Vivienne Medrano[1] (born: October 28, 1992), better known online as Vivziepop (formerly xZoOPhobiAx), is an American[1] YouTube animator who is known for being the creator of the comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss.[1]
She is the founder of the animation studio, SpindleHorse Toons and the author and artist of Zoophobia.[2][3] Vivienne uses her YouTube channel to post animations and updates on Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss.[4] She also uses her channel to livestream.[5]
History[]
Some of Vivienne's first videos were speed draws and animations of other characters she had made in the past (such as characters from Zoophobia). Even at that time, Vivienne still had the idea of Hazbin Hotel in mind. Vivienne made speed draws of characters from Hazbin Hotel and even posted a video about the voices of each of the characters in the series four years ago.
Viv currently makes content mostly on her current running shows Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. She promotes both of the shows‘ merchandise in the channel and livestreams herself either working on her series or doing a Q&A. Before releasing the pilot of Hazbin Hotel, Vivienne posted clips, music videos, animatics, or anything else that is related to the show.
Personal life[]
She was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland. She is of Salvadoran descent. Vivienne studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and graduated in 2014.
Content[]
Vivienne works on many projects varying from short animations, animated shows, web comics and so on.[4]
ZooPhobia[]
ZooPhobia is a web comic about a woman named Cameron who is looking for a job. She finds one, but is in a whole new world called The Safe Haven. The Safe Haven is a world full of many beasts and animals and other beings. Cameron is put as a guidance councilor in an academy, but the problem is, she is zoophobic, afraid of animals.
It was announced on April 7, 2017, that ZooPhobia would be rebooted and a series of animated shorts would be produced, the first and only one currently uploaded being "Bad Luck Jack".
Hazbin Hotel[]
Hazbin Hotel is a web series about the princess of hell, Charlie Morningstar. Hell has an "extermination" once a year, in which angels of Heaven (known as exorcists) come down to Hell to exterminate as many demons as possible, all for the means of solving an overpopulation problem. Because of this, Charlie opens the Happy Hotel, in hopes that demons, primarily sinners, will come to her hotel to rehabilitate and maybe even get redeemed and go to Heaven. She believes that it is a more humane alternative to extermination and to help the overpopulation. After a disaster interview with everyone not on board with the idea of rehabilitation, Charlie gets the help of powerful overlord, Alastor (known as 'the Radio Demon') to help her run the hotel and attract guests.
It was announced on August 7, 2020, that the show had been picked up by A24. On January 19, 2024, the show would release on Prime Video. Episodes released weekly following January 19th, and the first season concluded on February 2nd, 2024. A second season is currently in production.
Characters[]
Demons:[]
- Charlie Morningstar: The optimistic, and usually overjoying princess of Hell, girlfriend of Vaggie and main protagonist of the series. She opens the Hazbin Hotel in hopes to stop the angels' yearly extermination of demons, and prove sinners can be redeemed. She is voiced by Jill Harriss in the pilot, whereas her singing voice was provided by Elsie Lovelock. In the show she is voiced by Erika Henningsen.
- Lucifer Morningstar: The king of Hell, and father of Charlie. Whilst he does rule Hell, Lucifer is shown to act over the top in several situations. And commonly switches between being silly, to melancholic. In addition to ruling Hell, Lucifer is also one of the seven deadly sins, embodying Pride. Unlike the rest of the characters, Lucifer debuts in the show rather than the pilot, and is voiced by Jeremy Jordan.
- Vaggie: The manager of the hotel, and Charlie's girlfriend. A former member of Adam's exorcists, she became a fallen angel after sparring a demon during the yearly extermination. She attempts to guide Charlie out of trouble the best she can, whilst possessing a cautious personality. In the pilot she is voiced by Monica Franco, whilst she is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz in the show.
- Alastor: A radio host who died in the 1930's, who grew to become a celebrity and overlord of Hell. Alastor is unique from the rest of the cast, as his voice is edited with a radio-like filter, giving him the nickname "The Radio Demon." He agrees to help Charlie promote the hotel to attract more guests, and becomes a resident soon after. In the pilot he is voiced by Edward Bosco, whilst Gabriel Brown provides his singing voice. In the show, he is voiced by Amir Talai.
- Angel Dust: A famous gay pornography star of Hell, under contract of overlord Valentino, and is the first resident of the hotel. Angel is not afraid to make consistent sex jokes, preferably the gay type, much to the annoyance of those like Husk. He is voiced by Michael Kovach in the pilot, and in the show is voiced by Blake Roman.
- Niffty: An associate of Alastor, who is presented as a short cyclops like sinner, with a psychotic tendency, and extreme lust for "bad" boys. She acts as the maid and chef of the hotel. She is voiced by Michelle Marie in the pilot, and in the show is voiced by Kimiko Glenn.
- Husk: Another associate of Alastor, who works as the bartender and front-desk-clerk of the Hazbin Hotel, and is presented as a cat demon with wings, who also has a nack for gambling. A former overlord, Husk would lose his position during a gambling session with Alastor, who now owns his soul. Unlike the rest of the residents, Husk is a lot less tolerant of the chaos around him, and as such, is easy to agitate, best shown with Angel Dust's consistent flirting with him. His lack of tolerance makes him unafraid to call out others for how much they annoy him. In the pilot, he is voiced by Mick Lauer, whilst in the show he is voiced by Keith David.
- Sir Pentious: A victorian era snake demon, famous for building steampunk-esque inventions. He served as the main antagonist of the pilot, who, through his inventions and ever-so-infinite army of Egg Boiz, seeked to take full control over Hell. In the show, however, Pentious becomes the second guest of the hotel, and leaves his villanous ways behind him. In the finale of season 1, Pentious is killed by Adam, however is reborn in Heaven, becoming the first ever sinner to redeem himself. In the pilot he is voiced by Stamper, and in the TV series is voiced by Alex Brightman.
- Egg Boiz: Sir Pentious' loyal minions, who as the name implies, are a group of sentient eggs who assist Pentious in his many goals, and usually accompony him wherever he goes. Their origin remains unknown. In the pilot, Pentious appeared to have an infinite army of them, however he is only shown with five in the show. In the pilot, they are all voiced by Joe Gran. Blake Roman provides the voice for all five eggs in the show.
- Frank: One of Pentious' five Egg Boiz in the TV series, and the only one with a confirmed name. Like his fellow Egg Boiz, Frank is dimwitted and idiotic, with a tendency to say "crazy s***" according to Pentious (such as claiming bank accounts are a scam by the "shadow government.") Frank serves a major role in the series, as he is the only resident of the hotel other than Alastor, aware of the angel who was killed during the recent extermination. In the finale, he ends up as the only survivor of Pentious' army. Like his fellow Egg Boiz, he is voiced by Blake Roman.
- Cherri Bomb: A 1980's sinner demon with an Australian accent. She is a close friend of Angel Dust, and Sir Pentious' former rival and love-interest. As she is very close with Angel, she frequently comforts him in times of distress, particularly when he is abused by Valentino. She also enjoys fighting, especially with Angel. In the pilot she is voiced by Krystal LaPorche, and in the show, she is voiced by Krystina Alabado.
- Vox: Alastor's arch-nemesis, owner of VoxTech and member of the Vees. Vox pulls the strings of Hell's news and social media, and strives to ensure those of Pentagram City stay in influence of technology, and away from Alastor. He is voiced by Christian Borle.
- Valentino: The head of the porn studios in V-Tower, the owner of Angel Dust's soul and member of the Vees. Whilst he presents a charming and caring attitude, behind the scenes Val is a complete psychopath, physically abusing Angel Dust, and shows no remorse for the trauma he is inflicting upon him. He is voiced by Joel Perez.
- Velvette: The self-proclaimed "backbone" of the Vees. She is an overbearing, yet trendy employer, who spends a lot of time on social media, and as a fashion designer. As she keeps up with moder technology frequently, she gets on quite well with Vox. On the fashion side, she tends to be very critical and judgy, and shows little to no apathy when Val kills her top model. She is voiced by Lilli Cooper.
Helluva Boss[]
Helluva Boss is an independent web series that is set in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel. It is about an imp named Blitzø (voiced by Brandon Rogers) who owns a business called I.M.P.s (Immediate Murder Professionals) with two other imps, and married couple, Moxxie (voiced by Richard Horvitz) and Millie (voiced by Vivian Nixon) and his anthropomorphic adopted hellhound daughter, Loona (voiced by Erica Lindbeck). I.M.Ps is a business where sinners, humans who have gone to Hell, can pay to get revenge on somebody who wronged them while they were alive.
Helluva Boss is considered alongside other shows like Murder Drones or Spooky Month to be a prime example of the recent rise in full-length YouTube indie animation series, with Helluva Boss episodes receiving millions of views.
Collaborations[]
In 2015, Vivienne had been commissioned to animate for two music videos, "Sing Along" by Jessica Reynoso and the "Five Nights at Freddy's Song" by Good Mythical Morning featuring Markiplier, as well as the art for Gooseworx's orchestral cover of "Sirius"
She asked YourMovieSucksDOTorg to compose the music for Hazbin Hotel, but Adam rejected the offer due to being busy with other upcoming projects.
GhostfaceNikol works on Helluva Boss as an AE Compositioner.
In 2024, Vivienne did storyboards and designs for the "Vampire" section of the ""Weird Al" Yankovic - Polkamania! (Official Music Video)", while her studio animated the section.[6][7]
Controversies[]
Doxxing[]
In 2021, Vivienne was criticized and doxed for joining the cancellation of Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy's after his fan base criticized him for donating money to Republican political parties. After the FNAF fandom doxing her, Vivienne said on Twitter/X ""Youve been canceled before, your a hypocrite adding to the cancel mob" I wasn't canceled for what scott did. And I didn't encourage his harassment with what I said. Doxxing is abhorrent. But look what ya'll are doing to me now." resulting in her moving away from the fandom.[8]
Erin Frost's allegations[]
Throughout the span of 2022, Erin Frost, an former Spindlehorse Productions employee, had made a series of allegations of worker mistreatment from Vivienne with screenshots to accompany said allegations. These claims and screenshots had sparked criticism from many and was seen as defamation.[9]
When she returned back in November of the same year, the public reception towards Frost was negative and former friends and allies would allegedly stop associations with her because of her drama with Vivienne.[10]
In May 2023, Frost returned to criticize the character of Sallie May, a widely popular character who is the sister of Millie in the series. The aspect she mainly criticized of the character was the transgender identity of the character. It was revealed that Frost had designed Sallie May and Millie's brothers with the intention of making one of the brothers transgender, but Frost's response to which of the brothers became a transgender was negative, as higher-ups made Sallie May be transgender instead. This stirred a series of allegations of transphobia against her. Frost also gained backlash for criticizing the sexualization the aforementioned transgender character got in the suggestive Valentine's Day themed merchandize for the series, considering it as transgender fetishization; that is with every character who appears in the Valentine's Day themed merchandize (which has a mix of LGBT+ and heterosexual characters) getting their fair share of sexualization. Morgana Ignis, Sallie May's VA and a transgender woman herself, voiced her opinion on this, disagreeing with this criticism towards the character.[11]
YouTuber Ayy Lmao has covered the drama regarding Erin Frost's rants extensively on their YouTube channel.[12] The aforementioned Youtuber would announce in May of that same year that Frost had blocked them on Twitter, potentially related to the video that the Youtuber made on Frost.[13]
Alleged toxic workplace/Mocking other projects/Underpaying employees[]
Alongside Erin Frost, some people who work or have worked for Spindlehorse Productions have accused Vivienne of worker mistreatment and bad workplace conditions.[14]
However, these allegations prompted Vivienne to take legal action against former employees that attempted to defame her by claiming that they were spreading "confidential information". [15] Her response to said allegations gained heavy criticism. [16]
Vivienne would also allegedly mock other projects[17] and was accused of underpaying her employees for the sake of favoritism.[18][19] Despite this, a leaked screenshot shows that, at least for cleanup artists, for Hazbin Hotel are paid more than the industry standard, and for Helluva Boss are paid far more.[20][21][22]
Transphobia allegations[]
Vivienne had made a satirical ZooPhobia version of former friend Dollcreep/Jo, whom she was friends with back in 2013, named Jojo. This friend of hers was revealed to be a transgender woman. What's notable about the design of this character, Jojo, was the use of over-saturated colors for the hair, fur, and some aspects of the character's attire. People accused her of transphobia and insensitivity towards transgender people because of the character's over-saturated and over-colored design.[23]
People again accused Vivienne of transphobia and insensitivity towards transgender people in 2023 for alleged screenshots where she criticized transgender men and considered them as "ashamed" and "confused". Ken, who used to be a writer for Spindlehorse Productions and former friend of Vivienne, would have a discussion about this opinion she had on transgender men, Vivienne later stating that the criticism she made on transgender men was something "rare".[24][25][26][27] However, the validity of these screenshots are unknown as it not difficult to fake Discord screenshots and Vivienne herself has claimed they are fake.[28][29]
She also gained backfire for not crediting the voice actor of a transgender male imp from the Helluva Boss episode "Queen Bee".[30]
Sexual abuse support/trauma insensitivity allegations[]
Throughout Hazbin Hotel, sexual abuse is a prominent theme that develops some of the characters in the series. The way that sexual abuse has been portrayed and perceived amongst the characters in the series has been criticized, as some characters would destigmatize it occasionally. For example, one of the characters, Husk, would tell Angel Dust, one of the aforementioned sexually abused characters who also works in the sex industry in the series, that the latter character will move on from the sexual abuse. Some found offense towards the way Husk responded to the sexual abuse and saw it as insensitive to people who suffer from traumatic experiences like sexual abuse.[31] A song called "Loser, Baby" continues this destigmatizing of sexual abuse, specifically towards Angel Dust, which also gained it backlash for the subject matter.[32][33]
It was then revealed that Vivienne supported a NSFW Twitter artist named R2ninjaturtle, also known as "Tony Raphielle", who has artwork of Valentino and Angel [who in the series have a relationship dynamic where, like mentioned before, the latter character, who is a sex worker, is being sexually abused by the former character] and actively supported this relationship. Raphielle would also frequently romanticize and sexualize their relationship. Raphielle was found to had worked in/directed the scenes of Angel Dust's sexual abuse from Valentino. The incident went viral online, gaining the attention of KiwiFarms.[34]
Despite all these allegations against Raphielle, Vivienne showed support for Raphielle, claiming he was a survivor of sexual abuse and siding with Raphielle, only for Raphielle to falsify the claim of him being a sexual abuse survivor.[35][36][37][38]
Raphielle has since done an interview with YouTuber, Council of Geeks, regarding the controversy of their work. [39]
Alleged racism/Using harmful stereotypes[]
Within the Hazbin Hotel series, some characters have canonically been or presumed by fans to be non-white/POC, despite the cast being currently non-human and so not having human ethnicities. One character in particular, Vaggie, a Latina woman who serves as a representation of Hispanics in the series, has a personality and character that is violent and hot-headed, which was seen as stereotypical and disrespectful towards Hispanics for some fans and watchers of the show.[40][41][42][43][44] Vivienne has stated that as she herself is a proud fiery Latina, Vaggie is the character she related to most in Hazbin Hotel.[45]
Aggressive towards criticism[]
People discovered that Vivienne had liked tweets of people who were against criticism and saw it as a detrimental thing to one's reputation.[46][47]
Alleged demonization of other cultures[]
Within the Hazbin Hotel trading cards, outrage sparked over Alastor being represented using Voodoo, which is an African religious practice originating in Haiti. Some were not happy about the negative portrayal of Voodoo being depicted as demonic and evil.[48][49]
Blaire White[]
Vivienne once supported Blaire White, a transgender conservative YouTuber who has gained controversy for how she depicts minorities in her posts. Due to formerly supporting this YouTuber, Vivienne would get accused of racism when Blaire had a face mask on and used the "BLM" tag in a post.[50][51]
Allegedly toxic behavior[]
Vivienne has also been shown to follow a few controversial figures, such as Spazkidin3d (a Twitter NSFW artist who made sexual content of characters from Pokémon, Steven Universe, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Nintendo [including Mario]), who is widely regarded as an unlikeable person.[52][53][54][55][56]
Vivienne was accused of being a hypocrite when it comes to criticism.[57]
Subscriber milestones[]
Note: The following dates are according to Social Blade. Dates may vary by one or two days due to differences in time zones.
- 1 million subscribers: October 16, 2018
- 2 million subscribers: November 11, 2019
- 3 million subscribers: February 10, 2020
- 4 million subscribers: November 2, 2020
- 5 million subscribers: March 18, 2021
- 6 million subscribers: October 31, 2021
- 7 million subscribers: August 18, 2022
- 8 million subscribers: June 19, 2023
- 9 million subscribers: January 29, 2024
- 10 million subscribers: June 6, 2024
Trivia[]
- In the Helluva Boss pilot, Erica Lindbeck was the voice of Millie as well as Loona however, starting in episode 1, Erica was only the voice of Loona and Millie had a new voice actor which was Vivian Nixon which explains why Millie has a country accent that wasn't in the pilot.
- She is bisexual, like her characters Moxxie from Helluva Boss, Charlie from Hazbin Hotel, and Damian from ZooPhobia.
- TheSoul Publishing's cartoons, Teen-Z, ZomCom, Beasty Squad, and DUH have been compared to Vivienne's, due to having similarities such as character designs (ex: Pinky's design in Teen-Z is similar to Charlie's) and similar locations (ex: Helluva Boss and ZomCom both take place in Hell, Zoophobia and Beasty Squad both take place in a school for anthropomorphic animals).
- She used to watch Blaire White and Shoe0nHead in the past.[58]
- Vivienne uses TV Paint, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Sai, and Photoshop.
- Due to Vivienne sometimes deleting posts, there is an archive on Tumblr with screenshots of said posts alleging some of Vivienne's behavior, specifically the "Viviennescreenshots" blog.
- She is left-leaning and possibly a democrat, as she's shown to retweet posts that support U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://x.com/VivziePop
- ↑ https://spindlehorse.com/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ivG9SYszDE
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.youtube.com/@SpindleHorse/videos
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/@SpindleHorse/streams
- ↑ Tweet by Vivziepop about Weird Al music video
- ↑ Tweet by Vivziepop about doing boards and designs
- ↑ https://x.com/VivziePop/status/1405983693403996161
- ↑ Erin Frost Situation part 1
- ↑ Erin Frost situation part 2
- ↑ Erin frost situation part 3
- ↑ The Truth Behind Vivziepop video going over numerous controversies
- ↑ Mentions on Tumblr
- ↑ Alleged evidence found of toxic workplace conditions.
- ↑ Vivziepop allegedly silencing workplace victims
- ↑ Her response to people she sees as "bad faith".
- ↑ Vivziepop allegedly mocking projects
- ↑ Complaint from a former Spindlehorse employee
- ↑ More proof that Vivziepop has done this before
- ↑ Accusation that Vivziepop underpays her employees, despite the screenshot proving otherwise
- ↑ New Vivziepop Wage Drama Debunked iox video
- ↑ Vivziepop saying pays them as much as she can
- ↑ Proof of Vivzie being a horrible "friend" to Dollcreep/Jo
- ↑ Evidence of Vivziepop being Transmisandrist.
- ↑ An entire document of times where Vivziepop was Transmisandrist
- ↑ More transmisandristic Vivziepop mements
- ↑ Tag for more proof of Vivzie's Transphobia
- ↑ Ayy Lmao short on the screenshots
- ↑ Viv's Instagram Story (Screenshot of Viv's Instagram Story)
- ↑ Proof that Vivziepop didn't credit voice actor for trans male imp in "Queen Bee".
- ↑ Criticism about one of Hazbin Hotel's episodes
- ↑ The "Loser, Baby" song is rather insulting to SA survivors
- ↑ Criticism of lyrics
- ↑ KiwiFarms talking about Vivziepop supporting NSFW artist R2ninjaturtle
- ↑ Controversy Explained
- ↑ Proof of Vivziepop supporting Raphielle
- ↑ Vivziepop allegedly not listening to SA victim voices
- ↑ Video explaining Angel Dust drama
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=AA1tdDnkeWg
- ↑ Vivziepop and Emily's portrayal
- ↑ Vivzie representing black characters
- ↑ representing black characters (again)
- ↑ Vivziepop with inclusivity
- ↑ with Velvet
- ↑ Viv relates to Vaggie the most
- ↑ Reupload of video
- ↑ More evidence of Vivzie not taking criticism
- ↑ Mentions of Alastor controversy
- ↑ Alastor controversy
- ↑ Evidence that Vivziepop supports Blaire White
- ↑ Vivziepop and the Dangers of Misinformation - What The Cheick video
- ↑ Proof Vivziepop follows bad people
- ↑ Vivzie's younger sister defending Vivziepop
- ↑ Vivziepop's Problematic Behavior Schjiro video
- ↑ SpindleHorse work condition reviews
- ↑ Kens experience
- ↑ Vivziepop discusses criticism
- ↑ Vivziepop's artwork of Blaire White and Shoe0nHead
