Twitter screenshot of the Yee_bot account posting Yee repeatedly

Yee

2014catchphraseclassic

Published October 8, 2026

"Yee" is an onomatopoeia from a dub of the low-budget Dingo Pictures cartoon Dinosaur Adventure, where a cartoon dinosaur named Oro cuts off another dinosaur's song with a shouted "Yee!"1. The clip sat quietly on YouTube for four years until Reddit's r/youtubehaiku resurfaced it in August 20142, kicking off a wave of Tumblr photoshops and fan art that turned the little green dinosaur into one of 2014's strangest meme mascots.

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Overview

Yee works on two levels: the clip itself and the word. The clip shows two crudely animated dinosaurs from Dingo Pictures' Dinosaur Adventure, a cheap knockoff of The Land Before Time3. One of them, Peek, warbles a short jingle, and Oro interrupts with a loud, nasal "Yee!" (in the Italian dub, the English dub has him shout "Peek!" instead)4.

As a format, Yee became a Tumblr vehicle for photoshops, drawings, and dinosaur fan art riffing on the two characters4. The word "yee" also spread as a standalone catchphrase, used online to agree with something or react with ironic enthusiasm, a usage already common in Bay Area slang5. The joke's charm sits in how absurdly cheap the source animation is: wobbly mouths, flat voice acting, and a single syllable delivered with total conviction.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (source) / Reddit / Tumblr (viral spread)
Date
2014

The source footage comes from the Italian version of Dinosaur Adventure, a Dingo Pictures mockbuster of the 1988 film The Land Before Time3. On June 6, 2010, YouTube user Celyciah uploaded the raw scene under the title "Dinosauri antropomorfi dalle voci ambigue" (translated from Italian: "Anthropomorphic dinosaurs with ambiguous voices")1. The clip sat largely unnoticed for over a year.

On February 29, 2012, YouTuber reverg uploaded an edited cut of the scene retitled simply "Yee," layered with instrumentals pulled from the film itself6. That version became the canonical meme object, racking up over two million views in the next three years4.

How It Spread

The video stayed obscure until August 23, 2014, when it was posted to the r/youtubehaiku subreddit, where it pulled more than 2,190 upvotes (93% upvoted) and 110 comments inside two weeks2. From there, Tumblr users picked up the phrase and the dinosaurs, producing fan art and photoshopped edits of Peek and Oro under the "yee" tag4.

The catchphrase crossed into live events the following year. On January 31, 2015, during the 2015 SBENU League of Legends Championship broadcast after the IM vs NaJin II match, a Korean spectator was shown in the crowd holding a sign with Oro's face and the word "Yee"4. By that point the word had also picked up broader online use as a casual "yes," overlapping with existing Bay Area slang5.

Yee is still a reference point for internet nostalgia about weird 2014 Tumblr culture and bootleg animation, and the reverg edit is still the go-to link when the clip comes up6.

Timeline

2010-06-06

YouTuber Celyciah uploads the raw Italian-dub clip from Dingo Pictures' Dinosaur Adventure[1].

2012-02-29

YouTuber reverg uploads the edited "Yee" cut with instrumentals from the film[6].

2014-08-23

The reverg video is posted to r/youtubehaiku and goes viral with 2,190+ upvotes in two weeks[2].

2014-08

Tumblr users begin posting fan art and photoshops of Peek and Oro under the "yee" tag[4].

2015-01-31

A Korean spectator is spotted holding a "Yee" sign at the SBENU LoL Championships IM vs NaJin II match[4].

How to Use This Meme

Yee is typically used in two ways. People drop the word "yee" in comments or chat as an ironic yes, often in all caps or stretched out ("YEEEE"). The visual version usually puts Oro's open-mouthed shout into a Photoshop or reaction image, often paired with the audio clip itself.

Frequently Asked Questions