Badger Badger Badger

When repetition meets absurdity, the result can achieve a hypnotic quality that transcends logic—a principle perfectly demonstrated by the relentless chanting of "Badger Badger Badger," which became one of the internet's most memorably nonsensical sensations.

"Badgers," also known informally as "Badger Badger Badger" or "The Badger Song," is an animated meme by British animator Jonti Picking, also known as Mr Weebl. It consists of twelve animated cartoon badgers doing callisthenics, a mushroom in front of a tree, and a snake in the desert (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The cartoon went live on B3ta.com on 2 September 2003 at 3:49 a.m. GMT (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The Flash cartoon is accompanied by a bass line, above which a voiceover sings the names of what's shown on screen, creating an endlessly looping sequence.

According to Mr Weebl, the inspiration behind "The Badger Song" comes from the song Saturday Night by Whigfield: "[Saturday Night] has a duck quacking throughout. I decided that the tune needed an annoying squeak sound in the background. The lyrics were meant to be a placeholder, but much like The Riddle by Nik Kershaw, the placeholder became the actual thing" (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). This accidental creation process reflects the improvisational spirit of early internet animation.

The animation achieved viral status remarkably quickly for the pre-YouTube era. The cartoon brought Picking to the attention of MTV Europe, for whom Picking produced Weebl and Bob. That cartoon series, together with the dancing badgers, helped Picking's website Weebl's Stuff win a People's Choice award from users of Yahoo! in the UK (Internet Archive, 2003). "Badger Badger Badger" was also listed as one of the top five internet fads of all time by PC World in 2009 (Internet Archive, 2003).

The meme's structure follows a simple but hypnotic pattern: twelve badgers doing calisthenics while "badger" is chanted repeatedly, interrupted periodically by "mushroom mushroom," before culminating in the dramatic appearance of a snake accompanied by "Argh! Snake! A snake! Snake! A snake, oooh, it's a snake!" The cartoon loops indefinitely, creating an almost meditative experience through its relentless repetition.

The animation's popularity spawned numerous sequels and variations. There have been several follow-ups to the "Badger Badger Badger" cartoon posted to the Weebl's Stuff website. "Badgers 2" was created in 2003 and features zombie badgers on a black background with a scratching sound added to the music. A Christmas-themed version, with the badgers dressed in Santa Claus suits, the mushroom replaced with a present, and the snake replaced with baby Jesus in a nativity scene, is also available and was made for the 2004 Weebl Advent Calendar (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).