Canadian art student 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."[2][3] LaCarte noted that the misspelling of "hamster" as "hampster" in both her pet's name and the Hampster Dance page was intentional.[4]
The Hampster Dance site originally consisted of a single page with just four unique animatedGIFs 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.[3]
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.[5] By March, the site gathered approximately 60,000 views in four days.[6] Soon the site was even featured on bumper stickers and in a television commercial for Internet service providerEarthLink. A common office prank at that time was to set a co-worker's browser homepage to the Hampster Dance Web site, which led to televised news reports that furthered its notoriety to an international level. Fans of the site created variations on the original theme, using politicians such as Dan Quayle and Cynthia McKinney, as well as household objects such as Pez dispensers.[citation needed]
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.[7] LaCarte thus used the domains hamsterdance.com, hamsterdance2.com, and hampsterdance2.com.[8] 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.[7] 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.[9][10]
Hampton and the HampstersEdit
The popularity of the website led to the creation of a full song called "The Hampsterdance Song", which was produced by the Boomtang Boys and released on July 4, 2000.[11] Disney did not allow the use of the actual "Whistle Stop" clip, so the Boomtang Boys created a sound-alike rerecording.[7] The liner notes for the single include the statement "Includes elements of 'Whistle Stop' by Roger Miller."[12] A cartoon video was produced for the single that introduced a cartoon "band" of four hamsters; though the song was solely credited to "Hampton the Hampster", the band was later dubbed "Hampton and the Hampsters." 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.[13] LaCarte created an online store offering T-shirts and CDs of the fictional group's music. An Flash-animated series was planned by Nelvana, but never made it past the planning process.[14] Prior to the release of "The Hampsterdance Song", a similar song featuring an unofficial sound-alike rendition of "Whistle Stop" was released as "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" and performed by the Cuban Boys. This version peaked at number 4 on the Christmas 1999 UK singles chart.[15]
Following the relative success of "The Hampsterdance Song" single, an entire album featuring the fictional band titled Hampsterdance: The Album was released in 2000.[16] 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).[17]Hampsterdance: The Album was reissued with a shorter tracklist as The Hampster Dance Party in 2002. Later album releases were Happy Times Ten (2002), the compilation Hampsterdance Hits (2004), and A Very Hampsterdance Christmas (2008).[16][18]
DiscographyEdit
AlbumsEdit
List of albums, with selected details, chart positions and certifications
The direct-to-video animated film How the Hampsters Saved Winter was produced by Abatis International LLC and animated by Unreal Productions, located in New Jersey. The DVD was released for sale on the Hampster Dance website on April 2, 2009, and was purchasable until 2012. 2000 copies of the film were sold.[22] After the film became unavailable for purchase on the website, the film was thought to be lost as no copies were made available elsewhere. However, four screenshots were featured via a game on the website called Hamster Hijinks.[23] In 2022, the film was archived on the Lost Media Wiki and uploaded onto Youtube.[24][25]
NotesEdit
^The same album was released under both names in different territories.
^Double A-side of "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls".
^ abWhitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 180. ISBN978-0-89820-177-2.
^. Archived from the original on November 28, 1999.
^"2 Scoops of Quickies". Slashdot.org. February 9, 1999. "The Cunctator sent us link that can only be described as the hamster dance."
^Burkeman, Oliver (December 9, 1999). "Hamming it up". The Guardian. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
^ abc"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.
^. Archived from the original on November 28, 1999.
^"Hampster Dance". hamsterdance.org/hamsterdance. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
^"Web Hampster Dance". webhamster.com. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
^"The Hampsterdance Song". Amazon. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^Hampsterdance liner notes - "Includes elements of 'Whistle Stop' by Roger Miller" Koch Records. (2000)
^"How The Hampsterdance Took Over The Internet, And Then The World". Throwbacks. November 10, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
^"Hampster dancing into other venues". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
^Collins, Leah (December 27, 2018). "CBC Arts' history of the Hampster Dance". CBC. Retrieved March 25, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^. Hampsterdance.com. March 25, 2022. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^"How The Hampsters Saved Winter (found direct-to-video Hampster Dance film; 2009) - The Lost Media Wiki". lostmediawiki.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^How The Hampsters Saved Winter (Lost Hampster Dance Movie) IN FULL-2009 (MOST VIEWED VIDEO), retrieved March 25, 2022
Hamster Dance modified to work correctly in modern web browsers
August 28, 2023
hampster, dance, song, named, after, meme, hampsterdance, song, earliest, internet, memes, created, 1998, canadian, student, deidre, lacarte, geocities, page, dance, features, rows, animated, gifs, hamsters, other, rodents, dancing, various, ways, sped, sample. 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 Contents 1 Background 2 Hampton and the Hampsters 2 1 Discography 2 1 1 Albums 2 1 2 Reissues 2 1 3 Compilations 2 1 4 Singles 2 1 5 Promotional singles 3 Direct to video film 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksBackground Edit Screen capture of the original Hampster DanceCanadian art student 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 2 3 LaCarte noted that the misspelling of hamster as hampster in both her pet s name and the Hampster Dance page was intentional 4 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 3 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 5 By March the site gathered approximately 60 000 views in four days 6 Soon the site was even featured on bumper stickers and in a television commercial for Internet service provider EarthLink A common office prank at that time was to set a co worker s browser homepage to the Hampster Dance Web site which led to televised news reports that furthered its notoriety to an international level Fans of the site created variations on the original theme using politicians such as Dan Quayle and Cynthia McKinney as well as household objects such as Pez dispensers citation needed 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 7 LaCarte thus used the domains hamsterdance com hamsterdance2 com and hampsterdance2 com 8 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 7 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 9 10 Hampton and the Hampsters EditThe popularity of the website led to the creation of a full song called The Hampsterdance Song which was produced by the Boomtang Boys and released on July 4 2000 11 Disney did not allow the use of the actual Whistle Stop clip so the Boomtang Boys created a sound alike rerecording 7 The liner notes for the single include the statement Includes elements of Whistle Stop by Roger Miller 12 A cartoon video was produced for the single that introduced a cartoon band of four hamsters though the song was solely credited to Hampton the Hampster the band was later dubbed Hampton and the Hampsters 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 13 LaCarte created an online store offering T shirts and CDs of the fictional group s music An Flash animated series was planned by Nelvana but never made it past the planning process 14 Prior to the release of The Hampsterdance Song a similar song featuring an unofficial sound alike rendition of Whistle Stop was released as Cognoscenti vs Intelligentsia and performed by the Cuban Boys This version peaked at number 4 on the Christmas 1999 UK singles chart 15 Following the relative success of The Hampsterdance Song single an entire album featuring the fictional band titled Hampsterdance The Album was released in 2000 16 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 17 Hampsterdance The Album was reissued with a shorter tracklist as The Hampster Dance Party in 2002 Later album releases were Happy Times Ten 2002 the compilation Hampsterdance Hits 2004 and A Very Hampsterdance Christmas 2008 16 18 Discography Edit Albums Edit List of albums with selected details chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chartpositions CertificationAUS 17 Hampsterdance The Album The Hampsterdance Album a Released 2000 Label Koch Entertainment Format CD 7 ARIA Gold 19 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 Edit List of reissues with selected details Title Album detailsThe Hampster Dance Party Released 2002 Label BMG Special Products Format CD cassetteCompilations Edit List of compilations with selected details Title Album detailsHampsterdance Hits Released 2004 Label Koch Entertainment Format CDSingles Edit List of singles with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions Certification AlbumCAN 20 AUS 17 GER US Dance 21 The Hampsterdance Song 2000 1 5 60 4 ARIA Gold 19 Hampsterdance The Album Thank God I m a Country Boy 2001 12 Hampster Party 44 Hampsterdance Christmas b Sing a Simple Song 2002 Happy Times Ten Time to Party 2006 Non album singlePromotional singles Edit List of singles Title Year Album Even Hampsters Fall in Love 2000 Hampsterdance The AlbumDirect to video film EditThe direct to video animated film How the Hampsters Saved Winter was produced by Abatis International LLC and animated by Unreal Productions located in New Jersey The DVD was released for sale on the Hampster Dance website on April 2 2009 and was purchasable until 2012 2000 copies of the film were sold 22 After the film became unavailable for purchase on the website the film was thought to be lost as no copies were made available elsewhere However four screenshots were featured via a game on the website called Hamster Hijinks 23 In 2022 the film was archived on the Lost Media Wiki and uploaded onto Youtube 24 25 Notes Edit The same album was released under both names in different territories Double A side of Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls References Edit Top 10 Web fads from CNET Hamsters You ve Got Mail Sun Sentinel a b Whitburn Joel 2008 Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008 Record Research Inc p 180 ISBN 978 0 89820 177 2 Hampton Update Archived from the original on November 28 1999 2 Scoops of Quickies Slashdot org February 9 1999 The Cunctator sent us link that can only be described as the hamster dance Burkeman Oliver December 9 1999 Hamming it up The Guardian Retrieved December 6 2017 a b c 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 Yahoo Mail Weather Search Politics News Finance Sports amp Videos Archived from the original on November 28 1999 Hampster Dance hamsterdance org hamsterdance Retrieved May 14 2020 Web Hampster Dance webhamster com Retrieved May 14 2020 The Hampsterdance Song Amazon Retrieved July 16 2021 Hampsterdance liner notes Includes elements of Whistle Stop by Roger Miller Koch Records 2000 How The Hampsterdance Took Over The Internet And Then The World Throwbacks November 10 2017 Retrieved May 17 2023 Hampster dancing into other venues usatoday30 usatoday com Retrieved September 6 2018 BBC Festive Fifty 1999 a b Hampton the Hampster on Amazon Music www amazon com Retrieved September 6 2018 a b c Discography Hampton the Hampster australian charts com Retrieved August 17 2022 A Very Hampsterdance Christmas by Hampton and the Hampsters iTunes October 20 2008 Retrieved September 6 2018 a b Ryan Gavin 2011 Australia s Music Charts 1988 2010 PDF ed Mt Martha Victoria Australia Moonlight Publishing p 123 Artist Search for hampton the hampster AllMusic Retrieved September 6 2018 Billboard AllMusic Retrieved April 29 2009 Collins Leah December 27 2018 CBC Arts history of the Hampster Dance CBC Retrieved March 25 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Hampsterdance com Hampsterdance com March 25 2022 Archived from the original on March 17 2015 Retrieved March 25 2022 How The Hampsters Saved Winter found direct to video Hampster Dance film 2009 The Lost Media Wiki lostmediawiki com Retrieved March 25 2022 How The Hampsters Saved Winter Lost Hampster Dance Movie IN FULL 2009 MOST VIEWED VIDEO retrieved March 25 2022External links EditOriginal GeoCities version at the Wayback Machine archived November 28 1999 Hampster dancing into other venues Hamster Dance modified to work correctly in modern web browsers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hampster Dance amp oldid 1170417852, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
