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Featured era: 1997
Hampster Dance
“Dee-da-dee-dum, forever.”
- Featured era
- 1997
- Peak era
- 1999
- Company
- Deidre LaCarte
- Category
- Iconic Images
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On Video
"The Hampsterdance Song" by Hampton the Hampster
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- Hampton the Hampster
- Added:
- October 4, 2021
- Length:
- 3:34
What Was It?
The Hampster Dance was a GeoCities page full of rows of animated GIF hamsters and other rodents dancing to a sped-up loop of Roger Miller's "Whistle-Stop" from Disney's Robin Hood.
Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte made it in August 1997 as a friendly contest to see whose page could attract more visitors. It had about 800 visits in its first year and a half, then exploded in early 1999 as people emailed the link to each other, becoming one of the internet's first memes.
It spawned a hit novelty song, merchandise and many imitators, and in 2005 CNET named it the number-one web fad.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Rows and rows of dancing hamsters
- The tune that never stopped
- Emailing the link to everyone
- The cheap animated GIF aesthetic of GeoCities
The Story
- 1997 Deidre LaCarte created the page on GeoCities in August.
- 1999 It went viral by email in February and March.
- 2005 CNET named the Hampster Dance the number-one web fad.
Its Legacy
The original GeoCities page is long gone, but its GIFs and its tune survive. It is remembered as one of the very first internet memes.
Memories
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