Hampster Dance

For the song named after the meme, see The Hampsterdance Song.

The Hampster Dance is one of the earliest Internet memes. Created in 1998 by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte as a GeoCities page, the dance features rows of animated GIFs of hamsters and other rodents dancing in various ways to a sped-up sample from the song "Whistle-Stop", written and performed by Roger Miller for the 1973 Walt Disney Productions film Robin Hood. In 2005, CNET named the Hampster Dance the number-one Web fad.[1]

Background

Screen capture of the original Hampster Dance

Canadian martial arts instructor and Malaspina University-College student[2] Deidre LaCarte (of Nanaimo, British Columbia) was in a competition with her best friend and sister to generate the most Web traffic when she created the Hampster Dance page with the free Geocities web service in August 1998. She named the site "Hampton Hampster's Hamster House" in homage to her pet hamster, "Hampton Hampster", who on the page declared his intent to become a "Web star."[3][4] LaCarte noted that the misspelling of "hamster" as "hampster" in both her pet's name and the Hampster Dance page was intentional.[5]

The Hampster Dance site originally consisted of a single page with just four unique animated GIFs of cartoon hamsters. These images were repeated in rows by the dozens and were paired with an infectious, continuously looping background tune. At the time the page was created, embedding background music in HTML pages was a fairly novel browser feature. The clip, a nine-second looped WAV file, was a sped-up sample of Roger Miller's "Whistle Stop", a song written for the opening credits of the 1973 Disney animated feature film Robin Hood.[4]

From its creation in August 1998 to March 1999, the Hampster Dance site only recorded about 800 total visits (roughly four per day). In February 1999, word of the website spread by e-mail and early blogs.[6] By March, the site gathered approximately 60,000 views in four days.[7] By December, LaCarte had created an online store selling themed items. Fans of the site created variations on the original theme, using images of other animals and of politicians such as Dan Quayle.[7] In January 2000, the site was featured in a television commercial for Internet service provider EarthLink.[2][8]

The original website was hosted on GeoCities, and LaCarte failed to register the hampsterdance.com domain. With the continued popularity of the original site, an unauthorized duplicate website was hosted on hampsterdance.com.[2] LaCarte thus used the domains hamsterdance.com, hamsterdance2.com, and hampsterdance2.com.[9] In early 2000, the domain was transferred to humor business Nutty Sites for undisclosed reasons. In late 2001, LaCarte sold the "Hampster Dance" rights to Abatis International, who managed to acquire the original domain.[2] The site later expanded, revealing the names of all four characters (Hampton, Dixie, Hado, and Fuzzy) and offering themed versions for birthdays, graduation, holidays, etc. The original website is no longer functional, but other sites inspired by the original still exist.[10][11]

Music releases and Hampton and the Hampsters

In April 1999, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the website, English electronic group the Cuban Boys promotionally released "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia". In its original release, the track featured the sped-up sample of "Whistle Stop".[2] When the song was commercially released later that December, it was replaced with a soundalike sample.[12] The song was marketed as "the Hamster Dance song", and LaCarte accused the group of stealing her idea.[2] The single peaked at number 4 on the Christmas 1999 UK singles chart.[13]

In June 2000, LaCarte partnered with producers The Boomtang Boys for the release of a site-sponsored song, "The Hampsterdance Song".[2][14] Like the previous single by the Cuban Boys, the single contains a different sound-alike sample of "Whistle Stop".[2] Disney did not allow the use of the actual "Whistle Stop" clip, and liner notes for the single state: "Includes elements of 'Whistle Stop' by Roger Miller."[2][15] A cartoon video was produced for the single that introduced a cartoon "band" of four hamsters which included Hampton alongside Fuzzy, Hado, and Dixie.[16] Though the song was solely credited to "Hampton the Hampster", the band was later dubbed "Hampton and the Hampsters."[17] The song reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart while peaking at number 32 on the RPM charts. In Australia, "The Hampsterdance Song" was released in 2001 and reached number five on the ARIA Singles Chart. The song proved to be very successful on Radio Disney, where it became the station's all-time most played song and was later included on the compilation album Radio Disney Ultimate Jams.[18] LaCarte's online store was expanded and began offering T-shirts and CDs of the fictional group's music. A Flash-animated series was planned by Nelvana, but never made it past the planning process.[19]

Following the relative success of "The Hampsterdance Song" single, an entire album titled Hampsterdance: The Album was released in October 2000.[20] Some follow-up singles from this album were moderately successful in Australia, such as "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (a cover of the John Denver song, reaching number 12) and "Hampster Party" (reaching number 44).[21] In August 2001, the group released the single "Sing a Simple Song" which was a number one hit on Radio Disney.[22][2] The song was included on their follow-up album Happy Times Ten (2002).[2] Hampsterdance: The Album was reissued twice with shorter track listings: first as The Hampster Dance Party (2002) followed by Hampsterdance Hits (2004).[20] In 2008, the group released their final album, A Very Hampsterdance Christmas.[23]

Direct-to-video film

In December 2004, Abatis International relaunched the Hampsterdance website and announced that a DVD would be released in Spring 2005.[24] The date passed with no release, and the release date was later removed.[25] On April 2, 2009, the website began selling a DVD of the direct-to-video animated film How the Hampsters Saved Winter. The film was produced by Abatis International LLC and animated by Unreal Productions, located in New Jersey. The DVD was purchasable until 2012 and sold 2000 copies.[26] In 2022, the film was archived on the Lost Media Wiki and uploaded onto YouTube.[27][28]

Hampton and the Hampsters Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details, chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart
positions 		Certification
AUS
[21]
Hampsterdance: The Album/The Hampsterdance Album[a] 7
Happy Times Ten
  • Released: 2002
  • Label: Kunduru
  • Format: CD
 —
A Very Hampsterdance Christmas
  • Released: 2008
  • Label: That's It! Records
  • Format: CD, digital download
 —

Reissues

List of reissues with selected details
Title Album details
The Hampster Dance Party
Hampsterdance Hits
  • Released: 2004
  • Label: Koch Entertainment
  • Format: CD

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Certification Album
CAN
[30] 		AUS
[21] 		GER US Dance
[31]
"The Hampsterdance Song" 2000 1 5 60 4 Hampsterdance: The Album
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" 2001 — 12 — —
"Hampster Party" — 44 — —
"Hampsterdance Christmas"[b] — — — —
"Sing a Simple Song" — — — — Happy Times Ten
"Time to Party" 2006 — — — — Non-album single
"—" denotes releases that failed to chart or not released in that country.

Promotional singles

List of singles
Title Year Album
"Even Hampsters Fall in Love" 2000 Hampsterdance: The Album

Notes

  1. ^ The same album was released under both names in different territories.
  2. ^ Double A-side of "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls".

References

  1. ^ Top 10 Web fads - from CNET
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The oral history of the Hampsterdance: The twisted true story of one of the world's first memes". CBC. December 27, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  3. ^ Hamsters, You've Got Mail! Sun Sentinel
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  5. ^ "Hampton Update". Archived from the original on November 28, 1999.
  6. ^ "2 Scoops of Quickies". Slashdot.org. February 9, 1999. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019. "The Cunctator sent us link that can only be described as the hamster dance."
  7. ^ a b Burkeman, Oliver (December 9, 1999). "Hamming it up". The Guardian. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Dawson, Angela (January 10, 2000). "BBDO Takes EarthLink National". www.adweek.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  9. ^ "Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos". Archived from the original on November 28, 1999.
  10. ^ "Hampster Dance". hamsterdance.org/hamsterdance. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "Web Hampster Dance". webhamster.com. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Gettingit.com: Hamster Dance Enhanced". gettingit.com. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  13. ^ BBC: Festive Fifty 1999 Archived January 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "KOCH RECORDS TO RELEASE HAMPTON THE HAMPSTER: THE HAMPSTERDANCE SONG ON JUNE 13, 2000". Koch Records. Archived from the original on March 15, 2002.
  15. ^ Hampsterdance liner notes - "Includes elements of 'Whistle Stop' by Roger Miller" Koch Records. (2000)
  16. ^ The Hampsterdance Song (US CD single). Koch Entertainment. 2000. KOC-D5-8161.
  17. ^ Hampton and the Hampsters – Happy Times Ten (CD). Kunduru Music. 2002. LK 86943.
  18. ^ "How The Hampsterdance Took Over The Internet, And Then The World". Throwbacks. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  19. ^ "Hampster dancing into other venues". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Hampton the Hampster on Amazon Music". www.amazon.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  21. ^ a b c "Discography Hampton the Hampster". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  22. ^ "Music News". Archived from the original on December 5, 2001.
  23. ^ "A Very Hampsterdance Christmas by Hampton and the Hampsters". iTunes. October 20, 2008. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  24. ^ "Fresh Hampster Tracks". Hampton and the Hampsters. Archived from the original on December 25, 2004.
  25. ^ "Fresh Hampster Tracks". Hampton and the Hampsters. Archived from the original on March 22, 2007.
  26. ^ Collins, Leah (December 27, 2018). "CBC Arts' history of the Hampster Dance". CBC. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  27. ^ "How The Hampsters Saved Winter (found direct-to-video Hampster Dance film; 2009) - The Lost Media Wiki". lostmediawiki.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  28. ^ How The Hampsters Saved Winter (Lost Hampster Dance Movie) IN FULL-2009 (MOST VIEWED VIDEO), January 19, 2022, retrieved March 25, 2022
  29. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 123.
  30. ^ "Artist Search for "hampton the hampster"". AllMusic. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  31. ^ Billboard AllMusic (Retrieved April 29, 2009)

Read other articles:

Gaetano da Thiene

Artikel ini sebatang kara, artinya tidak ada artikel lain yang memiliki pranala balik ke halaman ini.Bantulah menambah pranala ke artikel ini dari artikel yang berhubungan atau coba peralatan pencari pranala.Tag ini diberikan pada Desember 2022. Gaetano da Thiene dapat mengacu pada beberapa hal berikut: Cajetan, santo Katolik yang dalam bahasa Italia namanya Gaetano dan berasal dari Thiene Gaetano da Thiene (filsuf), filsuf zaman Renaisans. Halaman disambiguasi ini berisi daftar artikel nama ...

 

Jackson Preparatory School

Independent school in Flowood, Mississippi, United StatesJackson Preparatory SchoolAddress3100 Lakeland DriveFlowood, MississippiUnited StatesCoordinates32°19′59″N 90°6′30″W / 32.33306°N 90.10833°W / 32.33306; -90.10833InformationTypeIndependentMottoScholarship, Service, Character, LeadershipEstablished1970FounderDr. Marshall FortenberryHeadmasterLawrence CocoGradesPre-k through 12GenderCoeducationalCampus size84 acres (34 ha)Color(s)Blue and RedAthlet...

 

Air mancur amonia

Demonstrasi air mancur amonia Air mancur amonia adalah sebuah jenis demonstrasi kimia. Eksperimen tersebut dilakukan dengan memasukkan air ke dalam kontainer berisi gas amonia.[1] Amonia larut dalam air dan terjadi tekanan dalam kontainer tersebut. Akibatnya, air menjadi terangkat dan menciptakan efek air mancur. Demonstrasi tersebut memperkenalkan konsep seperti kelarutan dan hukum gas pada tingkat awal. Referensi ^ The Ammonia Smoke Fountain: An Interesting Thermodynamic Adventure M...

Richard Brooks

Untuk orang lain dengan nama yang sama, lihat Richard Brooks (disambiguasi). Richard BrooksBrooks pada 1986LahirReuben Sax18 Mei 1912Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ASMeninggal11 Maret 1992(1992-03-11) (umur 79)Studio City, Los Angeles, California, ASSuami/istriJean Brooks ​ ​(m. 1941; bercerai 1944)​ Harriette Levin ​ ​(m. 1946; bercerai 1957)​ Jean Simmons ​ ​(m. 1960...

 

Achmad Asj'ari

Achmad Asj'ari Menteri Agama Indonesia Ke-3Masa jabatan3 Juli 1947 – 9 Oktober 1947PresidenSoekarno PendahuluK.H. Fathurrahman KafrawiPenggantiH. Anwaruddin Informasi pribadiKebangsaanIndonesiaSunting kotak info • L • B K. Achmad Asj'ari adalah Menteri Agama Indonesia pada tahun 1947 selama 3 (tiga) bulan saja (3 Juli 1947 - 9 Oktober 1947). Karena alasan keluarga yang tidak bisa meninggalkan Kota Palembang, Sumatera Selatan, maka jabatan Menteri Agama kemudia...

 

Hans Stubbe

Stubbe in 1984 Hans Karl Oskar Stubbe (7 March 1902 – 14 May 1989) was a German agronomist and plant breeder. During the Second World War he was dismissed by the Nazi government from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research in Müncheberg in 1936. After the war he went to work in East Germany where he was the founding director of the Institute for Cultivated Plant Research (which started as the Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung in Vienna) in Gatersleben. He stood up against th...

Stadion Harras El-Hedoud

Stadion Harras El HodoudStadion El Max Informasi stadionPemilikHaras El-Hodood ClubLokasiLokasiEl Max, Iskandariyah, MesirData teknisPermukaanRumputKapasitas22,000PemakaiHaras El-Hodood ClubEl Raja Marsa MatruhSunting kotak info • L • BBantuan penggunaan templat ini Stadion Harras El Hodoud (Stadion Garda Perbatasan) adalah sebuah stadion serba guna di Iskandariyah, Mesir. Stadion tersebut sekarang banyak dipakai untuk pertandingan sepak bola dan dipakai untuk Kejuaraan Sepak Bo...

 

ميخائيل فيليبس (منتج أفلام)

  لمعانٍ أخرى، طالع ميخائيل فيليبس (توضيح). ميخائيل فيليبس   معلومات شخصية الميلاد 29 يونيو 1943 (81 سنة)  بروكلين  مواطنة الولايات المتحدة  الزوجة جوليا فيليبس (1966–1974)  الحياة العملية المدرسة الأم كلية الحقوق بجامعة نيويورك  [لغات أخرى]‏كلية دارتموثجام...

 

B

  此條目介紹的是拉丁字母中的第2个字母。关于其他用法，请见「B (消歧义)」。   提示：此条目页的主题不是希腊字母Β、西里尔字母В、Б、Ъ、Ь或德语字母ẞ、ß。 BB b(见下)用法書寫系統拉丁字母英文字母ISO基本拉丁字母（英语：ISO basic Latin alphabet）类型全音素文字相关所属語言拉丁语读音方法 [b][p][ɓ](适应变体)Unicode编码U+0042, U+0062字母顺位2数值 2歷史發...

Steve Bannon

American media executive and political strategist (born 1953) Steve BannonBannon in July 2023White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the PresidentIn officeJanuary 20, 2017 – August 18, 2017PresidentDonald TrumpPreceded byOffice establishedSucceeded byOffice abolished Personal detailsBornStephen Kevin Bannon (1953-11-27) November 27, 1953 (age 70)Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.Political partyRepublicanSpouses Cathleen Houff Jordan ​ ​(div. 1988)...

 

Клика Ма

Историческое государствоКлика Макит. 马家军 Флаг Герб ←   → 1912 — 1949 Столица Синин Крупнейшие города Тяньшуй, Ланьчжоу Язык(и) Китайский, Монгольский, Тибетский Официальный язык Китайский язык Религия Ислам Денежная единица Юань Форма правления Военная диктатура ...

 

Повітряні сили Збройних сил України

Ця стаття потребує додаткових посилань на джерела для поліпшення її перевірності. Будь ласка, допоможіть удосконалити цю статтю, додавши посилання на надійні (авторитетні) джерела. Зверніться на сторінку обговорення за поясненнями та допоможіть виправити недоліки. Мат...

Déodorant

Ne doit pas être confondu avec désodorisant. « Déo » redirige ici. Pour l’article homophone, voir DO. Un déodorant[1] ou désodorant[2] est un produit cosmétique destiné à masquer les mauvaises odeurs corporelles. L’antitranspirant masque aussi ces mauvaises odeurs et freine le flux de transpiration. Le désodorisant masque, lui, les mauvaises odeurs dans un local[3]. Technique La transpiration La transpiration est un phénomène naturel et nécessaire qui contribue à...

 

Protagoras (dialogue)

Platonic dialogue This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Part of a series onPlatonism Life Theory of forms Form of the Good Theory of soul Epistemology Political philosophy Euthyphro dilemma Demiurge Atlantis The Republic Allegory of the cave Analogy of the ...

 

1948 in music

1948 in music By location United Kingdom Norway By genre country jazz By topic List of albums released Overview of the events of 1948 in music List of years in music (table) … 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 … In radio 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 In television 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 In film 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +... Thi...

كأس الكونفيدرالية الإفريقية 2015

كأس الاتحاد الكونفدرالي الأفريقي 2015 تفاصيل البطولة المنظم الاتحاد الإفريقي لكرة القدم  التاريخ 13 فبراير - 29 نوفمبر 2015 الفرق 55+8 (من 1 اتحادات ) الأماكن إفريقيا  المراكز النهائية البطل النجم الساحلي  البطل النجم الساحلي الوصيف أورلاندو عدد المباريات 138   عدد الأه...

 

PharmGKB

PharmGKBContentDescriptionThe Pharmacogenomics KnowledgebaseData typescapturedPharmacogenomics and PharmacogeneticsOrganismsHumanContactResearch centerStanford UniversityPrimary citationPMID 22992668Release date2000AccessWebsitewww.pharmgkb.orgDownload URLwww.pharmgkb.org/downloadsWeb service URLapi.pharmgkb.orgMiscellaneousLicenseCreative Commons BY-SA 4.0 www.pharmgkb.org/page/dataUsagePolicyCuration policyYes The Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB) is a publicly available, onlin...

 

Canadian Association for HIV Research

CAHR Logo The Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) is an organization that represents HIV/AIDS research in Canada or by Canadians. CAHR includes all researchers and all disciplines of the scientific approaches to HIV and AIDS, for the purpose of its better prevention and treatment and ultimately for its eradication and cure. Disciplines represented by CAHR include basic science, clinical science, epidemiology/public health and social science.[1] An estimated 65,000 Canadians w...

トロピカーナ

この項目では、アメリカ合衆国フロリダ州にあるジュース会社について説明しています。 アメリカ合衆国ネバダ州ラスベガスにあるカジノホテルについては「トロピカーナ (ホテル)」をご覧ください。 Tropicana Products, Inc. 種類 子会社業種 食品工業 設立 1947年 (77年前) (1947)創業者 Anthony T. Rossi本社 アメリカ合衆国・イリノイ州シカゴ製品 フルーツジュース親�...

 

Lê Đức Thọ

Lê Đức Thọ Capo della Commissione centrale organizzativa del Partito Comunista del VietnamDurata mandato1956 –1973 PredecessoreLê Văn Lương SuccessoreLê Văn Lương Durata mandato1976 –1980 PredecessoreLê Văn Lương SuccessoreNguyễn Đức Tâm Dati generaliPartito politicoPartito Comunista Indocinese Partito Comunista del Vietnam Premio Nobel per la pace 1973 (rifiutato)Lê Ðức Thọ[1], vero nome Phan Đình Khải (Nam Tr...