# Caramelldansen > Caramelldansen is a 2006 Flash loop meme featuring a sped-up Swedish pop track paired with an animation of two characters performing hip-swaying bunny-ear dances, spawning thousands of fan-made versions across YouTube and Nico Nico Douga. Caramelldansen is one of the internet's most enduring dance memes, built on a sped-up version of a Swedish pop track paired with a looping animation of two characters doing a hip-swaying bunny-ear dance. Originating from a Flash loop on 4chan around 2006, it exploded across YouTube and Japan's Nico Nico Douga in 2007-2008, spawning thousands of fan-made animated versions featuring characters from every conceivable franchise. The meme won a Japan Gold Disc Award in 2009 and saw a revival in 2020 with the "Caramelldansen Lights" edit format. ## Origin "Caramelldansen" was originally composed by producers Jorge "Vasco" Vasconcelo and Juha "Millboy" Myllylä for the Swedish group Caramell, which also featured singers Katia Löfgren and Malin Sundström[7]. The track appeared on their second album *Supergott*, released November 16, 2001[6]. Caramell disbanded in 2002, and the song sat in relative obscurity for several years. The visual half of the meme came from Popotan, a Japanese visual novel released on December 13, 2002[8]. Short GIF clips were created from the game's opening animation, showing characters doing a hip-swinging dance, and posted online under names like "Popotan dance" and "Sexy bunny dance"[4]. The two pieces came together thanks to 4chan. In late 2005, a DJ called Speedycake posted a sped-up version of "Caramelldansen" to the board. According to an interview on Ruakuu's Blog, the speed-up was actually a mixing accident while transitioning the song to a faster BPM, producing a "squeaky and high pitched" result that people kept requesting[4]. Around the same time, a user identified as "Sven from Sweden" found the Popotan dance GIF on 4chan's /gif/ board and combined it with several dance tunes, creating the Flash loop that would define the meme[3]. This happened in the first half of 2006[4]. - **Platform:** 4chan (Flash loop), Nico Nico Douga / YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** Sven (original Flash loop creator), DJ Speedycake (sped-up remix), Caramell (original song artists) - **Date:** 2006 ## Overview The Caramelldansen meme centers on a fifteen-frame animation loop of two characters doing a distinctive hip-swaying dance with their hands on top of their heads, mimicking rabbit ears[4]. The characters are Mai and Mii from the Japanese visual novel Popotan[8]. The animation plays over a sped-up, squeaky-voiced version of "Caramelldansen," the opening track from Swedish pop group Caramell's 2001 album *Supergott*[6]. The dance itself is simple and instantly recognizable: hands placed on top of the head like bunny ears, fingers flickering, hips rocking side to side, all while staying in place[5]. This simplicity made it perfect for fan recreation. Artists drew their favorite characters performing the dance, cosplayers performed it at anime conventions, and the format proved endlessly adaptable across fandoms and platforms[3]. ## How It Spread After gaining traction on 4chan, the Flash loop spread quickly as people made their own parody versions featuring different fictional characters performing the dance[3]. The anime community adopted it with particular enthusiasm, and cosplayers began performing the dance at conventions[5]. The meme's biggest breakout came in Japan. On February 1, 2008, a video featuring characters from THE iDOLM@STER performing the Caramelldansen dance was posted to Nico Nico Douga[3]. iDOLM@STER was already a massive phenomenon on the platform, and the crossover ignited an explosion of Caramelldansen content across NND. Japanese users called it "Uu-Uu-UmaUma" (ｳｯｰｳｯｰｳﾏｳﾏ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)), based on a misheard phrase from the song's chorus[4]. The actual lyric "Dansa med oss, klappa era händer" ("Dance with us, clap your hands") was also famously misheard as "バルサミコ酢やっぱいらへんで," which translates to "I don't want any balsamic vinegar after all"[4]. This soramimi (mondegreen) became a beloved running joke in the Japanese fandom. By 2007-2008, animated videos, illustrations, and cosplay videos had been posted across YouTube, DeviantArt, and NND in huge numbers[3]. YouTube alone hosted over 16,000 different versions of the original Flash animation, including small loops, full-length shorts, and live-action fan videos[4]. On August 2, 2010, the animated Disney Channel show *Phineas and Ferb* referenced the meme in the episode "Summer Belongs to You!," with characters performing the dance[3]. This brought the meme to an audience well beyond its internet origins. In February 2020, a new format called "Caramelldansen Lights" emerged, giving the meme a second life[3]. These edits feature objects or faces rapidly flashing rainbow colors in sync with a muffled version of the song. The format also goes by "Parties Too Hard and Dies," with many versions imagining SpongeBob and other characters dying from partying too hard to Caramelldansen[3]. ## How to Use The classic Caramelldansen format involves drawing or animating a character performing the signature dance: hips swaying side to side, hands raised to the top of the head with fingers wiggling like rabbit ears[5]. The animation typically loops to the sped-up Speedycake remix of the song. Common approaches include: 1. **Character animation:** Draw or animate a character from any franchise doing the dance. The simpler and more looping, the better. Many artists use just a few frames. 2. **Cosplay:** Perform the dance in costume at anime conventions or on video[5]. 3. **Caramelldansen Lights format:** Take an image or video, apply rapidly flashing rainbow colors synced to a muffled version of the song[3]. 4. **"Parties Too Hard" edits:** Show a character dancing to Caramelldansen, then cut to them collapsed or dead, with captions like "parties too hard and dies"[3]. ## Cultural Impact Caramelldansen crossed from internet meme to mainstream commercial success, particularly in Japan. The song's Japanese release sold well enough to win the international Single of the Year at the 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2009[2]. The Oricon chart performance of both the single and remix album showed genuine mainstream penetration in the Japanese market[4]. *Phineas and Ferb* brought the dance to American television audiences in 2010, marking one of the earlier examples of a Disney show directly referencing an internet meme[3]. Wired magazine's Lore Sjöberg referenced the meme's dominance of YouTube in a piece about the platform's culture, writing about how Flickr users "look down from Flickr Hills into YouTube Chasm and see wailing, gnashing of teeth, and endless versions of 'Caramelldansen'"[4]. The meme also revived Caramell's career, leading to multilingual releases, a sped-up reissue of their album, and eventually a reunion concert in 2018[7]. ## Fun Facts - The sped-up version that became the meme was a DJ mixing accident. Speedycake was transitioning the song to a faster BPM and it came out "squeaky and high pitched," but people kept asking for it[4]. - The Japanese misheard lyric "I don't want any balsamic vinegar after all" became so famous it influenced the official Japanese language version of the song[4]. - *Supergott* was briefly removed from all digital retailers and streaming services in March 2020 but returned just three weeks later on April Fools' Day 2020[6]. - Juha "Millboy" Myllylä admitted to performing the Caramelldansen dance in his shower after discovering it on YouTube[4]. - The original Popotan game that provided the dance animation was an adult visual novel, a fact that gets quietly omitted from most discussions of the meme[8]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Caramelldansen? Caramelldansen is a dance meme featuring a looping animation of characters swaying their hips and waggling their hands like rabbit ears, set to a sped-up version of the Swedish pop song "Caramelldansen" by Caramell[4]. ### Where did Caramelldansen come from? The meme originated on 4chan around 2006, when a user called Sven combined a dance GIF from the Japanese visual novel Popotan with DJ Speedycake's sped-up remix of the song[3]. ### What does Caramelldansen mean? "Caramelldansen" is Swedish for "The Candy Dance" or "The Caramel Dance"[4]. In Japan, it's known as "Uma Uma Dance" based on misheard lyrics from the chorus[3]. ### How do you use Caramelldansen? The standard format is to animate or depict a character performing the signature hip-sway dance with hands raised like bunny ears, looping to the sped-up song[5]. A newer format flashes rainbow colors on objects in sync with the beat[3]. ### Is Caramelldansen still popular? Caramelldansen is a classic internet meme that saw a major revival in early 2020 with the "Caramelldansen Lights" edit format[3]. Fan art and animations are still regularly created on platforms like DeviantArt[1]. ### Who created the Caramelldansen meme? The meme was a collaborative creation: DJ Speedycake made the sped-up remix, and a 4chan user called "Sven from Sweden" combined it with the Popotan dance GIF to create the original Flash loop[4]. ### What is the Popotan connection? The dance animation comes from the opening of Popotan, a Japanese visual novel released in December 2002[8]. The characters Mai and Mii are the ones performing the dance in the original loop[4]. ### Why is it called Uma Uma in Japan? Japanese listeners misheard the chorus lyrics "u-u-ua-ua" as "ウッーウッーウマウマ" (u-u-umauma), and the nickname stuck[4]. ### Did Caramelldansen win any awards? Yes. The Japanese release "U-u-uma uma" won Single of the Year (International) at the Recording Industry Association of Japan's 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards in March 2009[2]. ### How well did Caramelldansen sell in Japan? The "U-u-uma uma" single reached number 16 on the Oricon charts and stayed for 14 weeks. The remix album hit number 20 and stayed 16 weeks[4]. ### What is the "balsamic vinegar" joke? The Swedish lyric "Dansa med oss, klappa era händer" was misheard by Japanese fans as "バルサミコ酢やっぱいらへんで," meaning "I don't want any balsamic vinegar after all." This became a popular soramimi (mondegreen) for the song[4]. ### What are Caramelldansen Lights? A 2020 revival format where objects or faces flash rapidly in rainbow colors synced to a muffled version of the Caramelldansen song. A popular subcategory shows characters "partying too hard and dying"[3]. ### Did the original band Caramell ever reunite? Caramell reunited for the "Vi som älskar 90-talet" concert in Stockholm in 2018, though they had disbanded back in 2002[7]. ## References 1. [Search 'caramelldansen' on DeviantArt - Discover The Largest Online Art Gallery and Community]() 2. [Recording Industry Association of Japan | Related Data]() 3. [Caramelldansen - Know Your Meme]() 4. [Caramelldansen]() 5. [Caramelldansen - Urban Dictionary]() 6. [Supergott]() 7. [Caramell]() 8. [Popotan]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/caramelldansen Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library