Team Unicorn

Team Unicorn is a multimedia production team formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2010. Its current members are American actresses Clare Grant, Rileah Vanderbilt, Milynn Sarley, and Alison Haislip (who replaced Michele Boyd in 2014). The group is known for producing parody song videos such as "G33k & G4m3r Girls", a spoof of Katy Perry's "California Gurls", and "All About that Base", a Star Wars parody of Meghan Trainor's song "All About That Bass". The group had a pilot on Adult Swim called The Team Unicorn Saturday Action Fun Hour!, and have attended numerous science fiction and comic conventions.

Team Unicorn
Team Unicorn at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2015
Team Unicorn at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2015
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California
GenresParody, comedy, nerd music
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2010–present
Members
Past membersMichele Boyd
Websitewww.teamunicornftw.com

History
Team Unicorn, dressed as pop culture characters for their video "Geek and Gamer Girls" in 2010. Left to right: Rileah Vanderbilt, Milynn Sarley, Michele Boyd, Clare Grant

Rileah Vanderbilt is largely given credit to bringing the four women of Team Unicorn together.[1] She and Clare Grant produced geek videos together and won two awards at the 2009 Star Wars Fan Film Awards for their short "Saber".[2] Vanderbilt became friends with Milynn Sarley in 2009, and Michele Boyd was introduced in January 2010.[3]

The group released its debut parody song "G33k & G4m3r Girls" online in September 2010. The music video, spoofing Katy Perry's "California Gurls", is filled with geek cultural references and pays tribute to women who love gaming, manga, and science fiction.[4][5][6][7][8][9] The video reached 1 million views in its first week online,[10] but met with some mixed responses to its portrayal of the women.[11]

On December 7, 2014, Team Unicorn released "All About That Base", a parody of the Meghan Trainor song "All About That Bass", with the tagline lyric being "No Rebels".[12] The video has a Star Wars theme and featured stormtroopers dancing alongside cheerleaders dressed in attire inspired by Darth Vader. Mitchell Peters of Billboard opined that the parody was "catchy" and "hilarious",[13] while Donna Dickens of HitFix questioned whether the video sent the wrong message by "tacitly saying it's okay for geek girls to exist, only so long as they are acceptably 'hot'".[14]

In 2013, Adult Swim announced a development agreement with the creators of Robot Chicken for a Team Unicorn live action/animation hybrid pilot called The Team Unicorn Saturday Action Fun Hour![15] which was intended to introduce Alison Haislip as the new Blue Unicorn, and star Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Tara Strong, and Kevin Shinick,[16][17] but it was never made.

Filmography

Videos
List of Team Unicorn videos
YearTitleDirectorNotesRefs
2010"G33k & G4m3r Girls"Dave YarvoMusic video parody of "California Gurls"[18]
2010A Very Zombie HolidaySean Becker[19][20]
2011superHarmonySean BeckereHarmony parody with superheroes[21][22]
2011Alien Beach CrashersSean Becker[23]
2013"For the Win!" (feat. "Weird Al" Yankovic)Dave YarvoMusic video by Stage5[24]
2014The Team Unicorn Saturday Action Fun Hour!Seth GreenTelevision pilot for Adult Swim[25][16]
2014"All About That Base"Sean BeckerMusic video parody of "All About That Bass" and Star Wars[26]

Appearances
List of Team Unicorn appearances
YearTitleNotesRefs
2011"F.E.A.R. 3 Comes to Life"Promotional video by Fearnet for the video game F.E.A.R. 3[27]
2012The Jace Hall Show[28]
2012Top 100 Video Games of All TimeGuest on G4TV show[29]
2013Robot Combat LeagueSyFy promotional clip where the group visits the show set[30]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Title of work Result
2010 LA Weekly's Best of 2010 Best Online Video[31] "G33K & G4M3R Girls" Won
2011 Dragon Con 2011 Film Festival Awards Best Music Video "G33K & G4M3R Girls" Nominated
2012 International Academy of Web Television Awards Best Variety Series Team Unicorn Nominated

References
  1. Posted by FcoD at 2:02 pm. "The RadNerd Show:Episode 3.4 with Team Unicorn". Meltcomics.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  2. "Official Star Wars Fan Film Challenge Web Site Archived 2012-01-12 at the Wayback Machine"
  3. Bagged and Boarded 83: For The Win Archived March 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "MTV Splash Page: Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' Parodied In Awesome 'Geek And Gamer Girls' Video". Splashpage.mtv.com. 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  5. "Star Wars Shout Outs in "G33k & G4M3R Girls" Music Video | Star Wars Blog". Starwarsblog.starwars.com. 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  6. Wallace, Lewis (2013-03-28). "Spot the Geek Refs in 'Geek and Gamer Girls' Song". Wired. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  7. Fox 5: Meet the Geek Girls Archived September 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Winda Benedetti (2010-09-11). "MSNBC.com: Look, a unicorn! Music video pays tribute to geeky gals and gamer girls". Technolog.msnbc.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  9. Flick, Action (2010-09-17). "Team Unicorn Interview". Actionflickchick.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  10. Flick, Action (2010-09-17). "Interview: G33K & G4M3R GIRLS (Geek and Gamer Girls Video) 1 Week, 1 Million Views". Actionflickchick.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  11. Flick, Action (2010-09-22). "G33K & G4M3R GIRLS Fangirl Furor: Should Geek and Gamer Girls Go Sexy, Sexless, Something Else?". Actionflickchick.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  12. O'Neil, Lorena (6 November 2014). "'Star Wars' Parody of 'All About That Bass' Is Out of This Galaxy". www.hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  13. Peters, Mitchell (December 7, 2014). "Meghan Trainor's 'All About That Bass' Gets 'Star Wars' Parody Treatment". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  14. Dickens, Donna (November 6, 2014). "Is it time to stop pretending 'Team Unicorn' is about Girl Power?". HitFix. Uproxx. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  15. ANDREEVA, NELLIE (10 May 2013). "Adult Swim Announces New Series & Pilots". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  16. The Deadline Team (28 May 2014). "Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk Among Cast Set For Adult Swim's 'Team Unicorn' Pilot From Robot Chicken Duo". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  17. Goldberg, Lesley (28 May 2014). "Adult Swim Sets Cast for 'Team Unicorn' Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  18. "Geek and Gamer Girls Anthem". Break. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  19. "Team Unicorn Presents: A Very Zombie Holiday". Nerd Appropriate. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  20. Dendle, Peter (18 September 2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. ISBN 9780786492886. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  21. "Adult Swim Reveals the Team Unicorn Saturday Action Fun Hour!". ComingSoon.net. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  22. "SuperHarmony, the Dating Site for Heroes and Villains". themarysue.com. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  23. "Who Will Save Us from the Alien Beach Crashers?". Dread Central. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  24. Kristen (9 May 2013). "Team Unicorn: For The Win". The Geekie Awards. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  25. ANDREEVA, NELLIE (10 May 2013). "Adult Swim Announces New Series & Pilots". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  26. "Is it time to stop pretending 'Team Unicorn' is about Girl Power?". HitFix. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  27. Watch 'F.E.A.R. 3' Come to Glorious, Sexy Life with the Ladies of Team Unicorn. 22 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 1 May 2016 – via YouTube.
  28. "Jace Hall on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  29. "TEAM UNICORN ON G4'S "TOP 100 VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME" @ Rileah Vanderbilt". rileahvanderbilt.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  30. Team Unicorn vs. Robot Combat League. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 1 May 2016 – via YouTube.
  31. Ohanesian, Liz. "Best Online Video: "Geek and Gamer Girls Song," by Team Unicorn". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
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