diff --git a/gym/core.py b/gym/core.py
index b8f73262a..2f500eb2b 100644
--- a/gym/core.py
+++ b/gym/core.py
@@ -32,35 +32,6 @@ ActType = TypeVar("ActType")
 RenderFrame = TypeVar("RenderFrame")
 
 
-# TODO: remove with gym 1.0
-def _deprecate_mode(render_func):  # type: ignore
-    """Wrapper used for adding deprecation warning to the mode kwarg in the render method."""
-    render_return = Optional[Union[RenderFrame, List[RenderFrame]]]
-
-    def render(
-        self: object, *args: Tuple[Any], **kwargs: Dict[str, Any]
-    ) -> render_return:
-        if "mode" in kwargs.keys() or len(args) > 0:
-            deprecation(
-                "The argument mode in render method is deprecated; "
-                "use render_mode during environment initialization instead.\n"
-                "See here for more information: https://www.gymlibrary.ml/content/api/"
-            )
-        elif self.spec is not None and "render_mode" not in self.spec.kwargs.keys():  # type: ignore
-            deprecation(
-                "You are calling render method, "
-                "but you didn't specified the argument render_mode at environment initialization. "
-                "To maintain backward compatibility, the environment will render in human mode.\n"
-                "If you want to render in human mode, initialize the environment in this way: "
-                "gym.make('EnvName', render_mode='human') and don't call the render method.\n"
-                "See here for more information: https://www.gymlibrary.ml/content/api/"
-            )
-
-        return render_func(self, *args, **kwargs)
-
-    return render
-
-
 class Env(Generic[ObsType, ActType]):
     r"""The main OpenAI Gym class.
 
@@ -88,12 +59,6 @@ class Env(Generic[ObsType, ActType]):
     Note: a default reward range set to :math:`(-\infty,+\infty)` already exists. Set it if you want a narrower range.
     """
 
-    def __init_subclass__(cls) -> None:
-        """Hook used for wrapping render method."""
-        super().__init_subclass__()
-        if "render" in vars(cls):
-            cls.render = _deprecate_mode(vars(cls)["render"])
-
     # Set this in SOME subclasses
     metadata: Dict[str, Any] = {"render_modes": []}
     # define render_mode if your environment supports rendering
@@ -195,8 +160,7 @@ class Env(Generic[ObsType, ActType]):
         if seed is not None:
             self._np_random, seed = seeding.np_random(seed)
 
-    # TODO: remove kwarg mode with gym 1.0
-    def render(self, mode="human") -> Optional[Union[RenderFrame, List[RenderFrame]]]:
+    def render(self) -> Optional[Union[RenderFrame, List[RenderFrame]]]:
         """Compute the render frames as specified by render_mode attribute during initialization of the environment.
 
         The set of supported modes varies per environment. (And some
@@ -214,11 +178,6 @@ class Env(Generic[ObsType, ActType]):
           terminal-style text representation for each time step.
           The text can include newlines and ANSI escape sequences (e.g. for colors).
 
-        Note:
-            Rendering computations is performed internally even if you don't call render().
-            To avoid this, you can set render_mode = None and, if the environment supports it,
-            call render() specifying the argument 'mode'.
-
         Note:
             Make sure that your class's metadata 'render_modes' key includes
             the list of supported modes. It's recommended to call super()
diff --git a/gym/envs/box2d/bipedal_walker.py b/gym/envs/box2d/bipedal_walker.py
index b25e27617..fc4373673 100644
--- a/gym/envs/box2d/bipedal_walker.py
+++ b/gym/envs/box2d/bipedal_walker.py
@@ -608,11 +608,8 @@ class BipedalWalker(gym.Env, EzPickle):
         self.renderer.render_step()
         return np.array(state, dtype=np.float32), reward, terminated, False, {}
 
-    def render(self, mode: str = "human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode: str = "human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/box2d/car_racing.py b/gym/envs/box2d/car_racing.py
index 968775c9b..d195fa1e2 100644
--- a/gym/envs/box2d/car_racing.py
+++ b/gym/envs/box2d/car_racing.py
@@ -570,11 +570,8 @@ class CarRacing(gym.Env, EzPickle):
         self.renderer.render_step()
         return self.state, step_reward, terminated, truncated, {}
 
-    def render(self, mode: str = "human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode: str = "human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/box2d/lunar_lander.py b/gym/envs/box2d/lunar_lander.py
index 122dda067..b88c8cfd5 100644
--- a/gym/envs/box2d/lunar_lander.py
+++ b/gym/envs/box2d/lunar_lander.py
@@ -596,11 +596,8 @@ class LunarLander(gym.Env, EzPickle):
         self.renderer.render_step()
         return np.array(state, dtype=np.float32), reward, terminated, False, {}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/classic_control/acrobot.py b/gym/envs/classic_control/acrobot.py
index 8f4f7e5b8..00839e3d4 100644
--- a/gym/envs/classic_control/acrobot.py
+++ b/gym/envs/classic_control/acrobot.py
@@ -286,11 +286,8 @@ class AcrobotEnv(core.Env):
         ddtheta1 = -(d2 * ddtheta2 + phi1) / d1
         return dtheta1, dtheta2, ddtheta1, ddtheta2, 0.0
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/classic_control/cartpole.py b/gym/envs/classic_control/cartpole.py
index 5b98f898d..3a0866065 100644
--- a/gym/envs/classic_control/cartpole.py
+++ b/gym/envs/classic_control/cartpole.py
@@ -210,11 +210,8 @@ class CartPoleEnv(gym.Env[np.ndarray, Union[int, np.ndarray]]):
         else:
             return np.array(self.state, dtype=np.float32), {}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/classic_control/continuous_mountain_car.py b/gym/envs/classic_control/continuous_mountain_car.py
index 2f12f9367..521a071ce 100644
--- a/gym/envs/classic_control/continuous_mountain_car.py
+++ b/gym/envs/classic_control/continuous_mountain_car.py
@@ -196,11 +196,8 @@ class Continuous_MountainCarEnv(gym.Env):
     def _height(self, xs):
         return np.sin(3 * xs) * 0.45 + 0.55
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/classic_control/mountain_car.py b/gym/envs/classic_control/mountain_car.py
index f5d3e22fe..bc8b3beef 100644
--- a/gym/envs/classic_control/mountain_car.py
+++ b/gym/envs/classic_control/mountain_car.py
@@ -170,11 +170,8 @@ class MountainCarEnv(gym.Env):
     def _height(self, xs):
         return np.sin(3 * xs) * 0.45 + 0.55
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/classic_control/pendulum.py b/gym/envs/classic_control/pendulum.py
index 73bbcbcca..6c85c850b 100644
--- a/gym/envs/classic_control/pendulum.py
+++ b/gym/envs/classic_control/pendulum.py
@@ -171,11 +171,8 @@ class PendulumEnv(gym.Env):
         theta, thetadot = self.state
         return np.array([np.cos(theta), np.sin(theta), thetadot], dtype=np.float32)
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/mujoco/mujoco_env.py b/gym/envs/mujoco/mujoco_env.py
index 5336f9b39..9675537c3 100644
--- a/gym/envs/mujoco/mujoco_env.py
+++ b/gym/envs/mujoco/mujoco_env.py
@@ -176,32 +176,8 @@ class BaseMujocoEnv(gym.Env):
             raise ValueError("Action dimension mismatch")
         self._step_mujoco_simulation(ctrl, n_frames)
 
-    def render(
-        self,
-        mode: str = "human",
-        width: Optional[int] = None,
-        height: Optional[int] = None,
-        camera_id: Optional[int] = None,
-        camera_name: Optional[str] = None,
-    ):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            assert (
-                width is None
-                and height is None
-                and camera_id is None
-                and camera_name is None
-            ), "Unexpected argument for render. Specify render arguments at environment initialization."
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            width = width if width is not None else DEFAULT_SIZE
-            height = height if height is not None else DEFAULT_SIZE
-            return self._render(
-                mode=mode,
-                width=width,
-                height=height,
-                camera_id=camera_id,
-                camera_name=camera_name,
-            )
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def close(self):
         if self.viewer is not None:
diff --git a/gym/envs/toy_text/blackjack.py b/gym/envs/toy_text/blackjack.py
index 702fcb115..2943be36e 100644
--- a/gym/envs/toy_text/blackjack.py
+++ b/gym/envs/toy_text/blackjack.py
@@ -194,13 +194,10 @@ class BlackjackEnv(gym.Env):
         else:
             return self._get_obs(), {}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
-    def _render(self, mode):
+    def _render(self, mode: str = "human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
 
         try:
diff --git a/gym/envs/toy_text/cliffwalking.py b/gym/envs/toy_text/cliffwalking.py
index 2219f51ff..c0679ecd1 100644
--- a/gym/envs/toy_text/cliffwalking.py
+++ b/gym/envs/toy_text/cliffwalking.py
@@ -166,11 +166,8 @@ class CliffWalkingEnv(Env):
         else:
             return int(self.s), {"prob": 1}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         if mode == "ansi":
diff --git a/gym/envs/toy_text/frozen_lake.py b/gym/envs/toy_text/frozen_lake.py
index 9ceede61c..e46673aa9 100644
--- a/gym/envs/toy_text/frozen_lake.py
+++ b/gym/envs/toy_text/frozen_lake.py
@@ -271,11 +271,8 @@ class FrozenLakeEnv(Env):
         else:
             return int(self.s), {"prob": 1}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode="human"):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/envs/toy_text/taxi.py b/gym/envs/toy_text/taxi.py
index 002df5494..065a9df84 100644
--- a/gym/envs/toy_text/taxi.py
+++ b/gym/envs/toy_text/taxi.py
@@ -280,11 +280,8 @@ class TaxiEnv(Env):
         else:
             return int(self.s), {"prob": 1.0, "action_mask": self.action_mask(self.s)}
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
-        if self.render_mode is not None:
-            return self.renderer.get_renders()
-        else:
-            return self._render(mode)
+    def render(self):
+        return self.renderer.get_renders()
 
     def _render(self, mode):
         assert mode in self.metadata["render_modes"]
diff --git a/gym/utils/play.py b/gym/utils/play.py
index 5793021c2..b222dbc78 100644
--- a/gym/utils/play.py
+++ b/gym/utils/play.py
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 """Utilities of visualising an environment."""
-
-# TODO: Convert to new step API in 1.0
-
 from collections import deque
 from typing import Callable, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
@@ -53,6 +50,12 @@ class PlayableGame:
             keys_to_action: The dictionary of keyboard tuples and action value
             zoom: If to zoom in on the environment render
         """
+        if env.render_mode not in {"rgb_array", "single_rgb_array"}:
+            logger.error(
+                "PlayableGame wrapper works only with rgb_array and single_rgb_array render modes, "
+                f"but your environment render_mode = {env.render_mode}."
+            )
+
         self.env = env
         self.relevant_keys = self._get_relevant_keys(keys_to_action)
         self.video_size = self._get_video_size(zoom)
@@ -78,8 +81,9 @@ class PlayableGame:
         return relevant_keys
 
     def _get_video_size(self, zoom: Optional[float] = None) -> Tuple[int, int]:
-        # TODO: this needs to be updated when the render API change goes through
-        rendered = self.env.render(mode="rgb_array")
+        rendered = self.env.render()
+        if isinstance(rendered, List):
+            rendered = rendered[-1]
         assert rendered is not None and isinstance(rendered, np.ndarray)
         video_size = [rendered.shape[1], rendered.shape[0]]
 
@@ -146,7 +150,8 @@ def play(
 
         >>> import gym
         >>> from gym.utils.play import play
-        >>> play(gym.make("CarRacing-v1"), keys_to_action={"w": np.array([0, 0.7, 0]),
+        >>> play(gym.make("CarRacing-v1", render_mode="single_rgb_array"), keys_to_action={
+        ...                                                "w": np.array([0, 0.7, 0]),
         ...                                                "a": np.array([-1, 0, 0]),
         ...                                                "s": np.array([0, 0, 1]),
         ...                                                "d": np.array([1, 0, 0]),
@@ -214,6 +219,11 @@ def play(
     deprecation(
         "`play.py` currently supports only the old step API which returns one boolean, however this will soon be updated to support only the new step api that returns two bools."
     )
+    if env.render_mode not in {"rgb_array", "single_rgb_array"}:
+        logger.error(
+            "play method works only with rgb_array and single_rgb_array render modes, "
+            f"but your environment render_mode = {env.render_mode}."
+        )
 
     env.reset(seed=seed)
 
@@ -255,8 +265,10 @@ def play(
             if callback is not None:
                 callback(prev_obs, obs, action, rew, done, info)
         if obs is not None:
-            # TODO: this needs to be updated when the render API change goes through
-            rendered = env.render(mode="rgb_array")
+            rendered = env.render()
+            if isinstance(rendered, List):
+                rendered = rendered[-1]
+            assert rendered is not None and isinstance(rendered, np.ndarray)
             display_arr(
                 game.screen, rendered, transpose=transpose, video_size=game.video_size
             )
diff --git a/gym/wrappers/monitoring/video_recorder.py b/gym/wrappers/monitoring/video_recorder.py
index 266139a5d..9d5b07c31 100644
--- a/gym/wrappers/monitoring/video_recorder.py
+++ b/gym/wrappers/monitoring/video_recorder.py
@@ -2,24 +2,20 @@
 import json
 import os
 import os.path
-import pkgutil
-import shutil
-import subprocess
 import tempfile
-from io import StringIO
-from typing import List, Optional, Tuple, Union
-
-import numpy as np
+from typing import List, Optional
 
 from gym import error, logger
 
-
-def touch(path: str):
-    """Touch a filename at path."""
-    open(path, "a").close()
+try:
+    from moviepy.video.io.ImageSequenceClip import ImageSequenceClip
+except ImportError:
+    raise error.DependencyNotInstalled(
+        "MoviePy is not installed, run `pip install moviepy`"
+    )
 
 
-class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
+class VideoRecorder:
     """VideoRecorder renders a nice movie of a rollout, frame by frame.
 
     It comes with an ``enabled`` option, so you can still use the same code on episodes where you don't want to record video.
@@ -35,7 +31,6 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
         metadata: Optional[dict] = None,
         enabled: bool = True,
         base_path: Optional[str] = None,
-        internal_backend_use: bool = False,
     ):
         """Video recorder renders a nice movie of a rollout, frame by frame.
 
@@ -55,124 +50,55 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
         self._closed = False
 
         self.render_history = []
-        self.last_frame = None
         self.env = env
 
         self.render_mode = env.render_mode
-        modes = env.metadata.get("render_modes", [])
 
-        # backward-compatibility mode:
-        backward_compatible_mode = env.metadata.get("render.modes", [])
-        if len(modes) == 0 and len(backward_compatible_mode) > 0:
-            logger.deprecation(
-                '`env.metadata["render.modes"] is marked as deprecated and will be replaced '
-                'with `env.metadata["render_modes"]` see https://github.com/openai/gym/pull/2654 for more details'
-            )
-            modes = backward_compatible_mode
-
-        self.ansi_mode = False
         if "rgb_array" != self.render_mode and "single_rgb_array" != self.render_mode:
-            if self.render_mode is None and (
-                "single_rgb_array" in modes or "rgb_array" in modes
-            ):
-                logger.deprecation(
-                    f"Recording ability for environment {env.spec.id} initialized with `render_mode=None` is marked "
-                    "as deprecated and will be removed in the future."
-                )
-            elif "ansi" == env.render_mode:
-                self.ansi_mode = True
-                logger.deprecation(
-                    f'Recording ability for environment {env} initialized with `render_mode="ansi"` is marked '
-                    "as deprecated and will be removed in the future."
-                )
-            else:
-                logger.warn(
-                    f"Disabling video recorder because environment {env} was not initialized with any compatible video "
-                    "mode between `single_rgb_array` and `rgb_array`"
-                )
-                # Disable since the environment has not been initialized with a compatible `render_mode`
-                self.enabled = False
+            logger.warn(
+                f"Disabling video recorder because environment {env} was not initialized with any compatible video "
+                "mode between `single_rgb_array` and `rgb_array`"
+            )
+            # Disable since the environment has not been initialized with a compatible `render_mode`
+            self.enabled = False
 
         # Don't bother setting anything else if not enabled
         if not self.enabled:
             return
 
-        if not internal_backend_use:
-            logger.deprecation(
-                f"{self.__class__} is marked as deprecated and will be removed in the future."
-            )
-
         if path is not None and base_path is not None:
             raise error.Error("You can pass at most one of `path` or `base_path`.")
 
-        required_ext = ".json" if self.ansi_mode else ".mp4"
+        required_ext = ".mp4"
         if path is None:
             if base_path is not None:
                 # Base path given, append ext
                 path = base_path + required_ext
             else:
                 # Otherwise, just generate a unique filename
-                with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
-                    suffix=required_ext, delete=False
-                ) as f:
+                with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=required_ext) as f:
                     path = f.name
         self.path = path
 
         path_base, actual_ext = os.path.splitext(self.path)
 
         if actual_ext != required_ext:
-            if self.ansi_mode:
-                hint = (
-                    " HINT: The environment is text-only, "
-                    "therefore we're recording its text output in a structured JSON format."
-                )
-            else:
-                hint = ""
             raise error.Error(
-                f"Invalid path given: {self.path} -- must have file extension {required_ext}.{hint}"
+                f"Invalid path given: {self.path} -- must have file extension {required_ext}."
             )
-        # Touch the file in any case, so we know it's present. This corrects for platform platform differences.
-        # Using ffmpeg on OS X, the file is precreated, but not on Linux.
-        touch(path)
 
         self.frames_per_sec = env.metadata.get("render_fps", 30)
-        self.output_frames_per_sec = env.metadata.get("render_fps", self.frames_per_sec)
 
-        # backward-compatibility mode:
-        self.backward_compatible_frames_per_sec = env.metadata.get(
-            "video.frames_per_second", self.frames_per_sec
-        )
-        self.backward_compatible_output_frames_per_sec = env.metadata.get(
-            "video.output_frames_per_second", self.output_frames_per_sec
-        )
-        if self.frames_per_sec != self.backward_compatible_frames_per_sec:
-            logger.deprecation(
-                '`env.metadata["video.frames_per_second"] is marked as deprecated and will be replaced '
-                'with `env.metadata["render_fps"]` see https://github.com/openai/gym/pull/2654 for more details'
-            )
-            self.frames_per_sec = self.backward_compatible_frames_per_sec
-        if self.output_frames_per_sec != self.backward_compatible_output_frames_per_sec:
-            logger.deprecation(
-                '`env.metadata["video.output_frames_per_second"] is marked as deprecated and will be replaced '
-                'with `env.metadata["render_fps"]` see https://github.com/openai/gym/pull/2654 for more details'
-            )
-            self.output_frames_per_sec = self.backward_compatible_output_frames_per_sec
-
-        self.encoder: Optional[
-            Union[TextEncoder, ImageEncoder]
-        ] = None  # lazily start the process
         self.broken = False
 
         # Dump metadata
         self.metadata = metadata or {}
-        self.metadata["content_type"] = (
-            "video/vnd.openai.ansivid" if self.ansi_mode else "video/mp4"
-        )
+        self.metadata["content_type"] = "video/mp4"
         self.metadata_path = f"{path_base}.meta.json"
         self.write_metadata()
 
         logger.info(f"Starting new video recorder writing to {self.path}")
-        self.empty = True
+        self.recorded_frames = []
 
     @property
     def functional(self):
@@ -181,14 +107,10 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
 
     def capture_frame(self):
         """Render the given `env` and add the resulting frame to the video."""
-        if self.render_mode is None:
-            frame = self.env.render(mode="rgb_array")
-        else:
-            frame = self.env.render()
+        frame = self.env.render()
         if isinstance(frame, List):
             self.render_history += frame
             frame = frame[-1]
-        self.last_frame = frame
 
         if not self.functional:
             return
@@ -211,10 +133,7 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
                 )
                 self.broken = True
         else:
-            if self.ansi_mode:
-                self._encode_ansi_frame(frame)
-            else:
-                self._encode_image_frame(frame)
+            self.recorded_frames.append(frame)
 
     def close(self):
         """Flush all data to disk and close any open frame encoders."""
@@ -225,34 +144,16 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
         self.env.close()
 
         # Close the encoder
-        if self.encoder:
+        if len(self.recorded_frames) > 0:
             logger.debug("Closing video encoder: path=%s", self.path)
-            self.encoder.close()
-            self.encoder = None
+            clip = ImageSequenceClip(self.recorded_frames, fps=self.frames_per_sec)
+            clip.write_videofile(self.path)
         else:
-            # No frames captured. Set metadata, and remove the empty output file.
-            os.remove(self.path)
-
+            # No frames captured. Set metadata.
             if self.metadata is None:
                 self.metadata = {}
             self.metadata["empty"] = True
 
-        # If broken, get rid of the output file, otherwise we'd leak it.
-        if self.broken:
-            logger.info(
-                "Cleaning up paths for broken video recorder: path=%s metadata_path=%s",
-                self.path,
-                self.metadata_path,
-            )
-
-            # Might have crashed before even starting the output file, don't try to remove in that case.
-            if os.path.exists(self.path):
-                os.remove(self.path)
-
-            if self.metadata is None:
-                self.metadata = {}
-            self.metadata["broken"] = True
-
         self.write_metadata()
 
         # Stop tracking this for autoclose
@@ -267,257 +168,3 @@ class VideoRecorder:  # TODO: remove with gym 1.0
         """Closes the environment correctly when the recorder is deleted."""
         # Make sure we've closed up shop when garbage collecting
         self.close()
-
-    def _encode_ansi_frame(self, frame):
-        if not self.encoder:
-            self.encoder = TextEncoder(self.path, self.frames_per_sec)
-            self.metadata["encoder_version"] = self.encoder.version_info
-        self.encoder.capture_frame(frame)
-        self.empty = False
-
-    def _encode_image_frame(self, frame):
-        if not self.encoder:
-            self.encoder = ImageEncoder(
-                self.path, frame.shape, self.frames_per_sec, self.output_frames_per_sec
-            )
-            self.metadata["encoder_version"] = self.encoder.version_info
-
-        try:
-            self.encoder.capture_frame(frame)
-        except error.InvalidFrame as e:
-            logger.warn("Tried to pass invalid video frame, marking as broken: %s", e)
-            self.broken = True
-        else:
-            self.empty = False
-
-
-class TextEncoder:
-    """Store a moving picture made out of ANSI frames.
-
-    Format adapted from https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/blob/master/doc/asciicast-v1.md
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, output_path: str, frames_per_sec: int):
-        """Stores a moving picture for an environment with ANSI frames.
-
-        Args:
-            output_path: The output path of the frames
-            frames_per_sec: The number of frames per seconds for the output video
-        """
-        self.output_path = output_path
-        self.frames_per_sec = frames_per_sec
-        self.frames = []
-
-    def capture_frame(self, frame: Union[str, StringIO]):
-        """Captures an ANSI frame and adds it to the frames.
-
-        Args:
-            frame: A string or StringIO frame
-
-        Raises:
-            InvalidFrame: Wrong type for a frame, expects text frame to be a string or StringIO
-        """
-        if isinstance(frame, str):
-            string = frame
-        elif isinstance(frame, StringIO):
-            string = frame.getvalue()
-        else:
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f"Wrong type {type(frame)} for {frame}: text frame must be a string or StringIO"
-            )
-
-        frame_bytes = string.encode("utf-8")
-
-        if frame_bytes[-1:] != b"\n":
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(f'Frame must end with a newline: """{string}"""')
-
-        if b"\r" in frame_bytes:
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f'Frame contains carriage returns (only newlines are allowed: """{string}"""'
-            )
-
-        self.frames.append(frame_bytes)
-
-    def close(self):
-        """Closes the text encoder, dumping all data to output path."""
-        # frame_duration = float(1) / self.frames_per_sec
-        frame_duration = 0.5
-
-        # Turn frames into events: clear screen beforehand
-        # https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Terminal_control/Clear_the_screen#Python
-        # https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Terminal_control/Cursor_positioning#Python
-        clear_code = b"%c[2J\033[1;1H" % (27)
-        # Decode the bytes as UTF-8 since JSON may only contain UTF-8
-        events = [
-            (
-                frame_duration,
-                (clear_code + frame.replace(b"\n", b"\r\n")).decode("utf-8"),
-            )
-            for frame in self.frames
-        ]
-
-        # Calculate frame size from the largest frames.
-        # Add some padding since we'll get cut off otherwise.
-        height = max(frame.count(b"\n") for frame in self.frames) + 1
-        width = (
-            max(max(len(line) for line in frame.split(b"\n")) for frame in self.frames)
-            + 2
-        )
-
-        data = {
-            "version": 1,
-            "width": width,
-            "height": height,
-            "duration": len(self.frames) * frame_duration,
-            "command": "-",
-            "title": "gym VideoRecorder episode",
-            "env": {},  # could add some env metadata here
-            "stdout": events,
-        }
-
-        with open(self.output_path, "w") as f:
-            json.dump(data, f)
-
-    @property
-    def version_info(self):
-        """Returns the version info, backend=TextEncoder and Version number=1."""
-        return {"backend": "TextEncoder", "version": 1}
-
-
-class ImageEncoder:
-    """Captures image based frames of environments for Video Recorder."""
-
-    def __init__(
-        self,
-        output_path: str,
-        frame_shape: Tuple[int, int, int],
-        frames_per_sec: int,
-        output_frames_per_sec: int,
-    ):
-        """Encoder for capturing image based frames of environment for Video Recorder.
-
-        Args:
-            output_path: The output data path
-            frame_shape: The expected frame shape, a tuple of height, weight and channels (3 or 4)
-            frames_per_sec: The number of frames per second the environment runs at
-            output_frames_per_sec: The output number of frames per second for the video
-
-        Raises:
-            InvalidFrame: Expects frame to have shape (w,h,3) or (w,h,4)
-            DependencyNotInstalled: Found neither the ffmpeg nor avconv executables.
-        """
-        self.proc: Optional[subprocess.Popen] = None
-        self.output_path = output_path
-        # Frame shape should be lines-first, so w and h are swapped
-        h, w, pixfmt = frame_shape
-        if pixfmt != 3 and pixfmt != 4:
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f"Your frame has shape {frame_shape}, but we require (w,h,3) or (w,h,4), "
-                "i.e., RGB values for a w-by-h image, with an optional alpha channel."
-            )
-        self.wh = (w, h)
-        self.includes_alpha = pixfmt == 4
-        self.frame_shape = frame_shape
-        self.frames_per_sec = frames_per_sec
-        self.output_frames_per_sec = output_frames_per_sec
-
-        if shutil.which("avconv") is not None:
-            self.backend = "avconv"
-        elif shutil.which("ffmpeg") is not None:
-            self.backend = "ffmpeg"
-        elif pkgutil.find_loader("imageio_ffmpeg"):
-            import imageio_ffmpeg
-
-            self.backend = imageio_ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg_exe()
-        else:
-            raise error.DependencyNotInstalled(
-                "Found neither the ffmpeg nor avconv executables. "
-                "On OS X, you can install ffmpeg via `brew install ffmpeg`. "
-                "On most Ubuntu variants, `sudo apt-get install ffmpeg` should do it. "
-                "On Ubuntu 14.04, however, you'll need to install avconv with `sudo apt-get install libav-tools`. "
-                "Alternatively, please install imageio-ffmpeg with `pip install imageio-ffmpeg`"
-            )
-
-        self.start()
-
-    @property
-    def version_info(self):
-        """Returns the version info: backend, version and cmdline."""
-        return {
-            "backend": self.backend,
-            "version": str(
-                subprocess.check_output(
-                    [self.backend, "-version"], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT
-                )
-            ),
-            "cmdline": self.cmdline,
-        }
-
-    def start(self):
-        """Starts a subprocess using the backend and cmdline."""
-        self.cmdline = (
-            self.backend,
-            "-nostats",
-            "-loglevel",
-            "error",  # suppress warnings
-            "-y",
-            # input
-            "-f",
-            "rawvideo",
-            "-s:v",
-            "{}x{}".format(*self.wh),
-            "-pix_fmt",
-            ("rgb32" if self.includes_alpha else "rgb24"),
-            "-framerate",
-            "%d" % self.frames_per_sec,
-            "-i",
-            "-",  # this used to be /dev/stdin, which is not Windows-friendly
-            # output
-            "-vf",
-            "scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2",
-            "-vcodec",
-            "libx264",
-            "-pix_fmt",
-            "yuv420p",
-            "-r",
-            "%d" % self.output_frames_per_sec,
-            self.output_path,
-        )
-
-        logger.debug('Starting %s with "%s"', self.backend, " ".join(self.cmdline))
-        if hasattr(os, "setsid"):  # setsid not present on Windows
-            self.proc = subprocess.Popen(
-                self.cmdline, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, preexec_fn=os.setsid
-            )
-        else:
-            self.proc = subprocess.Popen(self.cmdline, stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
-
-    def capture_frame(self, frame: Union[np.ndarray, np.generic]):
-        """Captures a frame writing it to the backend subprocess."""
-        if not isinstance(frame, (np.ndarray, np.generic)):
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f"Wrong type {type(frame)} for {frame} (must be np.ndarray or np.generic)"
-            )
-        if frame.shape != self.frame_shape:
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f"Your frame has shape {frame.shape}, but the VideoRecorder is configured for shape {self.frame_shape}."
-            )
-        if frame.dtype != np.uint8:
-            raise error.InvalidFrame(
-                f"Your frame has data type {frame.dtype}, but we require uint8 (i.e. RGB values from 0-255)."
-            )
-
-        assert self.proc is not None and self.proc.stdin is not None
-        try:
-            self.proc.stdin.write(frame.tobytes())
-        except Exception:
-            stdout, stderr = self.proc.communicate()
-            logger.error("VideoRecorder encoder failed: %s", stderr)
-
-    def close(self):
-        """Closes the Image encoder."""
-        assert self.proc is not None and self.proc.stdin is not None
-        self.proc.stdin.close()
-        ret = self.proc.wait()
-        if ret != 0:
-            logger.error(f"VideoRecorder encoder exited with status {ret}")
diff --git a/gym/wrappers/record_video.py b/gym/wrappers/record_video.py
index 873691557..6a376b067 100644
--- a/gym/wrappers/record_video.py
+++ b/gym/wrappers/record_video.py
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ class RecordVideo(gym.Wrapper):
             env=self.env,
             base_path=base_path,
             metadata={"step_id": self.step_id, "episode_id": self.episode_id},
-            internal_backend_use=True,
         )
 
         self.video_recorder.capture_frame()
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ca829774d..d516f72f1 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ extras = {
     "mujoco_py": ["mujoco_py<2.2,>=2.1"],
     "mujoco": ["mujoco==2.2.0", "imageio>=2.14.1"],
     "toy_text": ["pygame==2.1.0"],
-    "other": ["lz4>=3.1.0", "opencv-python>=3.0", "matplotlib>=3.0"],
+    "other": ["lz4>=3.1.0", "opencv-python>=3.0", "matplotlib>=3.0", "moviepy>=1.0.0"],
 }
 
 # Testing dependency groups.
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_play.py b/tests/utils/test_play.py
index cc4171502..dfc1dfaa1 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_play.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_play.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from itertools import product
-from typing import Callable
+from typing import Callable, Optional
 
 import numpy as np
 import pygame
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ class DummyEnvSpec:
 
 
 class DummyPlayEnv(gym.Env):
+    def __init__(self, render_mode: Optional[str] = None):
+        self.render_mode = render_mode
+
     def step(self, action):
         obs = np.zeros((1, 1))
         rew, done, info = 1, False, {}
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ class DummyPlayEnv(gym.Env):
     def reset(self, seed=None):
         ...
 
-    def render(self, mode="rgb_array"):
+    def render(self):
         return np.zeros((1, 1))
 
 
@@ -73,13 +76,13 @@ def close_pygame():
 
 
 def test_play_relevant_keys():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     assert game.relevant_keys == {RELEVANT_KEY_1, RELEVANT_KEY_2}
 
 
 def test_play_relevant_keys_no_mapping():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     env.spec = DummyEnvSpec("DummyPlayEnv")
 
     with pytest.raises(MissingKeysToAction):
@@ -88,27 +91,27 @@ def test_play_relevant_keys_no_mapping():
 
 def test_play_relevant_keys_with_env_attribute():
     """Env has a keys_to_action attribute"""
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     env.get_keys_to_action = dummy_keys_to_action
     game = PlayableGame(env)
     assert game.relevant_keys == {RELEVANT_KEY_1, RELEVANT_KEY_2}
 
 
 def test_video_size_no_zoom():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     assert game.video_size == list(env.render().shape)
 
 
 def test_video_size_zoom():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     zoom = 2.2
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action(), zoom)
     assert game.video_size == tuple(int(shape * zoom) for shape in env.render().shape)
 
 
 def test_keyboard_quit_event():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     event = Event(pygame.KEYDOWN, {"key": pygame.K_ESCAPE})
     assert game.running is True
@@ -117,7 +120,7 @@ def test_keyboard_quit_event():
 
 
 def test_pygame_quit_event():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     event = Event(pygame.QUIT)
     assert game.running is True
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@ def test_pygame_quit_event():
 
 
 def test_keyboard_relevant_keydown_event():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     event = Event(pygame.KEYDOWN, {"key": RELEVANT_KEY_1})
     game.process_event(event)
@@ -134,7 +137,7 @@ def test_keyboard_relevant_keydown_event():
 
 
 def test_keyboard_irrelevant_keydown_event():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     event = Event(pygame.KEYDOWN, {"key": IRRELEVANT_KEY})
     game.process_event(event)
@@ -142,7 +145,7 @@ def test_keyboard_irrelevant_keydown_event():
 
 
 def test_keyboard_keyup_event():
-    env = DummyPlayEnv()
+    env = DummyPlayEnv(render_mode="single_rgb_array")
     game = PlayableGame(env, dummy_keys_to_action())
     event = Event(pygame.KEYDOWN, {"key": RELEVANT_KEY_1})
     game.process_event(event)
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ def test_play_loop_real_env():
 
             return obs_t, obs_tp1, action, rew, done, info
 
-        env = gym.make(ENV, disable_env_checker=True)
+        env = gym.make(ENV, render_mode="single_rgb_array", disable_env_checker=True)
         env.reset(seed=SEED)
         keys_to_action = (
             dummy_keys_to_action_str() if str_keys else dummy_keys_to_action()
@@ -199,7 +202,9 @@ def test_play_loop_real_env():
             action = keys_to_action[chr(e.key) if str_keys else (e.key,)]
             obs, _, _, _ = env.step(action)
 
-        env_play = gym.make(ENV, disable_env_checker=True)
+        env_play = gym.make(
+            ENV, render_mode="single_rgb_array", disable_env_checker=True
+        )
         if apply_wrapper:
             env_play = KeysToActionWrapper(env, keys_to_action=keys_to_action)
             assert hasattr(env_play, "get_keys_to_action")
diff --git a/tests/wrappers/test_order_enforcing.py b/tests/wrappers/test_order_enforcing.py
index 106d0da2f..76c0d58a6 100644
--- a/tests/wrappers/test_order_enforcing.py
+++ b/tests/wrappers/test_order_enforcing.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def test_gym_make_order_enforcing(spec):
 def test_order_enforcing():
     """Checks that the order enforcing works as expected, raising an error before reset is called and not after."""
     # The reason for not using gym.make is that all environments are by default wrapped in the order enforcing wrapper
-    env = CartPoleEnv()
+    env = CartPoleEnv(render_mode="rgb_array")
     assert not has_wrapper(env, OrderEnforcing)
 
     # Assert that the order enforcing works for step and render before reset
@@ -30,16 +30,16 @@ def test_order_enforcing():
     with pytest.raises(ResetNeeded):
         order_enforced_env.step(0)
     with pytest.raises(ResetNeeded):
-        order_enforced_env.render(mode="rgb_array")
+        order_enforced_env.render()
     assert order_enforced_env.has_reset is False
 
     # Assert that the Assertion errors are not raised after reset
     order_enforced_env.reset()
     assert order_enforced_env.has_reset is True
     order_enforced_env.step(0)
-    order_enforced_env.render(mode="rgb_array")
+    order_enforced_env.render()
 
     # Assert that with disable_render_order_enforcing works, the environment has already been reset
-    env = CartPoleEnv()
+    env = CartPoleEnv(render_mode="rgb_array")
     env = OrderEnforcing(env, disable_render_order_enforcing=True)
-    env.render(mode="rgb_array")  # no assertion error
+    env.render()  # no assertion error
diff --git a/tests/wrappers/test_video_recorder.py b/tests/wrappers/test_video_recorder.py
index d3a651626..2ab60ecb7 100644
--- a/tests/wrappers/test_video_recorder.py
+++ b/tests/wrappers/test_video_recorder.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class BrokenRecordableEnv(gym.Env):
     def __init__(self, render_mode="rgb_array"):
         self.render_mode = render_mode
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
+    def render(self):
         pass
 
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class UnrecordableEnv(gym.Env):
     def __init__(self, render_mode=None):
         self.render_mode = render_mode
 
-    def render(self, mode="human"):
+    def render(self):
         pass
 
 
@@ -33,15 +33,9 @@ def test_record_simple():
     rec = VideoRecorder(env)
     env.reset()
     rec.capture_frame()
-    assert rec.encoder is not None
-    proc = rec.encoder.proc
-
-    assert proc is not None and proc.poll() is None  # subprocess is running
 
     rec.close()
 
-    assert proc.poll() is not None  # subprocess is terminated
-    assert not rec.empty
     assert not rec.broken
     assert os.path.exists(rec.path)
     f = open(rec.path)
@@ -56,21 +50,16 @@ def test_autoclose():
         rec.capture_frame()
 
         rec_path = rec.path
-        assert rec.encoder is not None
-        proc = rec.encoder.proc
-
-        assert proc is not None and proc.poll() is None  # subprocess is running
 
         # The function ends without an explicit `rec.close()` call
         # The Python interpreter will implicitly do `del rec` on garbage cleaning
-        return rec_path, proc
+        return rec_path
 
-    rec_path, proc = record()
+    rec_path = record()
 
     gc.collect()  # do explicit garbage collection for test
     time.sleep(5)  # wait for subprocess exiting
 
-    assert proc is not None and proc.poll() is not None  # subprocess is terminated
     assert os.path.exists(rec_path)
     f = open(rec_path)
     assert os.fstat(f.fileno()).st_size > 100
@@ -80,7 +69,6 @@ def test_no_frames():
     env = BrokenRecordableEnv()
     rec = VideoRecorder(env)
     rec.close()
-    assert rec.empty
     assert rec.functional
     assert not os.path.exists(rec.path)
 
@@ -98,7 +86,6 @@ def test_record_breaking_render_method():
     rec = VideoRecorder(env)
     rec.capture_frame()
     rec.close()
-    assert rec.empty
     assert rec.broken
     assert not os.path.exists(rec.path)