Charlie the Unicorn
Encyclopedia
Charlie the Unicorn is a Flash animated short film and viral video
directed, produced, animated, and written by Jason Steele of independent film company
FilmCow. The film follows the life of Charlie, a lethargic unicorn
, and two other unicorns who bring him on an allegedly magical adventure to the mythical "Candy Mountain".
The film was envisioned by independent animator Jason Steele of production company FilmCow. Steele originally created the video as a flash animation test for his mother; the video was partially credited to her and was released by her under the username "TypeQueen" on Newgrounds
, where it gained rapid popularity. The video was later uploaded onto YouTube
by Geoff Swanson, where it gained rapid viewership and continued to increase in popularity.
The video was a viral hit, accumulating 50 million views and gaining worldwide praise. A merchandising line was later produced featuring the video's characters and famed quotations, as well as two sequels, Charlie the Unicorn 2 and Charlie the Unicorn 3, released in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and a parody series titled Charlie teh Unicron, created by Steele in 2010. All three videos in the series were released to DVD in 2009 under the title The FilmCow Master Collection.
; the two unicorns proceed in conversing with the Liopleuridon, who supposedly guides them on their quest with a simple roar. The trio then crosses a bridge, much to the delight of the pink and blue unicorns. When Charlie finally gets to Candy Mountain, the letter Y of CANDY sings a song imploring Charlie the unicorn to go into the cave. When the letters explode, Charlie reluctantly goes into the cave. The other unicorns say goodbye as Charlie is locked inside and knocked out. When he awakes in his original spot, he realizes that they have taken one of his kidneys, followed by the end and credits.
, who frequently communicated with Steele via e-mail and composed the opening sequence for his early film Secret Agent Bob (2003); he describes the latter as "contrast[ing] to how bright and cheerful" the video's atmosphere is.
Steele drew Charlie the Unicorn using Adobe Photoshop
and Adobe Flash
; it was animated in After Effects and edited in Final Cut Pro
. The audio was recorded using Amadeus Pro, and the music was recorded with Logic Pro
. The video also contains a musical number titled "The Candy Mountain Cave", featured during the sequence where Charlie refuses to enter the Candy Mountain Candy Cave and soon becomes the victim of a musical number hosted primarily by the mountain's marquee letter "Y", who is backed by his partners "C", "A", "N", and "D"; although the blue and pink unicorns were originally chosen to sing the song, Steele was unable to use their voices to sing at a rapid pace, and resorted to using the Letter "Y" instead.
in 2005, Geoff Swanson of YouTube
posted a copy of the video on the website in 2006, where it rapidly gained popularity. It reached a total of approximately 8 million views internetwide in 2007. The video climbed to forty-six million views in March 2010.
Online magazine Salon
described the video as "The unlikely adventure of a crotchety unicorn" and stated "We often feel like Charlie the Unicorn. Annoying, brightly colored colleagues poke at us with their curly horns as we snooze at our desk, promising far-off, sugar-coated delights. Do we muster the energy to follow them, hoping some sweet payoff will break the unbearable bleakness of our daily existence? Can they be trusted?" The series has also attracted a number of celebrities, including English television presenter
Alex Zane
, who has openly considered himself a fan of Charlie the Unicorn, and entertainers Kevin Pereira
and Olivia Munn
. Brian Hamlin of The Hollywood Reporter
considered the video to be "incredibly dumb and annoying" yet "really funny and weird too full of unicorn joyness and music." In 2009, Time
named Charlie the Unicorn number 49 in their list of "YouTube's 50 Best Videos", stating "Charlie the Unicorn proves that something doesn't have to make any sense at all to earn a cultlike following."
The cast of Charlie the Unicorn also appeared on May 23, 2008, in the music video
for Weezer
's single "Pork and Beans
". The music video was directed by Mathew Cullen of the video production company Motion Theory and features many internet phenomena
, including Charlie and the blue and pink unicorns. The character of Charlie first appears in a sequence parodying the G.I. Joe public service announcements
starring animated versions of the band as children, where the character Gung-Ho
of the G.I. Joe
franchise appears as their mentor and notably has a tattoo of Charlie on his chest. All three unicorns appear at the end alongside the band and various other phenomena. On November 22, 2008, as a feature of the YouTube Live
streamed event, the cast of Charlie the Unicorn were featured in a short film directed by creator Jason Steele featuring YouTube Live colliding with real life, causing several various memes to come to life, namely Rick Astley
making a comeback
and the world's weather conditions being altered in favor of raining chocolate
. The short sequence was promoted with a forty-three-second video depicting Charlie and the two unicorns attempting to defuse a bomb before being attacked by a large group of seagulls; the short had no connection whatsoever to the video it was promoting other than advertising purposes.
Merchandising lines produced by a partnership consisting of FilmCow and retailer CafePress as well as Hot Topic
have been launched in response to the video's popularity; the merchandise features various quotes from the video and generally features the blue and pink unicorns, although Charlie appears occasionally, and is sold in several forms including t-shirt
s, pins
, coffee mug
s, and bandannas
. On March 1, 2009, creator Jason Steele released a video to accompany Hot Topic's Charlie the Unicorn merchandising line titled Charlie the Unicorn and the Tomb of Horrors; the video follows Charlie and the two unicorns scaling an ancient chamber inhabited by "The Weasel", a shamanist
weasel
who has attempted to call upon forces of evil that laid waste to the world ten thousand years prior.
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
directed, produced, animated, and written by Jason Steele of independent film company
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
FilmCow. The film follows the life of Charlie, a lethargic unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
, and two other unicorns who bring him on an allegedly magical adventure to the mythical "Candy Mountain".
The film was envisioned by independent animator Jason Steele of production company FilmCow. Steele originally created the video as a flash animation test for his mother; the video was partially credited to her and was released by her under the username "TypeQueen" on Newgrounds
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
, where it gained rapid popularity. The video was later uploaded onto YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
by Geoff Swanson, where it gained rapid viewership and continued to increase in popularity.
The video was a viral hit, accumulating 50 million views and gaining worldwide praise. A merchandising line was later produced featuring the video's characters and famed quotations, as well as two sequels, Charlie the Unicorn 2 and Charlie the Unicorn 3, released in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and a parody series titled Charlie teh Unicron, created by Steele in 2010. All three videos in the series were released to DVD in 2009 under the title The FilmCow Master Collection.
Plot
In a quiet meadow, Charlie, a unicorn, is resting peacefully, before he is awakened by two other unicorns. One unicorn is pink and the other blue, and both speak in high-pitched, breathy voices. As Charlie awakes from his slumber, the other two unicorns inform him that they have found a map to the mythical Candy Mountain, and that he must come with them on their journey. Charlie initially refuses, and goes back to sleep. The blue unicorn begins to bounce on Charlie, insistent that he should come, and both begin to pester him with details of the mountain, causing him to begrudgingly give in to their demands. The trio begin their journey in a forest, where the two lead Charlie to a LiopleurodonLiopleurodon
Liopleurodon is a genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L. rossicus, lived during the Late Jurassic...
; the two unicorns proceed in conversing with the Liopleuridon, who supposedly guides them on their quest with a simple roar. The trio then crosses a bridge, much to the delight of the pink and blue unicorns. When Charlie finally gets to Candy Mountain, the letter Y of CANDY sings a song imploring Charlie the unicorn to go into the cave. When the letters explode, Charlie reluctantly goes into the cave. The other unicorns say goodbye as Charlie is locked inside and knocked out. When he awakes in his original spot, he realizes that they have taken one of his kidneys, followed by the end and credits.
Characters
- Jason Steele plays Charlie the Unicorn, a lethargic unicorn who is badgered by his two unicorn companions to travel with them to the mythical Candy Mountain. He also speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent. He acts cynical throughout the trip and fails to believe that such a place could exist. After the group arrive at the mountain, much to Charlie's surprise, he is badgered via musical number by the two unicorns as well as the Candy Mountain marquee letters to enter the Candy Mountain Candy Cave. After giving in to their demands, he enters the cave, where he is knocked unconscious and has his kidney stolen.
- Steele also plays two unnamed blue and pink unicorns who convince Charlie to travel with them to the mythical Candy Mountain. Throughout the video, the two constantly lead him into several nonsensical situations, including receiving directions from a "magical" LiopleurodonLiopleurodonLiopleurodon is a genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L. rossicus, lived during the Late Jurassic...
and crossing a "magical bridge of hope and wonder". By the end of the video, the trio reach Candy Mountain, where the two and the Candy Mountain marquee letters convince Charlie to enter the mountain cave; after entering the cave, the two unicorns knock Charlie unconscious and rob him of his kidney, much to his dismay. Creator Jason Steele has revealed very little about the two in the following Charlie the Unicorn videos for humorous value, most notably their genders and names; he claims to believe that his characters are "somewhat creepy" and "more interesting" when a small amount of information is revealed about them. - In his first musical role in the Charlie the Unicorn series, Steele performs the singing voice of the Letter "Y", an anthropomorphicAnthropomorphismAnthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
letter who resides alongside letters "C", "A", "N", and "D" on the Candy Mountain marquee. He performs the musical number "The Candy Mountain Cave"; the singer of the song was originally to be filled by the two unicorns; however, Steele was unable to use their voices to sing at a rapid pace, and resorted to using the Letter "Y" instead.
- Steele also plays two unnamed blue and pink unicorns who convince Charlie to travel with them to the mythical Candy Mountain. Throughout the video, the two constantly lead him into several nonsensical situations, including receiving directions from a "magical" Liopleurodon
- An unspeaking LiopleurodonLiopleurodonLiopleurodon is a genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L. rossicus, lived during the Late Jurassic...
( in the video as opposed to ) character billed as the Magical Liopleurodon was also featured in the video. The character communicates in his species' natural call, and is called upon by the blue and pink unicorns to guide them to Candy Mountain.
Production
Independent animator Jason Steele initially conceived Charlie the Unicorn in 2005 as a flash animation test for his mother, who enjoyed unicorn-related conversation. The video's plotline was initially conceived when Steele was running around his house, chanting "La la la!" repeatedly; he quickly envisioned the majority of the plotline shortly thereafter; according to the Steele, the video's conception happened "all at one; there was no editing." The video is primarily structured around surrealist humor and dark humor; Steele claims that the former was inspired by musician Logan WhitehurstLogan Whitehurst
Logan Whitehurst , was an American musician. His career began as the drummer for the band Little Tin Frog from 1995 until 2000, although he is best known as a founding member of Californian indie rock band The Velvet Teen and as a solo artist performing under the name Logan Whitehurst and the...
, who frequently communicated with Steele via e-mail and composed the opening sequence for his early film Secret Agent Bob (2003); he describes the latter as "contrast[ing] to how bright and cheerful" the video's atmosphere is.
Steele drew Charlie the Unicorn using Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
and Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
; it was animated in After Effects and edited in Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...
. The audio was recorded using Amadeus Pro, and the music was recorded with Logic Pro
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...
. The video also contains a musical number titled "The Candy Mountain Cave", featured during the sequence where Charlie refuses to enter the Candy Mountain Candy Cave and soon becomes the victim of a musical number hosted primarily by the mountain's marquee letter "Y", who is backed by his partners "C", "A", "N", and "D"; although the blue and pink unicorns were originally chosen to sing the song, Steele was unable to use their voices to sing at a rapid pace, and resorted to using the Letter "Y" instead.
Reception
Charlie the Unicorn has become increasingly popular since its inception. Following its posting on NewgroundsNewgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
in 2005, Geoff Swanson of YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
posted a copy of the video on the website in 2006, where it rapidly gained popularity. It reached a total of approximately 8 million views internetwide in 2007. The video climbed to forty-six million views in March 2010.
Online magazine Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
described the video as "The unlikely adventure of a crotchety unicorn" and stated "We often feel like Charlie the Unicorn. Annoying, brightly colored colleagues poke at us with their curly horns as we snooze at our desk, promising far-off, sugar-coated delights. Do we muster the energy to follow them, hoping some sweet payoff will break the unbearable bleakness of our daily existence? Can they be trusted?" The series has also attracted a number of celebrities, including English television presenter
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
Alex Zane
Alex Zane
Alex Zane is an English television presenter and DJ.-Background:Zane was born in Leeds and attended Boston Spa School before going on to study Medicine at University College London, a course which he left after a year, and then Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College.-Stand-up comedy and...
, who has openly considered himself a fan of Charlie the Unicorn, and entertainers Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira is co-host of G4's Attack of the Show! .-Biography:While in high school, Pereira hosted Pointless Audio under the pseudonym Captain Immy...
and Olivia Munn
Olivia Munn
Lisa Olivia Munn is an American comedic actress, model, television personality and author. She began her career being credited as Lisa Munn. Since 2006, she has been using the name Olivia Munn personally and professionally....
. Brian Hamlin of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
considered the video to be "incredibly dumb and annoying" yet "really funny and weird too full of unicorn joyness and music." In 2009, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
named Charlie the Unicorn number 49 in their list of "YouTube's 50 Best Videos", stating "Charlie the Unicorn proves that something doesn't have to make any sense at all to earn a cultlike following."
The cast of Charlie the Unicorn also appeared on May 23, 2008, in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
's single "Pork and Beans
Pork and Beans (song)
"Pork and Beans" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer, released on its 2008 album Weezer. It was released in digital form on April 24, 2008. The track debuted at number 19 on Billboards Modern Rock chart, and spent eleven weeks at number one. Critics generally liked the song,...
". The music video was directed by Mathew Cullen of the video production company Motion Theory and features many internet phenomena
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
, including Charlie and the blue and pink unicorns. The character of Charlie first appears in a sequence parodying the G.I. Joe public service announcements
Fensler Films
Fensler Films is a video production company, based in Chicago, Illinois and headed by Eric Fensler. The company gained a reputation for a series of short films which parodied the public service announcement safety messages used at the end of every episode of the 1980s animated series G.I. Joe...
starring animated versions of the band as children, where the character Gung-Ho
Gung-Ho (G.I. Joe)
Gung-Ho is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original Marine and debuted in 1983.-Profile:...
of the G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
franchise appears as their mentor and notably has a tattoo of Charlie on his chest. All three unicorns appear at the end alongside the band and various other phenomena. On November 22, 2008, as a feature of the YouTube Live
YouTube Live
YouTube Live was a 2008 event streamed live on the Internet from San Francisco and Tokyo. It was hosted by a variety of YouTube celebrities, including The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am, Tom Dickson of Will It Blend, Michael Buckley, The Happy Tree Friends, Fred, Smosh, Esmée Denters and singer...
streamed event, the cast of Charlie the Unicorn were featured in a short film directed by creator Jason Steele featuring YouTube Live colliding with real life, causing several various memes to come to life, namely Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
making a comeback
Rickrolling
Rickrolling is an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch; a person provides a hyperlink seemingly relevant to the topic at hand, but actually leads to Astley's video...
and the world's weather conditions being altered in favor of raining chocolate
Chocolate Rain
"Chocolate Rain" is a song and music video performed by American Internet personality Tay Zonday. After being posted on YouTube on April 22, 2007, the song quickly became popular. , the video has over 74,000,000 views. The music video portrays a bespectacled Zonday in a recording studio wearing a...
. The short sequence was promoted with a forty-three-second video depicting Charlie and the two unicorns attempting to defuse a bomb before being attacked by a large group of seagulls; the short had no connection whatsoever to the video it was promoting other than advertising purposes.
Merchandising lines produced by a partnership consisting of FilmCow and retailer CafePress as well as Hot Topic
Hot Topic
Hot Topic is an American retail chain specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music on CD. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls. The first Hot Topic store was opened in 1988 by Orv Madden, who retired as CEO in 2000...
have been launched in response to the video's popularity; the merchandise features various quotes from the video and generally features the blue and pink unicorns, although Charlie appears occasionally, and is sold in several forms including t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s, pins
Award pin
An award pin is a small object, usually made from metal or plastic, with a pin on the back, presented as an award of achievement or a mark of appreciation. They are worn on clothes such as jackets, shirts or hats....
, coffee mug
Mug
A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Mugs, by definition, have handles and often hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Usually a mug holds approximately 12 fluid ounces of liquid; double a tea cup...
s, and bandannas
Kerchief
A kerchief is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head or around the neck for protective or decorative purposes...
. On March 1, 2009, creator Jason Steele released a video to accompany Hot Topic's Charlie the Unicorn merchandising line titled Charlie the Unicorn and the Tomb of Horrors; the video follows Charlie and the two unicorns scaling an ancient chamber inhabited by "The Weasel", a shamanist
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
who has attempted to call upon forces of evil that laid waste to the world ten thousand years prior.
External links
- Charlie the Unicorn on NewgroundsNewgroundsNewgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
- Charlie the Unicorn on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Charlie the Unicorn on FilmCow