Web shrines

don't have a specific definition, it's a phenomenon you've likely encountered if you've ever browsed personal websites or blogs. What unites these pages is the creator's passion and dedication to a specific topic, be it a TV series, a musician, a character, or something else. These are spaces where people can share things that are special to them.

…And what could be more special to me than the website with which I spent ~half(!?) of my life!

Toonator

a now-defunct website where you could draw pictures and animations and share them with the world. Words can't describe how much it meant to me, but I want to try to talk about it so that those unfamiliar can get a feel for what it was like to use it, and so that the OGs can refresh their memories. Take a note that I'll be talking about Multator(the russian version of Toonator) specifically, as that's the version i grew up with.

Editor

First and foremost, the site's main feature was, of course, the animation editor itself. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but it was very easy for 8-year-old me to understand. My muscle memory still perfectly remembers how and what I drew in it over the course of about 7 years.

!!! For obvious reasons SAVING DOESN'T WORK!!!

Categories and Ranks

Where did the toons end up after they were published? The site had many categories, which I won't go into (You can read more about it on Multator FanWiki) ,but among them the most notable ones are: Oldschool and Sandbox.

Oldschool – a category where all the high-quality animations in a limited palette and from animators ,who had proven themselves worthy of it, were collected. Usually, the most showy and juicy animations were found here.

Sandbox – a dump of works that don't measure up to Oldschool or other "prestigious" sub-categories. Absolutely everything ended up there: squiggles, children's drawings, and *shakers("Дрожалки"). The users who drew in this category were called Archaeologists.

The subsection your Toon fell into were determined by your account rank. The main ranks were also divided into two: Animator and Archaeologist. Once every 30 days, you could submit a request for a rank increase. If your last three animations were of good quality, the bot-Moderator would notify you of your acceptance or rejection via private message. Of the other ranks, there is also the Unknown animal (given when a user has seriously misbehaved and whose cartoons are no longer included in any of the categories), Anonymous (a not registered user) and Passer (Very recently arrived users who haven't yet decided where to go: to the new toons or to the sandbox). Additionally, ranks had alternative names, which could be achieved by becoming a *boyar ("cowboy" on Toonator) or by achieving special accomplishments. Individual users were given these titles for their achievements: Уолт Дисней(Walt Disney), Машабелянкина(Mashabelyankina), Старый Ворчун(Old Grumpy), Душа Мультатора(Soul of Multator) and so on. Variations of the Animator rank that could be unlocked upon becoming a boyar(cowboy) included: Artist, Turuk Makto, Zmey Gorynych. Archaeologist: Karapuz(toddler), Grave-Digger, Treasure-Digger. Unknown animal: Hamster, Chipmunk. Passer: Horse in a Coat, Baba Yaga, Ilya Muromets, Newbie.

Spiders and Statuses

There was also a local currency here – spiders(spooders) (the choice of currency is explained, in addition to the fact that one of the site's mascots is a fly, by an old meme ). The main way to earn them was by donating to the site, with a conversion rate of 1 ruble = 10 spiders. With these donations you could give medals, add audio to your toons, set the topic of the day and buy the Good Place. I remember it was not uncommon to receive a comment like: "Hii do you want 1647 spooders? comment this under 7 other toons, click on the spiders and spooders are given to you! verified!". Of course, these were all just engeigment bait and no spiders came, but apparently many people really did fall for such tricks.

In addition to ranks, users were also divided into statuses. These included Boyars(cowboys), which people became (mostly) by purchasing at least 300 spiders (30 rubles) on the site in the last 30 days. There were also Kings, who had all the same privileges as the Boyars, but in addition, they could issue "laws," give royal medals, and add free audio to their toons. One could become a King by winning in the War For The Crown . It wasn't just Multator where these wars took place, there was a "second crown" over on Toonator too, but it became lost unlike its russian version.

Contests and Wars

A major aspect of the site has always been socialization, and in order to support this, Multator often hosted contests. The prizes were spiders, insignia (badges, those pictures on the left side of the accounts and also those pictures, which are scattered throughout this page) and even drawing tablets a couple of times. Contest themes were really diverse; from “New Year's card” and “Contest of the Decade” to “ Kill kaeru!” and “The end of the world”. Many remarkable toons and vivid memories were created thanks to them. Sadly only one official contest was held on Toonator.

In addition to the contests officially held by the admin, many ordinary users organized their own events, some of which even received assistance from the admin himself. One of the biggest such events was the previously mentioned war for the crown. It began in the site's infancy and continued almost until its demise. In 2017, the admin even created a "Constitution of the Kingdom"—new official rules. Speaking of user made events, I can't help but mention Bombosha (Queen of Multator or a Fat Troll, depending on who you ask ), However, this is such a vast story that it deserves a separate section of text, which you can find lower. And in general there were a lot of events that, unfortunately, are not described here.

The wars on Multator weren't just a one-off occurrence, and I'm amazed by this phenomenon. They were truly unifying events and really immersed you in the site's atmosphere and folklore.

Trends and Fun

However, wars were not the only entertainment for Multator users. Over the 13 years of its existence, the site's residents have managed to come up with many local "модами"(fashions,trends), toon genres. The term "мода" on Multator was usually used in relation to trends of using something similar as profile picture or drawing something similar. Usually these trends filled the sandbox for a couple of days, where every second cartoon was a parody of something, and then they died down. In addition to the listed below, there were also Дрожалки(shake-ies), and Ролки(RP), and ВГолосы(InVoice FAQ), and Series, and Раздачи(Give-aways) and much much more. On Toonator specifically one pallette contests were really popular. Again, if you are interested in learning more about this, take a look at Multator FanWiki

Directly connected with the wars were Battles, within these, two or more people drew their characters fighting each other, continuing the fight by continuing each other's toons. From 2013 to 2015, entire Tournaments were even held, each with its own storyline and lore.

Beside those, there were also Solyanka/Salts, in which people once simply drew significant and popular users, but over time, authors began creating "salt recruitments", where anyone could submit their character. As a result, Solyanka consisted of a series of pictures or entire animations, in which characters from different users were drawn.

Tyanuchka (pullers/stretchers) - are very easy to explain: someone drew a toon, and the next participant had to continue it, then someone else continued, and so on until there were no more willing users. This genre was named after the rope that was pulled in the first such cartoon. At some point, the Admin also started to organize official Tyanuchki, but this did not last long.

Folklore and Culture

In addition to its own customs, Multator also had its own cult characters. Most of them emerged in the site's early years and even appeared on merchandise, becoming mascots of sorts. The most iconic of them, in my opinion, is Muh(Fly). He is depicted in many of the images found on this page. His face could be seen on the profile pics of anonymous users, or those who haven't yet set up their own avatar, and in many of the site's most popular cartoons. Other than Fly there were also Oleg, Snezhik (who also then became a real mascot of the city of Snezhinsk), Shotlandets(Scotsman) (also known as Muhofonist), Belyuh, Vacuum Cleaner Seller, Pyn and many others.
In addition to these characters, Multator also developed its own internal races. Two of these species stand out as the most significant – Jelies and Roovolts. The first ones appeared back in 2012, many users adopted them, and they could be regularly seen on the sandbox pages until the site's demise, largely due to their ease of drawing and animation.

With the Roovolts, however, things turned out to be much more ambitious. They were mostly drawn by their creator @IrinaShvetsova. An entire series featuring them was created on Multator, consisting of two seasons and a total of 16 episodes, some of which were up to three minutes long (1800 frames)!! Some episodes can still be found in Irina's VKontakte group.. Besides this series, she also made other large-scale animations featuring Roovolts on Multator (for example “Negative”, which still looks very respectable). In addition to the works on the site, she also has an original work on "Книга Фанфиков"(a fanfiction website) and a comic «Рувольти: эксперимент ценой жизни»(Roovolti: An Experiment at the Cost of Life), which is still ongoing!!

There were also iconic users, many of whom made up the The Old Guard - active users of Multator from the very beginning, who largely contributed to the local culture. It would be impossible to list all the memorable users, so I'll just list a few. Maybe it'll jog someone's memory. ;) Glukovich, HikariHell, Flash5, Shooter_SP, kaeru, hoLera, VVades, kio-kio, lexey, Reddy-S-P, bad_orange, Bananka, Owl, ScRuFFyCaT, Maks_Malewish, Hemul, TheAlive, Alice_InMadness, LilacUnicorn and many many others.

One of those memorable personalities was Pomposha; whether you were a complete newbie or a master of your craft, there's a good chance Pomposha left a comment under your toon. However, her kind and somewhat out-of-date manner of speaking didn't please everyone, and after a heated confrontation with lexey, she became the target of a huge number of trolls.
Unbelievable rumors were spread about her, parody accounts were created, and most importantly, Bombosha was born. To find out everything in great detail, I (again) highly recommend reading an article on Bombosha on Multator FanWiki. In 2016, this person initially drew unremarkable cartoons, but suddenly she became offended by the entire Multator population. Quote:

:“почему на мультаторе так много волков и кошек??? вы что не можете придумать других животных??? и почему так много аниме? аниме же разрушает детскую психеку!!! там только драки и порно!!! ЭТО ЖЕ УЖАСНО!!! РИСУЙТЕ НОРМАЛЬНЫЕ МУЛЬТИКИ А НЕ ТЕ КОШМАРЫ КОТОРЫЕ ВЫ РИСУЕТЕ!!! Я АНИМАТОР И Я ЛИЧНОСТЬ!!! поэтому как аниматор я говорю вам что лучше и как лучше!! НО Я НИКАВО НЕ ЗАСТОВЛЯЮ СЛЕДОВАТЬ МОЕМУ СОВЕТУ ПРОСЛУШАЙТЕ МЕНЯ ВЕДЬ Я АНИМАТОР!!! рисуйте и любите!!! а если будете писать плохо - УБЕЙТЕСЬ!!!”

But she wasn't planning on stopping there; on April 1st of that year, the Multator logo changed to "Bombosha," and all users began wearing her avatar. After that, her figure was forever cemented as an important part of Multator's history. In the following years of her "reign," many other cartoons were drawn, many wars took place, and, surprisingly, several songs of her authorship were released. (19 of which can be found on VKontakte, and the lyrics of which I know by heart lol)

Until the "terrible truth" was revealed at some point. Bombosha was not a schoolgirl, but a whole group of trolls who created this "project." As Bombosha herself said: ”As long as there are fights on Multator, there will always be Bombosha, because Bombosha is each of you.”
Many years later, julyanya talked about her involvement in Bombosha in several TikToks: first, second and third.

You can also read about the Folklore of Multator (and much more) separately on the wayback machine snapshots of the Multator (official!)Wiki

Community and Death

It's impossible to overstate how close and dear this site has become to my heart. And it's no wonder; from early childhood, I always dreamed of drawing cartoons, and beyond just a simple editor, Multator managed to offer a large, close knit community: from professional animators to children with sparkling eyes just like me. Humans are herd animals; a sense of community is very important to us, and finding so many like-minded people, especially at an age when the brain is still developing, was incredibly significant.
Of course, now I'm gushing with great praise and admiration, but not everything was perfect in the Multator community. As in any other community of that or even the present time. As I said, the site brought together a huge number of completely different people, which meant that clashes between them were not uncommon. Bullying was also not uncommon, mostly directed at children, of course. How dare they not be able to draw beautifully at the ripe age of 8 years old!! As a result, those children who were bullied and trolled began to bully others themselves, fostering a quite toxic environment. I was no exception to these rules, but I absolutely do not regret my stay on the site. All the difficult moments will never compare to the good friends and acquaintances I made there, the motivation to keep creating and drawing no matter what, the emotions you get when you spend hours painstakingly drawing your cartoon and then receive a barrage of comments and medals, of seeing yourself improve.

But all good things must come to an end. Multator's death was neither sudden nor graceful. Over the course of many years, it gradually lost its former glory; moderation was slowing down, the site's certificate was increasingly becoming expired, The Old Guard was leaving, and traffic was also declining. Since 2019, the site has been terrorized by a specific group of trolls, and their "attacks" have become worse and worse with each passing year: from attacks on specific users to hacking accounts and deleting their drafts. All this led to the blocking of the site by Roskomnadzor(The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media. A fancy way of saying goverment dipshits who only know how to lick Putins butt) for open pornography. Around the same time, Flash Player was no longer supported, but the cartoon editor and player were built on it. The admin assured and promised to create a new editor, but it wasn't meant to be...
In 2023, the site finally stopped working and was no longer accessible, even using Tor or a VPN.

What's next ..?

The remnants of the community moved with grief to Toonio. A website created by a former Multator user @tim (now known as kr0tyara), with its own updated animation editor, mascots, and community. Multator was an integral part of Toonio's history, but I don't think it's been overshadowed by it. Toonio is definitely a unique site with its own twist.

HISTORY IS A CIRCLE HISTORY IS A CIRCLE HISTORY IS A CIRCLE HISTORY IS A CIRCLE HISTORY IS A

1 of july 2025 Toonio announces its closure. The site will go into an archive mode on August 15th, and by January 1st, 2026, only the editor will remain.

Working Toonator/Multator alternatives

1. Loneti- Another online platform for drawing and socializing (though it lacks animation capabilities and is heavily monetized, making it a disliked by many).
2. Risovakula- the spiritual successor of Toonio and Multator. At the time of writing, the site is still very underdeveloped, but the potential is there!
3. Drawrun- it was heavily advertised on Multator, for which its PR people were severely punished. It closed for a while and reopened after Toonio's death.
4. Drawn(ENG)- Some Toonator users have migrated there. It's still "in beta".

Personal thoughts

I remember the first time my friend and I discovered Multator after watching an Alan Becker video. It was love at first sight

I remember my mom helping me choose a nickname for my account because it was the first site I registered on myself.

I remember my first toon on my account appearing on Oldschool because I had the rank of Passer. Someone wrote "crap" under it and I was so upset that I drew another animation with a sad fox, and in the description I wrote something like, "When people leave mean comments under your cartoon." Then a whole shitstorm ensued, saying, "Suck it up, if you don't know how to draw, the "criticism" is justified." There were also those who defended me, and I was really touched by that.

I remember crying when my account was banned for 1000 years because my friend's friend wrote a swear somewhere and allegedly avoided the ban by jumping between accounts.

I remember how one of my favorite categories was toons with sound; my musical taste developed on there. I added the cartoons I particularly liked to my favorites, and then opened them in another tab, so the sound from there would play on the background. I had access to YouTube, and I knew I could listen to music there, but for whatever reason I still kept listening to the sounds from Multator cartoons for hours. (Found one of these songs on yt, people in the comments there are also remeniecing on Toonator)

I remember cluttering the sandbox with RPs and other junk. Fiercely I defending my friends there. Drawing fanart for my friends and idols. Rejoycing at every comment and every medal. Participating in battles, solyanka's, recruitments in serieses, in Tyanuchka's...

Thanks for the 7 years i spent on it and 2 years i spent thinking about it :). All my friends, and even acquaintances completely unfamiliar with the site, regularly hear interesting facts about it, simply because Multator has become so ingrained in my brain that I can't keep my mouth shut. That's partly why I created this page; I have a deep sense of responsibility to not let the world forget the place that literally raised me. In general, I am very afraid of the irreversible loss of information, and especially memories, so the erasure of Multator and all the toons, all the accounts, all the conversations from there hit me really hard. This page is my drop in the ocean to prevent Multator from completely sinking into the abyss.

I'm not the only one affected by this site; you can read other users' thoughts below. Feel free to leave a comment too if you have something to say or were touched by this page. If there are any Toonator users reading, i would love to hear more about your version of the website!

Thoughts of other users (14)

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