The Toyes “Smoke Two Joints” – Animated Music Video & Website Illustrations

I created the animated music video artwork, character designs and website illustrations for The Toyes, the original writers and performers of the cult reggae track “Smoke Two Joints.” The project combined hand-drawn cartoon illustration, 2D Flash animation, band caricatures, surreal character scenes and illustrated website content for the group’s online presence.

The song has an unusual cultural afterlife. It was first released by The Toyes in the early 1980s and later became widely known through Sublime’s 1992 cover version. Because of that later visibility, the song is often associated with Sublime, and has also been wrongly attributed to Bob Marley in online circulation. For this project, the connection to the original source was part of what made the commission interesting.

Related work: hand-drawn animation and explainer videos, cartoon and comic illustration, and character design and mascots.

A cult song with a complicated afterlife

“Smoke Two Joints” was written by Chris Kay and Michael Kay of The Toyes and released in the early 1980s. Sublime later covered the song on 40oz. to Freedom in 1992, helping bring it to a much wider punk, ska and alternative rock audience. Because of that later visibility, the song is frequently associated with Sublime, although the original version belongs to The Toyes.

The animated video drew on that offbeat musical history without turning the project into a literal illustration of the lyrics. The aim was to create a playful cartoon universe: band members, surreal landscapes, animated trees, UFOs, aliens and visual gags that matched the song’s relaxed, satirical tone.

Watch the animation and behind-the-scenes process

The video below shows highlights from the animated music video, together with a behind-the-scenes look at the animation process inside Adobe Flash, now Adobe Animate.

Band caricatures, character design and 2D animation

I designed illustrated cartoon likenesses of the band members, developing a visual cast that could perform, react and move through the animated world of the video. The style needed to feel loose, humorous and expressive while still functioning clearly as animation assets.

The characters were created for a hand-built 2D animation workflow, with drawings prepared, separated and animated in Adobe Flash. This allowed the project to retain a drawn cartoon feeling while still being efficient enough for music video production.

Aliens, UFOs and dancing trees: building a cartoon universe

In addition to the main band characters, I developed a supporting cast of animated figures and visual jokes, including dancing trees, extraterrestrials in flying saucers and other surreal elements. The project was built less like a single illustration and more like a small animated world, with recurring characters, props and background elements.

This kind of character-led visual storytelling is closely connected to my broader work in business illustration, explainer videos and cartoons and comics: ideas become easier to follow when they are given a strong visual system, a clear tone and memorable characters.

Website illustrations for The Toyes

Alongside the music video, I also created a suite of illustrations for the official Toyes website. These visuals helped connect the band’s music, album material and online identity through a consistent illustrated style.

Each illustrated element was designed to support the band’s tone: playful, relaxed, musical and slightly absurd. The result was a set of website graphics that extended the video beyond a single animation and gave fans a richer visual entry point into the band’s world.

Project credits

• Client: The Toyes
• Project: “Smoke Two Joints” animated music video and website illustrations
• Services: character design, cartoon illustration, 2D animation, website illustration and visual development
• Software: Adobe Flash / Adobe Animate and Photoshop
• Art direction, illustration and animation: Ian David Marsden

Animated music videos, character design and illustrated campaigns

This project sits at the intersection of music video animation, cartoon illustration, character design and web-based visual identity. It is also a good example of how a small animated world can extend across several formats: video, website graphics, promotional material and fan-facing visual content.

For related examples, see my pages on hand-drawn explainer videos and animation, logo and mascot design, cartoons and comics, and creative direction and graphic design.

Commission animation or character-led illustration

I create hand-drawn animation, character systems, illustrated campaign assets, explainer videos, music-related visuals and cartoon-led visual storytelling for clients in publishing, entertainment, education, business communication and brand communication.

If you are planning an animated music video, illustrated campaign, character-led explainer or visual world for a brand, project or publication, you are welcome to get in touch.

Marsden Creative – Ian David Marsden
Illustrator, Cartoonist, Animator & Creative Director
[email protected]