Badgers

2 Sep 2003
Closed captions

One of the early web’s most recognisable viral animations, featuring dancing badgers, a mushroom and a snake in a hypnotic, endlessly looping Flash classic.

First released online in 2003, Badgers became one of the defining viral hits of the Flash-animation era. Created by British animator Jonti Picking (Mr Weebl), the simple video loops through a sequence of dancing cartoon badgers, a mushroom and, eventually, a snake. Produced using Adobe Flash, then the dominant format for web animation, the work reflects a moment when lightweight, easily shared files shaped how moving images circulated online.

Originally shared on the community site B3ta.com, at a time of slow connection speeds and limited home computing power, the animation travelled across the pre-YouTube internet through email chains, forums and personal websites. Its deliberately lo-fi style and repetitive structure made it instantly recognisable, helping to establish Picking’s comedic voice and influence a generation of online creators.

The animation inspired sequels, remixes and countless parodies, becoming a touchstone of early 2000s internet culture. Decades later, Badgers endures as a reminder of how experimental humour and accessible digital tools helped define the evolution of online video.

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From the collection

Online Video

From viral memes to video essays, discover highlights from a new BFI National Archive collection...

First came the Cinema Age, then the TV Age, and now the age of Online Video. Digital film created for distribution online is today’s most dynamic, influential screen form. Encompassing much that’s new, from ASMR and Unboxing Videos to Twitch streaming and TikTok twerking, it’s also breathed new life into older film forms, filling our screens with fresh takes on advertising, journalism, satire, public information, campaigning, training and much else that’s been with us since time immemorial, and variously taking the forms of comedy, drama, documentary and animation. It’s become embedded into every aspect of UK (and world) society.

This unique collection of online videos combines iconic highlights of British online video with other examples chosen to illustrate that sheer diversity. All were acquired by the BFI National Archive with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.