Collage of asdfmovie characters and gags with pronunciation guide at bottom

asdfmovie

2008viral videoclassic

Published October 8, 2026

asdfmovie is a series of surreal animated flash shorts created by British YouTuber TomSka, debuting August 10, 2008. Built from rapid-fire stick-figure skits with punchlines like 'I LIKE TRAINS,' the series spawned recurring characters including Mine Turtle and Desmond the Moonbear, and became one of YouTube's defining random-humor franchises of the late 2000s and early 2010s.

flash animation memes absurdist humor memes stick figure memes british memes catchphrase memes

Overview

Each asdfmovie episode runs barely over a minute and strings together unconnected gag skits drawn as crude stick figures with blank-dot eyes1. Punchlines land in two or three seconds, then cut, giving the series its signature rhythm of total non-sequitur comedy. The name is pronounced 'ass-duff,' taken from the top-left keys on a QWERTY keyboard2.

Recurring characters became the main engine of fan attachment. The 'I Like Trains' kid from the second episode interrupts conversations before a locomotive kills whoever he is talking to3. Desmond the Moonbear, Mine Turtle, the suicidal muffin, and the 'do the flop' guy all cycled through later installments and spun off into their own stand-alone jokes2. TomSka built the shorts in Adobe Flash in a style he borrowed from The Lazer Collection and similar late-2000s web animations5.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube
Creator
Thomas Ridgewell
Date
2008

asdfmovie was created by London animator Thomas Ridgewell, who posts as TomSka on YouTube5. Before the animations, Ridgewell drew the gags as a webcomic on Sheezyart under the handle 'asdfman,' and many of those strips were later recycled as skits inside the videos5.

The first asdfmovie went up on YouTube on August 10, 20081. The second followed on January 1, 20106, and the third on December 30, 20107. The fourth episode, uploaded September 2, 2011, was picked as the Daily Feature on Newgrounds the day of release8. By October 2011 the original video had cleared 19 million views5.

How It Spread

The series went from one-off to franchise after fans started quoting lines. 'I Like Trains' and 'I'm Gonna Do an Internet' broke out as their own catchphrases, cited by Urban Dictionary entries alongside Mine Turtle and the suicidal muffin2. German-language dubs grew popular enough that TomSka eventually posted an official German dub of asdfmovie45.

On July 17, 2010, TomSka opened 'asdfcomp,' a contest asking fans to submit their own asdf-style skits, with the winner getting their bit remade for asdfmovie3. More than 800 video responses came in, and user MarcSpastic1's 'New Dog?' submission won and was animated into the third episode5. Fan remakes using Garry's Mod and MMD followed, along with a Tumblr tag5 and a merch pipeline through Sharkrobot and Hot Topic5.

The fifth installment, released May 11, 2012, pulled over a million views in roughly a day5. Clips were later re-uploaded as stand-alones that got reused as reaction GIFs for shock or confusion5.

Timeline

2008-08-10

TomSka uploads the first asdfmovie to YouTube.

2010-01-01

Asdfmovie2 is posted, introducing the 'I Like Trains' kid.

2010-07-17

TomSka launches the 'asdfcomp' fan contest for asdfmovie3.

2010-12-30

Asdfmovie3 is released, incorporating the winning fan submission.

2011-09-02

Asdfmovie4 debuts and is picked as the Newgrounds Daily Feature.

2012-05-11

Asdfmovie5 is released and clears a million views within a day.

Frequently Asked Questions