Caramelldansen
| Meme | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms: | Uma uma dance |
| Date Started: | 2001 |
| Related: | |
| See Also: | anime, 4chan |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Caramelldansen is a popular meme within the anime fannish communities. It refers to a series of animated dance videos set to the song, "Caramelldansen" ("The Caramel Dance"), by the Swedish pop group, Caramell. The dance itself consists of placing your hands on top of your head like ears and flapping them while simultaneously swinging your hips from side to side.
Origin
The Caramelldansen comes from an animated gif originally posted on 4chan. The animated gif was taken from the opening credits of Popotan, a Japanese adult visual novel. Around the same time, DJ Speedycake released a remix of "Caramelldansen," essentially a sped-up version of the song, on 4chan. Someone later created a flash loop combining the animated gif and remix.[1] Like many other popular memes originating from 4chan, such as lolcats and rickrolling, the original Caramelldansen flash loop spread across the internet[2], inspiring many people to create their own versions.
Dispute Over Origins
In the early 2020s, the record label that owns the rights to the song, Remixed Records, faced accusations of attempting to distort the meme's origins and refusing to credit the song's original creators.
On October 25, 2021 Youtuber jan Misali uploaded a video essay detailing the song's history titled "Who Wrote Caramelldansen? (And who are the Caramella Girls?)." Misali details the song's history prior to the popular music video released by Remix Records in 2008 that features three anime girls performing the dance. In 2010, these girls would be rebranded as the "Caramella Girls" and start to release their own original music in 2010.[3] Misali provided evidence that Remixed Records and one of its owners Giovanni Sconfienza, obscured the original creators of both the original song and its remix in a rebranding effort that began in 2019.[3] This rebranding made it seem like the Caramella Girls were the original recording artists behind the song and that the group had already existed from the beginning, both of which are factually untrue.[3] Despite this, the Caramella Girls were credited as the artist on platforms like Spotify and iTunes.[3] According to Misali, this was “so that people would more strongly associate ‘Caramelldansen’ with the Caramella Girls, in an attempt to capitalize on a meme that was over a decade old.”[3]
The video was later taken down from YouTube after Remixed Records and Scofienza issued mutliple copyright strikes against the video. It was later reuploaded on the Internet Archive and Nico Nico.[3] [4] At some point, the video became available again on Misali's channel.
Misali claimed that Scofienza and Remixed Records were abusing YouTube's copyright system to suppress the availability of the factual history behind the song and associated meme.[4] In return, Scofienza claimed that Misali's video contained incorrect information and offered to help create a more accurate documentary, but Misali expressed skepticism over these claims. [4]
On the Internet
The anime community quickly adopted the Caramelldansen and began to create their own versions, using characters from various anime series. Caramelldansen also became very popular in Japan where it is known as "Uu-Uu-UmaUma" (ｳｯｰｳｯｰｳﾏｳﾏ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)) because of a misheard phrase in the song.[5] Some of the animations merely show characters performing the dance. Other versions include inside jokes and references to the source canon in addition to the dance.
The results were uploaded to video sites such as YouTube and Nico Nico Douga. Many people also made fanart of characters performing the dance.
The meme experienced a resurgence on TikTok around March of 2020.[3]
Examples
- Videos
- fanart tagged ｳｯｰｳｯｰｳﾏｳﾏ(ﾟ∀ﾟ) on Pixiv
At Conventions
Due to its popularity, Caramelldansen is a mainstay at most anime conventions. Cosplayers often perform the dance and in many instances, simply playing the song will result in large groups of people spontaneously doing the dance regardless of the location. Many DJs include the song as part of their set list due to consistent requests. [6]
Examples
- from Otakon 2009 (complete with Pedobear in the background)
References
- ^ Caramelldansen History (Complete) (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ Caramelldansen on YouTube (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ a b c d e f g https://kotaku.com/caramelldansen-owners-really-dont-want-you-to-know-wher-1848255354
- ^ a b c https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2021-12-22/caramelldansen-song-owners-copyright-strike-youtube-documentary-contesting-the-meme-origins/.180895
- ^ Caramelldansen on Know Your Meme (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ from caramelldansen, a thread on the Kitacon forum (Accessed December 3, 2011)