‘Homestar Runners’ Celebrates 25 Years in the Most Nostalgic Way

Homestar Runner and his friends became synonymous with online culture, launching as an animated series on January 1, 2000. Here, its popularity would explode, capitalizing on the online trends of sites like Newgrounds. Homestar Runner created a playground on homestarrunner.com, featuring flash games and cartoons; it became the obsession of many kids and adults, spread by word of mouth. The series’ popularity would also help propel one of its contributors, writer and director Craig Zobel, into the industry, to work on fan favorites like Compliance (2012) and The Hunt (2020).

Now that 25 years have passed since the series’ online debut, the official YouTube channel has shared a song touching on the “good days” of the internet, a sentiment that only Homestar Runner could convincingly (and hilariously) convey.

‘Homestar Runner’ Was a One-of-a-Kind Success Story

Created by Mike and Matt Chapman, collectively known as The Brothers Chap, Homestar Runner started as a children’s book in 1996, but it would not gain notoriety until it made it to the online space. At its peak, Homestar Runner saw monthly online traffic in the millions throughout 2001-2003. The series’ most popular segment, undeniably, was “Strong Bad Email,” in which the antagonist-turned-co-star Strong Bad answered fan questions. The cast would grow exponentially over the years, and its central duo would also take on alternate personas, like Strong Bad’s no-nonsense vigilante “Dangeresque.”

Despite the massive traffic and notoriety, Homestar Runner opted not to have advertising on its site — a surprising and refreshing choice in an age where it’s now almost completely unavoidable. Instead, the site was driven through merchandise including shirts, toys, video games, a board game, and two records. Behind all this, the Brothers Chap maintained control of their property, with Mike handling much of the technical side of the site, and Matt working primarily on the creative end.

The two would also voice most of the cast, with only one other brought in, Missy Palmer, to voice Marzipan and Pom Pom and provide sound effects. That is 25 years of dedication, with integrity and passion behind it. To celebrate this, Homestar Runner recently returned to celebrate the anniversary with a reflective and humorous song.

To Celebrate 25 Years, ‘Homestar Runner’ Recounts the Past With a New Song

“Back to a Website” not only marks 25 years of online hilarity, but the song serves as a nostalgic, and somewhat sad, reminder of what once was. While younger generations might only recall the internet in its current form, the 2000s were vastly different for animation and games when it came to online content. The internet was a bigger place, with more freedom and competition; Google and its AdSense program did not dominate the market, and online forums were diverse and decentralized as opposed to the few that compete for the space today.

At the same time, “Back to a Website” is not necessarily just complaining about how much better things used to be, even though they were, as it paints a nostalgic picture of the golden age of the internet. From signing someone’s guest book to looking at the site counter, there were infinite oddities you could find, many being oddly charming in just how archaic they were. Ultimately, Homestar Runner reminds us how the series thrived back in the day in a much different landscape; I can barely contain the nostalgic glee! Watch the “Back to a Website” music video from Homestar Runner here.