Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” video follows an animated character named Robin through a surreal world.
The video was directed by Swedish animator Magnus Carlsson, who created Robin as a small, anxious-looking figure caught in strange and often unsettling situations. The narrative includes nightclub patrons, wealthy customers, violence, and an eventual escape, giving the clip a darker tone than its simple cartoon style might suggest.
“Paranoid Android” was released in 1997 as the lead single from Radiohead’s album OK Computer. Its unusual structure, which moves through several contrasting sections, made it a challenging song to present visually; the animated story allowed the video to avoid a conventional band-performance format.
Some viewers confuse Robin with a direct depiction of Radiohead’s members, but he is a fictional animated character. The video became one of the best-known animated clips of the late 1990s.