How the animator of The Remarkable Life of Ibelin told a story set on Azeroth

By now there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, an award-winning documentary now streaming on Netflix. It tells the story of Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer whose life was tragically cut short by a degenerative muscle disease.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch the movie, I highly recommend it. While it will have a greater impact on longtime World of Warcraft players (or really anyone who has found their place in an online community of any kind), the story is one of human connection that should resonate with anyone.

How filmmakers approached Mats’ story

The first part of the film is told through interviews and home movies. Mats Steen was born in Norway in 1989. By the time he was just a few years old, Mats’ parents grew concerned about his development. They eventually received a diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disorder with no cure that would incrementally limit Mats’ physical abilities.

As his disease progressed, Mats withdrew more and more into a hobby that he could still partake in: gaming. The film includes footage such as Mats in his wheelchair at the beach, head down, playing a Game Boy. By the time he reached his 20s, he needed a specialized keyboard interface to use his computer. In the last few years of his life, he spent thousands of hours logged on to World of Warcraft in addition to keeping a blog of his thoughts and observations on life.

When the disease claimed his life in 2014, Mats’ parents were devastated. In addition to losing their charismatic and kind son, they felt immense sorrow that his condition had prevented him from forging true bonds of friendship or making an impact in the lives of others.

His father logged onto Mats’ blog one final time to post a farewell message. He left his own email address, unsure if he would hear from anyone at all. What he received over the next few days was an outpouring of condolences, stories, and support that proved Mats had actually had a profound impact on the world.

How the filmmakers approached Ibelin’s story

From here the story rewinds and is told over again, not from the perspective of the Steen family but from Mats’. It uses Mats’ own words, with an actor who had a similar voice reading for him. It turns out that he had not spent his time on Azeroth solely completing quests and grinding gear. Instead, he was an active roleplayer in a guild called Starlight as the cunning private eye Ibelin.

The second part of the film explores some of Ibelin’s exploits, relationships, failings, and triumphs. Filmmaker Benjamin Ree had quite a bit of source material to work with. In addition to Mats’ extensive blog, tens of thousands of pages of materials were posted on Starlight’s forums. These included everything from character diaries to dialogue and roleplaying descriptions.

In order to recreate Ibelin’s online life for the big screen, Ree needed an animator with deep knowledge of World of Warcraft. He found Rasmus Tukia, a player since the earliest days of WoW with a portfolio of his own animations set in Azeroth that used the game’s actual graphics files.

I had a chance to chat with Tukia, and the film was in instant sell for him. “Benjamin came over to Sweden and we met over a dinner and he pitched the project for me. And I just remember that it didn’t really take that much convincing for me to actually get on because, you know, the story is so great and inspiring.”

Shooting a movie on Azeroth

Initially, Ree’s vision was to supplement the rest of the documentary with short vignettes created by Tukia. “It didn’t really start out as something that was going to be such a core part of the film. He only wanted it to compliment the interviews.” After viewing an initial rough version of one scene, Tukia said that something just clicked for Ree. “And he’s like, oh, I want more of this. So after that moment, the animated parts became a way bigger part of the film.”

The second half of the documentary takes place largely in Elwynn Forest, although World of Warcraft veterans will recognize nearly a dozen settings from Stormwind to Pandaria. Interspersed with interviews with Ibelin’s friends and guildmates are animated scenes of him running through the Eastern Kingdoms, becoming romantically involved with other players, and facing judgment from his fellow guild members.

These animations use the actual graphics files from World of Warcraft. For the final product, Tukia scaled up the quality slightly and added more expressions and movement than what you can do in-game. The result is a balanced visual narrative that feels like a movie shot on Azeroth.

While narrowing down tens of thousands of pages of material left much on the cutting room floor, every single word of it contributed to Tukia’s representation of Ibelin on-screen. “All of that kind of condensed down into this. I obviously studied Mats for some time before I animated him. This isn’t just some fictional character in a made up story. I’m actually representing a real person.”

Sharing Mats’ story with the world

With the film nearly complete after over two years of work, it was time to ask Blizzard for permission to use its settings and graphics. After a nerve-wracking screening for some of their top managers, Blizzard gave its blessing. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin premiered earlier this year at the Sundance film festival, winning two awards, and is now streaming on Netflix. You can also buy a detective fox pet in World of Warcraft to support CureDuchenne, which is working to find a cure and support those with the disease.

Mats’ story is impactful enough on its own, but the animated scenes really drove home the emotions of the people in his life much more than interviews alone. The slight changes to the player models turned the limited, somewhat wooden avatars into expressive characters that show the impact that Mats had on his guildmates.

The next time you find yourself in Elwynn Forest, make a stop at the westernmost island in the lake next to Goldshire. A small memorial to Mats sits under a tree, marked “Deeply missed, never forgotten.” It’s a quiet place to sit and contemplate the relationships you’ve made on your journeys across Azeroth.