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Featured era: 2003
Crazy Frog
“Wanted: the most annoying thing in the world.”
- Featured era
- 2003
- Peak era
- 2005
- Company
- Erik Wernquist (sound by Daniel Malmedahl)
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
Crazy Frog's "Axel F" video
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- Crazy Frog
- Added:
- June 16, 2009
- Length:
- 2:52
What Was It?
Crazy Frog began as The Annoying Thing, a CGI creature made by Swedish actor and playwright Erik Wernquist to go with a sound effect. In 1997 Gothenburg student Daniel Malmedahl had recorded himself imitating a two-stroke engine, and the recording circulated online as "2TAKTARE.MP3".
Wernquist posted his animation on October 7, 2003. Ringtone companies licensed it, renamed it Crazy Frog and marketed it from 2004 with heavy TV advertising. In Britain the ads ran so often that many viewers found the character as irritating as its original name suggested.
In 2005 its Eurodance cover of "Axel F", the Beverly Hills Cop theme, went to number one in the UK and across Europe. In the video on this page, directed by Wernquist, a robot on a hovercycle hunts the frog as he rides an imaginary motorcycle through a city and its sewers.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Ringtone adverts in every TV break
- The 2TAKTARE.MP3 file
- The imaginary motorcycle
- Crazy Frog Racer on PlayStation 2
The Story
- 1997 Daniel Malmedahl recorded his two-stroke engine impression.
- 2003 Erik Wernquist posted The Annoying Thing animation on October 7.
- 2005 Crazy Frog's "Axel F" spent four weeks at number one in the UK.
- 2021 The character returned with the single "Tricky" on December 10.
Its Legacy
The official video is still on YouTube, and the character returned in 2021 with a new single, "Tricky", after a 12-year break. It remains the defining sound of the 2000s ringtone boom.
Memories
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