Hello everyone, and I know that it’s been a while since I last talked about it. But in celebration of Poptropica’s birthday this September, I feel that the time has finally come for me to reveal the complete plot breakdown to my film adaptation of Poptropica titled Poptropica: Explore. Collect. Come Watch!
It was a long time ago when I first released my concept trailer to the film last June. As you may remember, I was very impressed with how the film’s story turned out when I was finished. In fact, I was so impressed that I felt it was worthy of sending out to Sandbox. I have much care for great storytelling, and I wouldn’t have considered sending it out to them at all if I didn’t think it was worth their time.
Yet, I was working up the courage to send an email to them for a long time. That’s when I figured that the release of Reality TV: Wild Safari Island was the perfect time to pitch my film, a time when the game becomes a little more relevant than it has been. (Too bad it could’ve been a much better island, though.) But then something happened two days later that broke my heart: 35 non-sound-updated islands were deleted from the game. (There’s now a small enough number of islands to restore the square map.) I was devastated at what was basically the worst development in the Diary of a Wimpy Fall since it pretty much began. There’s only so much bad news I’m willing to take, and I was desperate for answers. Thankfully, the developers did eventually confirm what everyone was suspecting all along:
We love those islands too, but need to update the technology. They were made in Action Script 2 and were causing a lot of problems for players. We’re hoping to bring them back once the game is no longer in Flash!
And I came to understand that it had to be done to make the islands compatible for a post-Flash Internet, as a consequence of stagnated development since the layoffs of Mitch Krpata, Lance Fry and Nate Greenwall. But here’s the thing: a Poptropica in its best form is crucial for the franchise to ever see a film or television adaptation, especially since half of my movie is adapting content from the deleted islands. So that’s a bummer.
This fundamentally changed the email I would send to Sandbox. I wanted answers for not just the island purge, but everything. I needed contentment in knowing that despite everything that has happened to the game since about 2016 or so, the future of Poptropica is bright. So being the journalist college student I am, I also attached an interview with questions that I and many other fans want to know.
When will the deleted islands be restored, and how long will it take? What happened to Monkey Wrench Island (I’m not exactly a fan of Snagglemast), and are there plans to restore Monkey Wrench? Will the sponsored islands that were made for members be for non-members again once they’re restored? What will happen to Poptropica Worlds? Why are the episodes of the episodic islands split into their own islands? Will old features ever be restored? What’s happened to Jeff Kinney? Is he even aware that Wimpy Wonderland and Wimpy Boardwalk have been deleted??? 😞
It was a bold move on my part, and needless to say, Sandbox never really replied to my email. And my wait for a reply was why I waited so long to talk about the deleted islands. I was anticipating all possibilities of how this would go down, and while I was totally expecting this scenario to be one of them, it was more in the back of my head than anywhere else, but I guess I should’ve known better. So I decided to officially give up on this project, which is why I have finally decided to release the plot after all this time. I wouldn’t want to hide the story I wrote if this movie isn’t really going to go anywhere, as I should’ve known it would. I guess it could still become a fan made project or web series, even if you could now spoil it for yourself by reading it here even if something like that did happen. But other than that, I’m officially putting all efforts to save this game behind me and focusing on my own projects, which is why I haven’t been posting as often as I used to. Below is the actual document I sent to Sandbox, which consists of 15 pages. This includes an updated synopsis, as well as a list of the characters that would appear in the movie. If you watched my concept trailer, you may recall moments from the trailer as you read the story. I also gave myself a little creative leeway, but only whenever it was absolutely necessary. But enough about me – enjoy the complete plot breakdown to Poptropica: Explore. Collect. Come Watch!
Hope you enjoyed the story of my movie, and I completely understand if you think it could’ve been better. I wrote this movie because I wanted to see the franchise reach its former glory and new heights. For today’s children to enjoy Poptropica the same way I did when I was their age. For Poptropica to stay around for generations to come and inspire future content creators as it inspired me.
And you know what? Maybe it will. Sure, the islands probably won’t be restored anytime soon. Sure, maybe Jeff Kinney will continue to focus more on Diary of a Wimpy Kid than anything else. And I’ve long accepted that. Sometimes, fans just have to leave alone the things they love and hope for the best. And besides, we still managed to save the islands on the day of the purge, at least for now. Do I want the best for these properties? Of course I do. Poptropica will always have a place in my heart because it’s more than just a game. It’s an experience in a fantastical world where anything can happen, and you get to be a part of it. It’s a place where you can travel back in time, around the world, with your favorite children’s book characters, or just to something wondrously whimsical, all in the middle of amazing, engaging stories and fun yet sophisticated worldbuilding.
At the same time, I’m ready to move on if things continue to stay the same, and bring back smiles to consumers as I and the next generation of content creators try to take off (and learn from the mistakes being made by the current generation). While I can’t reveal what’s ahead just yet, I’ll tell you this – this is far from the last of what you’ll hear from me, and this break I’m taking from the blog will make much sense when it’s over.
Until then, stay enlightened, educated and entertained, and pop on, folks.
Naimoli Children's Books Blog 
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