Randy Solem, 1975-2012

[TomFulp]

Sad news; Randy Solem, one of the original stars of NG, passed away this week at the age of 36.

Randy was an early pioneer of sprite movies, inspiring many who have made their own sprite movies over the past 12 years. Classics include:

• 
  Mario VS. Sonic (VGDC) by Randy-Solem

  It has begun...

  Score

  4.04 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  2,562,402 Views

  Rated

  Ages 17+

• 
  Mortal Kombat Dir. Cut by Randy-Solem

  Like MK? Then you'll enjoy these 4 -alaties not seen in the game!

  Score

  3.39 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  737,586 Views

  Rated

  Ages 17+

• 
  Rise of the MK: Part 1 by Randy-Solem

  VGDC'S BEST MOVIE YET!

  Score

  4.20 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  2,321,654 Views

  Rated

  Ages 17+

• 
  Rise of the MK: Part 2 by Randy-Solem

  It's here!

  Score

  4.18 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  1,601,838 Views

  Rated

  Ages 17+

• 
  Rise of the MK:Part 3 by Randy-Solem

  It's Finally Here!

  Score

  4.14 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  1,288,124 Views

  Rated

  Ages 13+

• 
  Rise of the MK: Part 4 by Randy-Solem

  The Saga Concludes?!

  Score

  4.20 / 5.00

  Type

  Movie

  Popularity

  1,276,074 Views

  Rated

  Ages 13+

Check out Randy's Movies page for more.

Beyond his sprite movies, Randy was a great guy and supportive member of the NG community. He'll be greatly missed.

Randy's family is accepting donations for his 18 month old daughter. If you can, please Paypal some money to [e-mail] and it will go into a fund to pay for her education.

After the passing of Ben Spurgin in 2009, we talked about setting up a page to document NG regulars who are no longer with us. I finally set up this In Memoriam page in the Wiki. Let me know if you have suggestions / additions. I'd like to add pictures so we'll probably do that.

[monkeyspanthisgooplz]

R.I.P. Randy

[Manly-Chicken]

Always a shame when an user passes away.
R.I.P.

[TheRainbowZilla]

He suddenly died at 36? Wow. RIP Randy Solem.

[SCTE3]

R.I.P. Randy, enjoyed the sprite movies. Also had no idea thegimpsta was dead either. :( I really enjoyed his music.

[unconsidered]

How did he die? 36 sounds really early.

[tyler2513]

He will be greatly missed I think I've reviewed just about every single one of his submissions. The true master of sprites, as he'll forever be remembered by me as. I'm still curious as to how he passed away but nonetheless, may he rest in peace and be remembered by his friends and family.

[Braiton]

That's way too young. What a shame really. My condolences.

[FishFinger]

Is this for real? Because a lot of fake death announcements are posted on NG.
Anyway, that's a huge bummer. Randy's movies are what introduced me to Newgrounds, as well as sparked my interest in classic console games (I live in a place where no one's heard of Zelda). RIP.

[Step]

Wow that's so sad. RIP.

[Buoy]

I loved those movies. They were maybe the main reason I stayed around on Newgrounds in 2006-2007.

[FromADistance]

Damn, that news really blows. There was some inspiration for my flashes from a few years back from old sprite movie makers such as him.

[Auz]

Sorry to hear that. Rest in peace Randy.

Is there any information on what happened? Maybe I'm missing something, but there don't seem to be any details anywhere other than the fact that it was sudden.

[Ryan]

Well, that sucks. I remember liking many of his animations quite a few years ago too which makes this even worse.

Hope all works out for his family.

[Acid-Paradox]

was he the owner of VGDC??

I used to visit that site everyday as a kid.

RIP , Thank you for making such amazing movies.

[FromADistance]

At 4 minutes ago, FishFinger wrote: Is this for real? Because a lot of fake death announcements are posted on NG.

This one has been posted by Tom himself on a news post so this is definitely real.

[FattyWhale]

At 22 minutes ago, TomFulp wrote: After the passing of Ben Spurgin in 2009, we talked about setting up a page to document NG regulars who are no longer with us. I finally set up this In Memoriam page in the Wiki. Let me know if you have suggestions / additions. I'd like to add pictures so we'll probably do that.

This is a great page to have, Tom. It's great to see something like this, but hopefully we won't have to add names to it any time soon. RIP Randy!

[Steve84]

R.I.P Randy I will miss you and your movies and I wish your Daughter and your family the best

[LiquidOoze]

I remember some of those. Rest in peace, Randy.

[LiquidFire]

The memorial page is a really good idea.

[Dymarob]

I was just thinking of him earlier today. I was wondering what he was up to.
This sucks. His movies were awesome.
Rest in peace, man.

[Wegra]

This was the worst news I've heard in the 9 years I've been with this site.

I'll be missing that guy :(

[Shauna]

No God damnit, I want answers. How the hell did this great man die? >: (

[TheRadicalOne]

Aw, damn, Randy made my childhood that much better, along with Joe Cartoon, Newgrounds and the like.

I'll miss ya.

[Knoxius]

not the headline i wanted to see today :\

rip

[1-800-CockJoke]

Rest in Peace, Randy. It's a shame that you never got to have that big comeback on the flash portal.

LONG LIVE VGDC

[Xergozy]

Bye, Randy.

[test-object]

Oh bugger. I remember seeing his cartoons quite a lot when I was a kid.

Sorry to hear that :<

[macmillion]

Very sad to hear that. 2.5 million views on one of his submissions, he must've inspired many people.

[MultiCanimefan]

Rest In Peace Randy.