Dancing baby

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The Dancing Baby, also known as "Baby Cha-Cha", is a video file of an animated, 3D-rendered baby dancing for several seconds. The video, one of the earliest examples of an Internet phenomenon, became popular in 1996-1997 after being distributed widely over the Internet. The dancing baby originated as a motion capture demo file for the 3D modeling program 3D Studio Max; it sometimes dances to the intro of Blue Swede's cover of the song "Hooked on a Feeling (Ooga Chaka)." Several edited versions and parodies were created shortly thereafter, including a drunken baby and a Rasta Baby.

[edit] Appearance in mainstream media

The dancing baby quickly made the rounds on the Internet, powered mostly by the underground blog network, the ZeitGhosts. It was then featured as a recurring hallucination on the television program Ally McBeal. On the series, the baby was meant to signify the ticking of the lead character's biological clock.

The dancing baby was also featured in a Blockbuster Video commercial immediately after gaining mainstream media attention.

In line with the Ally McBeal appearance, in a Celebrity Deathmatch match between Lucy Lawless and Calista Flockhart, the dancing baby suddenly appears in the ring with his back turned to the camera. After a moment of dancing, he turns around and is shown to be Dennis Franz in nothing but a diaper; referee Mills Lane shouts at him, "I told you I didn't want you in my ring, Dennis Franz!"

In the television series Millennium, the episode "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me" features a demon that looks and moves like the Dancing Baby.

The Dancing Baby is a recurring feature on VH1's I Love the 90s series, and it also appeared on Best Week Ever.

Iowa State University basketball games frequently feature the dancing baby on the scoreboard during timeouts.

The Dancing Baby appeared on an episode of Unhappily Ever After, with Dennis Franz as the baby. It appeared on an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, with Harry Solomon (French Stewart) as the baby.

The Dancing Baby also makes an appearance the Xbox and PS2 title, Silent Hill 4.

The Dancing Baby is also spoofed in a Simpsons episode. Homer creates his first website, which features a dancing Jesus busting the same moves as the baby.

The Cincinnati Ohio classic rock station WEBN featured the dancing baby grooving to the song "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC on a television commercial for the station.

On the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode "4 A.M. Miracle", when Danny asks Cal to repair a baby doll that is computerized and reacts like a real baby, Cal asks "Want me to make it dance, too?"

In the EA Sports football game FIFA 99, the editor includes an animation of a player doing a version of the Dancing Baby.

The Dancing Baby is seen now on the Tenacious D website during the intro.