My childhood favorite AGTuber hasn't uploaded in three years, so some of the younger people on here might not know that she exists. But whether you loved her content when you were younger or never heard of her, today's post is all about Basilmentos!
Basilmentos was the username of Annie H., known as Anna to her fans. She was known for her creative and elaborate American Girl stopmotions, for never showing her face (even in public during her meetups), and for the characters she created out of her dolls, popularizing the concept of a doll "family".
Anna had 12 dolls, which were all featured in her videos.
Felicity was her first doll, a nature lover and explorer.
Shy yet smart Samantha was Anna's second doll.
Nali, a Sonali doll, was the diva of the doll family- for all of you Mixiepixie7 fans, the Sophie Claire before Sophie Claire existed.
Sarah was a Just Like You 27, and she was the ultimate tomboy.
Eva, a Kanani doll, loves animals and protecting wildlife.
Julia, a Just Like You 38, loves sewing and gardening.
Gabby, a Just Like You 58, loves singing and performing.
Ellie, a Just Like You 4, loves photography.
Fierce and popular Camille, a Just Like You 61, was bought as a "replacement" for Felicity when she wasn't in very good condition anymore.
Lucia, Just Like You 28, is a sporty and social doll Anna bought to make one of her summer movies, Mermaid Cove.
Addy, who was customized, is smart and creative and loves science.
Alex, a Z doll American Girl gave Anna for hosting a meetup, loves the outdoors.
A typical Basilmentos stopmotion revolved around an activity, an event or an adventure that the dolls were doing, from science fairs to exploring the house to the first day of school.
Every summer from 2011 to 2017. Anna made either a series or a movie to post for YouTube. Unlike modern AGTube movies like Trip Through Time by BiggestAGFanEVER or Rebelle by me, these were only about 10-20 minutes in length. The longest movie, Trapped Through Time, was 17 minutes long.
2011's series was What Happens In The Woods, which was written by AGTuber AGlova13.
2012's movie was Supergirls, a movie about 3 girls with superpowers.
2013's movie (and my favorite when I was younger) was Midsummer Magic, a movie about a girl who finds a forest full of nymphs.
2014's movie was Prom?, a movie about Sarah going to prom.
2015's movie was Trapped in Time, about 2 girls who discover a time machine.
2016's movie was Mermaid Cove, a movie about Lucia discovering a world of mermaids. Mermaid Cove was Anna's last movie.
2017's series, which continued in 2018, was The Lost Princess.
Anna started making videos regularly in 2009, when she was in 7th grade. She posted regularly through middle and high school, but her video output decreased when she moved on to college in 2015. After graduating college, Anna posted her last stopmotion, Tea Time Fiasco, in 2019. Anna didn't announce that this would be her last stopmotion, which honestly made it even more heartbreaking in hindsight knowing that I watched "Basilmentos's new stopmotion" then without knowing it would be the last time I'd ever do it. Dang, I'm tearing up as I write this.
According to Linkedin, Anna is now a digital marketing manager at Washington DC based organization, but she is still inspiring girls every day with the decade of videos that she posted to YouTube. She inspired me to make American Girl doll stopmotions and hone in on my filmmaking skills, and now that I'm going to go to college myself in a year, it makes me nostalgic to look back at how much her videos shaped who I am.
Without Basilmentos, Sydney Jean Films wouldn't exist the way it does, and neither would many other accounts. So thank you, Basilmentos, for inspiring the AGTubers of the 2010s!