Three Viral Videos Sure to Make You Smile

The internet is known for many things: Porn, gambling, news, hate groups, gaming, and social networking. At heart, though, the internet is cheap thrills, and there are no cheaper thrills than viral videos.

For those unfamiliar with what a viral video is, it is simply a video that achieves its popularity through being viewed on the internet(a lot). Viral videos can be anything from silly to thought-provoking, rapacious to charitable, titillating to dull. If you can think of something you would like to see a video of, there probably is one out there somewhere.

I prefer my viral videos to be light-hearted and fun. With that in mind, here are my three favorite viral videos of all time:

3) Charlie the Unicorn: This video(and all of its successors) involve the unfortunate unicorn, Charlie, and his two seemingly idiotic companions. The wistful companions take Charlie on adventures to magical places where he reluctantly meets up with bizarre creatures that often sing and dance to childish songs.

Charlie represents a picaresque hero even though he is a unicorn. His misadventures, while unusual, follow common cartoon themes such as injuries that are always recovered from by the next episode(think Coyote and Road Runner) and the ability to do things impossible in ordinary life, like breath underwater. And hey, he's a talking unicorn to begin with. Click to see Charlie here.

2) Mario Kart: The Movie Trailer: This live-action look at a film that is not really being produced by anybody is a brilliant example of the kinds of spoofs possible using internet videos. It is a so-serious-it-is-actually-funny clip that has actors dressed up like characters from the popular racing video game.

The "story" behind the movie is that Mario is returning to the kart racing circuit to avenge the loss of his brother Luigi. Those familiar with this Nintendo franchise will find it funny in a cheesy sort of way, and the video is actually very well done despite the obviously limited budget. Check it out here.

1) Kenya: This video is the perfect combination of cute and hilarious. First, there are adorable little cartoon lions and tigers dancing a cute little back and forth sort of thing. They bop to a humorous little tune about the country of Kenya

Weebl, the web name of the creator of this video, has done a ton of other videos similar to this, including a funny one about narwhals and a clever mock video game talk show hosted by older video game characters called 8-Bit Pwny Club. However, Kenya is my all-time favorite, and I find myself singing the catchy song throughout the day. It almost makes me want to visit Kenya someday...Check out the Kenya video here.

So those are my three favorite viral videos for now. New ones take their places on the internet every day, though, so perhaps I will find a new favorite eventually.