2009 / Video / Animated comedy earworm
Narwhals
Narwhals, narwhals, swimming in the ocean: one tiny animated song made sea mammals permanently quotable.
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What was this?
A parade of simple cartoon narwhals swims through an aggressively cheerful song about why narwhals are awesome. The joke is deliberately small, repetitive, and completely committed.
Why it spread
The creator’s post landed in February 2009, and its Newgrounds version was frontpaged that month, became a Daily Feature, placed second weekly, and placed third monthly—an immediate Flash-and-YouTube-era breakout.
What happened
A parade of simple cartoon narwhals swims through an aggressively cheerful song about why narwhals are awesome. The joke is deliberately small, repetitive, and completely committed.
Where it came from
Animator and musician Jonti Picking, working as MrWeebl, published the animated song through Weebl’s Stuff in February 2009.
Why it mattered
Narwhals is a clean example of late-2000s web-comedy minimalism: an original song, lightweight animation, and a refrain simple enough for viewers to carry into forums, playlists, and everyday conversation.
How it spread
The creator’s post landed in February 2009, and its Newgrounds version was frontpaged that month, became a Daily Feature, placed second weekly, and placed third monthly—an immediate Flash-and-YouTube-era breakout.
Keep going
Editorial rabbit holes
Keep going
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