Favorite Vines of 2014: Enjoy some of the most creative, clever short videos
Countless people got to share their wit and creativity through Vine this year.
The short-form video sharing service officially launched on Jan. 24, 2013. Since then, it has continued to attract users and create new mini-video stars.
Now that 2014 is drawing to a close, we thought it would be a good time to look back at some of the best Vines of the year.
Wahyu Ichwandardi, who goes by Pinot on Vine, is an Indonesian illustrator and animator who splits his time between Jakarta, Kuwait and London.
The family man uses his artistic skills to send his children on adventures or just give them some cool sunglasses. Posted just four days ago, this Vine already has 93,202 loops.
“It’s completely beyond my expectations,” Pinot told Yahoo News. "It was doing something fun with my children. Then I realized people are watching us and giving us appreciation. I have to bow down many times for that.”
A Vine user in St. Petersburg, Russia, who goes by Kirill Beerlove, had a smash on his hands when he synched up several seconds of a llama bouncing around with rapper DMX's hit "Party Up (Up In Here)."
It was a pretty simple concept, but it got 111,200 likes and 128,200 re-Vines.
Nick Santonastasso, a teenager from Bayville, N.J., was born with a rare birth defect called Hanhart syndrome. It left him without legs and one undeveloped arm.
But it did not rob Santonastasso of a sense of humor or his happiness. He amassed 986,200 Vine followers with his videos, which are equal parts funny and inspiring.
Occasionally he puts on zombie makeup to prank unsuspecting passersby. Other times he wrestles or exercises to showcase his "no excuses" philosophy.
Claire Pasquier, a French artist living in San Francisco, had her nine-month pregnancy condensed into a sweet six-second clip.
She got a little help from her husband, Ian Padgham, a San Francisco-based artist who makes Vines for brands.
So when it came time for this artsy couple to make a personal Vine about their newborn, they were ready.
It got 55,200 likes and was re-Vined 22,500 times.
As a NASA astronaut, Reid Wiseman has a slight advantage over those of us on Earth when it comes to captivating environments.
He is a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expedition 41.
Wiseman routinely captures breathtaking views of outer space and shares the fun of zero gravity.
Another popular Vine, which was re-Vined 16,500 times, was recorded off a television broadcast of a Toronto Blue Jays-Texas Rangers game.
It shows a boy in a front-row seat handing a foul ball to one of the young women behind him, delighting them with his chivalry.
But if you pay close attention, you will see that the foul ball never left his glove, and he handed her a decoy.
As the Vine user who shared this clip wrote, "This kid is SMOOTH."
Bruno Bergallo, an artist based in Brazil and Paraguay, put together a captivating video inspired by the work of stop-motion animator Dylan Blau.
The loop is an artistic representation of one’s imagination taking over.
Speaking of Blau, he too had many great Vines this year. He made some for himself and some for companies.
Choosing the best by Blau, the co-founder of #AllNaturalVines, is nearly impossible. But his “Mashed potatoes with a twist” Vine for Thanksgiving was among the best.
Not all of the coolest Vines showed such impressive skill from the humans involved. Sometimes the pets were the stars.
One Vine of a corgi that used its nose to shoot a ball into a pool basketball hoop got 14,700 likes.
Andrew Jive, a Brooklyn-based stop-motion animator, makes Vines for Home Depot, Chrysler and American Express, among others.
But his Vine of a Jolly Rancher transforming into a monster truck might be his best yet.
Zach King, a filmmaker and YouTube star, has made plenty of great videos that show top-notch special effects. He often films himself doing something simple — but with a twist.
A Vine showing him making pumpkin pie was re-Vined 19,000 times and got 53,400 likes.
This list is by no means definitive. After all, taste is largely subjective and no one could possibly see every great Vine whirling around the Internet.
These are just a handful of fun Vines we enjoyed and thought to pass along before the ball drops for the New Year.
