Charlie The Unicorn

2005viral videoclassic

Published August 21, 2026

Charlie the Unicorn is a 2005 animated Flash short by Jason Steele of FilmCow about a reluctant unicorn whose two hyperactive friends drag him to 'Candy Mountain,' where he gets knocked out and wakes up with his kidney stolen. The original spawned three YouTube sequels and became a widely quoted piece of mid-2000s internet animation.

flash animation memesnewgrounds memescatchphrase memesabsurdist humor memeslate 2000s memes

Overview

Charlie the Unicorn is an animated Flash series created by Jason Steele of FilmCow, following a reluctant unicorn named Charlie whose two hyperactive pink and blue unicorn friends drag him into surreal quests3. The first short ends with the pair luring Charlie into 'Candy Mountain,' where he gets knocked out and wakes up with a kidney missing1. Its Candy Mountain song and quotable lines like 'Shun the non-believer' spread across mid-2000s message boards as standalone catchphrases4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Newgrounds (source) / YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Jason Steele
Date
2005

Jason Steele uploaded the first 'Charlie the Unicorn' cartoon to Newgrounds on November 26th, 2005 under the username Typequeen1. The two-minute Flash short set the template that carries through the whole series: two pushy pink and blue unicorns badger Charlie into a quest, they sing an oddly catchy song about their destination, and the outing turns dark once he gets there. FilmCow reuploaded the original to YouTube on January 10th, 2008 under the account SecretAgentBob, where it collected tens of millions of views over the following decade2.

How It Spread

FilmCow followed the original with three sequels: 'Charlie the Unicorn 2' arrived on April 14th, 2008 with a trip to deliver an amulet to the Banana King, 'Charlie the Unicorn 3' on April 6th, 2009 sent the trio underwater in search of a snowman, and 'Charlie the Unicorn 4' on December 28th, 2012 had them fighting a millipede on the moon3.

An art car modeled on the series started appearing at the annual Burning Man festival in August 2011, and on February 23rd, 2016, Steele opened a Kickstarter for a 30-minute finale titled 'Charlie the Unicorn: The Grand Finale,' which raised $209,247 against a $50,000 goal, roughly four times what he asked for3.

How to Use This Meme

The main way people invoke Charlie the Unicorn is by quoting the shorts, especially 'Shun the non-believer!' and the Candy Mountain song4. The Candy Mountain setup often gets referenced when someone is being lured into an obvious trap.

Frequently Asked Questions