Nyan Cat (also known as Pop Tart Cat)[1] is an internet meme, referring to an 8-bit animated gif of a cat with the body of a cherry Pop-Tart flying through space, leaving a rainbow trail behind the cat; or to a video of the animated .GIF, set to a remix of the song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!"[1].
Origin
The original animation was made by Chris Torres (PRguitarman)[2] on April 2, 2011.[3] He then posted it to the website LOL-Comics, intending it to be "cute".[3] YouTube user "saraj00n" combined the cat animation with the version of the song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!"—uploaded by Nico Nico Douga user "もももも" (Momo Momo)[3]—and uploaded it to YouTube on April 5, 2011.[1] Nico Nico Douga user Momo Momo uploaded his/her version of the song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" to Nico Nico Douga on January 31, 2011.[4]
Momo Momo previously made his/her version of the song with the UTAU "Momone Momo" error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help) whose name comes from the kanji "momo" 桃, meaning "peach", and "ne" 音, meaning "sound".[5] The voice source used to create Momone Momo was Fujimoto Momoko (藤本萌々子)[6] and Momone Momo was created in February 2009.[7] The original song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!", made with the vocaloid Hatsune Miku (初音ミク), was uploaded by user daniwellP to Nico Nico Douga July 25, 2010.[8][9] The song's lyrics refer to the Japanese word for the sound cats make, "nyā" (にゃあ),[10]
Popularity
Nyan Cat saw increased popularity after being featured on the blog for Tosh.0 on April 15, 2011.[11] Later, the Annoying Orange made a parody of the video, further popularizing it, and as of July 2011, the YouTube video has had over 27 million views. Due to its popularity, many new remixes and cover versions have been made, some hours long, and apps were created for iPhone, iPad,[12] Android[13], HP webOS.[14] and Windows Phone 7 [15].
YouTube modified the video player "seek" slider bar for the video page so that the slider resembles Nyan Cat, while the progress bar resembles a rainbow trail. The slider has since reverted back to normal.
On June 27, 2011, the video was removed due to a copyright claim from who at the time was believed to be Prguitarman, who owns the copyright to the nyan cat .gif. Soon after, it was found that Prguitarman did not actually make the claim and as soon as the takedown notice came to his attention, he began to file a complaint with YouTube. However, in order to file a counter DMCA, he had to get into contact with both Saraj00n and Daniwell, who holds the copyright for the song. The video has since been restored by YouTube as of June 28, 2011. During the interim period, however, Prguitarman received both hate mail and death threats for what was assumed to have been his DMCA notice.[1][16]
Games
Several fan created games featuring Nyan Cat were developed, after its development as a meme. One of the first ones was Nyan Cat: Reloaded (formerly Nyan Cat Game) by MeisterMariues, created on April 20, 2011.[17] It was developed with Yoyogames Game Maker. Later, more Nyan Cat games[18] were created, like Lost in Space[19] by mylostgames, or Nyan Cat FLY[20] by krangGAMES. Chris Torres (prguitarman) developed his own game called "Nyan Cat" for iOS, and it became the first official game.
References
- ^ a b c d "Nyan Cat / Pop Tart Cat - Know Your Meme".
- ^ "PRguitarman".
- ^ a b c Pop Goes the Week. (2011). POP Profile: The Guy Behind The Viral Phenomenon “Nyan Cat”. Retrieved May 30, 2011, from http://popgoestheweek.com/2011/04/pop-profile-the-brains-behind-the-viral-phenomenon-nyan-cat/
- ^ ニコニコ国際交流".【UTAU】Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!【桃音モモ】【ミクカバー】 ‐ ニコニコ動画(原宿). Retrieved May 30, 2011, from http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13455867
- ^ Vocaloidism. Nyan Cat hit 10M views. Retrieved Jun 2, 2011, from http://www.vocaloidism.com/2011/05/22/nyan-cat-hit-10m-views/
- ^ ニコニコ大百科. 単語記事: 藤本萌々子. Retrieved June 2, 2011, from dic.nicovideo.jp/a/藤本萌々子
- ^ UTAU ユーザー互助会@ ウィキ. 桃音モモ. Retrieved June 2, 2011, from www20.atwiki.jp/utaou/pages/42.html
- ^ ニコニコ動画(原宿).【初音ミク】Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!【オリジナループ】. Retrieved May 30, 2011 from http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm11509720?user_nicorepo
- ^ Know Your Meme. Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya! Retrieved may 30, 2011, from http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nyanyanyanyanyanyanya#fn2
- ^ Denshi Jisho. Retrieved June 2, 2011, from http://jisho.org/words?jap=nya&eng=&dict=edict
- ^ "TOP VIRAL VIDEOS OF APRIL: What's A "Nyan Cat"?".
- ^ "Apps rush: Nutkin, Nyan Cat and more".
- ^ "Galactic Nyan Cat".
- ^ "Download page of NYAN CAT! for HP webOS". Developer.palm.com. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ "Nyan Cat strays into the Marketplace".
- ^ "YouTube Twitter feed entry".
- ^ "Nyan Cat:Reloaded".
- ^ "Nyan Cat games".
- ^ "Nyan Cat: Lost in Space".
- ^ "Nyan Cat FLY".