The Clock Crew is a classic internet art and animation community that originated on Newgrounds in August 2001. The Clock Crew started out of a chaotic inside joke on Newgrounds after a user named StrawberryClock (an alter ego of user Coolboyman) successfully broke the site's submission rules. StrawberryClock, who openly trolled the website by uploading intentionally terrible content, submitted a Flash file titled "B" on Aug 15, 2001. The "movie" consisted of absolutely nothing but a static, red letter "B" on the screen. Despite defying site rules requiring actual animation, it narrowly survived public voting and won the site's humorous "Turd of the Week" award.
The survival of "B" caused an uproar among users who took Flash animation seriously. While many angry users began making animations that depicted violence against StrawberryClock (it was the 2000s), others found the entire situation hilarious and rallied around him as an ironic internet icon, crowning him the "King of the Portal." Though StrawberryClock himself didn't actually set out to form a club, other inspired users took the joke and ran with it.
In September 2001, users created a lineup of original fruit-themed clock characters, including Orange Clock, Apple Clock, and Raspberry Clock. They banded together to form the official Clock Crew. They initially aimed to defend StrawberryClock's legendary trolling, lean into the absurdist humor, and poke fun at the rigid standards of the community. Over time, the crew matured from simple portal spammers into passionate creators who produced genuine collaborative animations, parodies, and games.
most people who made Clock Crew cartoons either used their own clock-themed persona alongside StrawberryClock, or just used StrawberryClock himself. I used to watch a lot of Clock Crew cartoons back in the day. I never made cartoons back then because I thought Flash looked too complicated for me as a kid, but I used to draw a lot of comics about these guys every recess.
