In the five episodes of Planet Unicorn that have aired since its winter premiere, that little gay boy has assumed the shape of a bird, a bubble and Tyra Banks, all with the intention of sharing a life lesson with his unicorns: “It’s okay to express your emotions,” the tyke tells his friends in episode two.

With its simple, colorful animation, done by Craig Morris and Robert Potter, Planet Unicorn has also developed a following among the under-12 set. “Tyler’s niece and nephew are three, maybe even younger, but they love it and ask to watch it every morning and sing to it,” Rose says. Yet anyone who’s ever spent time in a gay bar will instantly recognize the spot-on timbres of the three unicorns: Tom Cruise’s “stock gay voice,” in Spiers’s words; Cadillac’s whispery Latino lilt, and Feathers’s Southern-fried twang.

In addition to writing all the episodes—some of which have taken only an hour to draft—Rose and Spiers do most of the voices. Rose performs Cadillac and Shannon and sings the techno-thumpy theme song (including the remix in episode four; all the music is composed by Ryan Elder); Spiers is the voice of Tom Cruise and various minor characters, such as the Crybaby Troll from episode two and the diabolical Watercorn, who tries to imprison the three horned pals in episode three. Actor Drew Droege provides Feathers’s inimitable intonation.

Dividing who does what with the plots, however, is different every time—especially as the stories have become more complicated with each episode. The “conflict” in episode one simply involves the Unicorn waterfall turning from pink to brown; episode three sees the trio of ’cornpals competing to be on America’s Next Top Model; episode five introduces Shannon’s new best friend, Debbie, who quickly becomes a rival for the gay boy’s attentions. “Whoever has the clearer idea of the episode may take the reins a little more and write the specific episode. We want to keep the episodes as short as possible because people like how quick and fast everything is,” Rose explains. “Planet Unicorn is a big world, but it’s kind of small in that it concentrates on just the three unicorns,” Spiers adds. “In any cartoon you watch, they usually center on just a few characters. I liken it to The Smurfs.”

But Rose and Spiers are planning on expanding their universe. The website planetunicorn.tv—complete with bios of all the characters plus a unicorn store for T-shirts, stickers and ring tones—is expected to be operating this week. And they’re also considering developing a network-TV show. “We thought we would do two small episodes with a half-hour format and then do something like a ‘Let’s Talk to Shannon’ vignette,” Rose says. “In the cartoon series The Littles, the end of each episode would show you how to make something, like a small table or chair. I might want Shannon to teach kids how to make paper dolls out of Us Weekly fashion pictures. He would cut pictures of Nicole Richie or Keira Knightley and put them on Popsicle sticks and do mock fights or conversations.” It’s a perfect formula: Kids learn crafts, and gays get laughs.

Watch Planet Unicorn on youtube.com, channel101.com and planetunicorn.tv.