has downloaded.

There are other ways to share files, such as The Piratebay and private BitTorrent trackers. These aren't anonymous, and private trackers don't allow just anybody to share information. You have to belong to a special club.

The value of this documentary is so high, however, and the content so compelling, that hopefully you won't mind learning how to use a new, cutting edge, open, and truly anonymous technology. One day you too might depend on the anonymity that I2P provides.

The Sweatbox1.jpg, The Sweatbox2.jpg, The Sweatbox3.jpg.

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TL;DR/why should I care?

Synopsis -- or, why animators think it's kick-ass that this documentary suddenly surfaced two days ago:

Similar to "Waking Sleeping Beauty", "The Sweatbox" offers a titillating glimpse into what it's like to work at an animation studio. Traditionally Disney has tried to present the appearance that their movies are created in a very flowing, gentile manner (in keeping of the spirit of the "old men" of animation, and Disney himself), and have suppressed information to the contrary. This documentary really paved the way to dispelling that smokescreen.

Basically if you like film making, animation, or wonder what it's like to work on a project where hundreds of people are literally pouring their hearts and souls into a project that (should something go wrong) could crash and burn tomorrow, you'll probably enjoy it. The film starts out with an animator whispering that the producers hated the first version, and they're all upstairs in a story room discussing six different pitches for the future of the movie. He admits that they might actually decide to kill the movie outright (which isn't unprecedented in animation studios), which would mean, literally, that hundreds of people would lose their jobs just like that. These are artists who pore their heart and soul into their work, and it shows. At some point they (accurately) talk about how getting a character cut from the script is very similar to the feeling of losing a part of your life. Something you've literally spent years creating suddenly being worthless and lost, as if it died

You also get to see plenty of pencil tests, storyboards, interviews with the creators, and brainstorming meetings. Including one where they basically call in the most respected names in animation to try and brainstorm a way to save "The Kingdom of the Sun", the then-name for "The Emperor's New Groove".

It also has an aura of mystery around it, because it's basically shocking that THIS movie, which has been so rare and hard to obtain, suddenly surfaced in excellent quality! It's satisfying that, after ten years of Disney suppressing the film to the point of requiring its representatives to literally not let it out of their sight, it suddenly surfaces.