What is Detective Pikachu Dancing?

It's a 2019 viral video meme where a looped clip of Pikachu doing an aerobics routine from the Detective Pikachu film gets paired with different songs or reaction setups.

Where did Detective Pikachu Dancing come from?

A YouTube account called Inspector Pikachu posted a fake film leak on May 7, 2019, that was actually about 90 minutes of Pikachu dancing on loop.

What does Detective Pikachu Dancing mean?

It works as both a music remix template and an in-joke about the film's marketing team pretending to leak the movie ahead of release.

How do you use Detective Pikachu Dancing?

Dub a new song over the dance loop, or drop the clip next to the Key and Peele sketch that fans said inspired the choreography.

Is Detective Pikachu Dancing still popular?

It peaked in the week of the film's release in May 2019 and mostly stayed as a classic 2019 movie-marketing meme rather than an ongoing trend.

Who tweeted the fake Detective Pikachu leak?

Ryan Reynolds, who voiced Pikachu in the film, quote-tweeted the fake leak on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, tagging the studio as if genuinely flagging it.

How long was the fake Detective Pikachu leak video?

About 1 hour 42 minutes, close to the actual runtime of the film, with the same short dance segment on repeat.

Why did Jordan Peele respond to the Detective Pikachu meme?

Fans compared the choreography to a Key and Peele workout sketch, and Peele quote-tweeted the side-by-side with the joke 'Cease and desist'.

What songs got paired with the Pikachu dance?

A-Ha's 'Take On Me,' Toto's 'Africa,' Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road,' Britney Spears' 'Toxic,' the Avengers theme, and more.

Which subreddit boosted the Detective Pikachu meme?

r/dankmemes, where an Oompa Loompa Celebrating template using the Pikachu dance as the punchline pulled in over 57,000 upvotes.

Was the fake Detective Pikachu leak an official marketing stunt?

Outlets like Mashable and PopBuzz called it a stealth marketing move for the film, especially given Ryan Reynolds' involvement in signal-boosting it.

Detective Pikachu Dancing

2019viral videoclassic

Published August 17, 2026

Detective Pikachu Dancing is a 2019 viral video meme built around a looped clip of Pikachu doing an aerobics-style routine from the live-action Detective Pikachu film. It started with a fake 90-minute film leak on YouTube, was boosted by Ryan Reynolds himself, and turned into a remix template pairing the dance with dozens of unrelated songs.

pokemon bait and switch memes dancing character memes mashup video memes movie premiere memes

Overview

Detective Pikachu Dancing is a viral video and reaction meme centered on a short loop of Pikachu doing an aerobics-style dance routine pulled from the 2019 live-action Detective Pikachu film1. The original upload was staged as a full-length film leak but actually ran for around 90 minutes of the same dance clip on repeat, set to a synth-heavy 80s workout beat2.

Once viewers caught on that the 'leak' was a bait-and-switch, the clip turned into a swappable audio template. Fans dubbed the dance over unrelated pop songs, from A-Ha's 'Take On Me' to Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road'4. A second strand of the meme placed the loop next to a Key and Peele sketch that many argued the choreography was copied from, which pulled in a response from Jordan Peele himself3. Both strands trended for roughly a week in early May 2019, timed to the film's theatrical opening1.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (source) / Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

Inspector Pikachu

Date

2019

On May 7, 2019, a YouTube account calling itself Inspector Pikachu posted what looked like a bootleg copy of the still-unreleased Detective Pikachu movie3. The first minute or so mimicked a real screener, complete with an 'R. Reynolds' watermark, before cutting into a loop of Pikachu dancing that ran for the rest of the roughly 1 hour 42 minute runtime2 4.

Detective Pikachu voice actor Ryan Reynolds quote-tweeted the fake leak the following day, tagging Warner Bros. as if he were genuinely reporting it, which flipped the joke into a mainstream news beat1. Within two days the upload had cleared more than 14 million views3.

How It Spread

Reynolds' Wednesday, May 8 tweet pushed the clip past the Pokémon fanbase, and within hours users on Twitter were dubbing their own soundtracks over the loop1. Twitter user @zigstripes set the routine to A-Ha's 'Take On Me' and pulled in about 33,000 retweets and 81,000 likes over the next two days3. Others swapped in Toto's 'Africa,' the Avengers theme, Britney Spears' 'Toxic,' Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road,' and BTS and Halsey's 'Boy With Luv,' most posted under the hashtag #DetectivePikachu4.

The parallel thread was a source hunt. Twitter user @luulubuu posted a side-by-side of the Pikachu dance and a Key and Peele workout sketch that used near-identical choreography, arguing the sketch was the reference material3. That tweet cleared 77,000 retweets and 217,000 likes in two days. Jordan Peele himself quote-tweeted it with the caption 'Cease and desist,' which added another 33,000 retweets and 222,000 likes3.

The meme also jumped to Reddit as a reaction image. On May 9, r/dankmemes user Lmnja posted an 'Oompa Loompa Celebrating' template with the dancing Pikachu as the punchline panel, hitting more than 57,000 upvotes and 280 comments in under 24 hours3. Coverage from Bustle, Mashable, SyFy, and PopBuzz followed the same week, mostly framing the fake leak as a stealth marketing hit for the film ahead of its opening weekend1 2 5 4.

How to Use This Meme

The typical Detective Pikachu Dancing edit takes the roughly ten-second loop of Pikachu's routine and dubs a new song underneath it, usually a track with a clear beat that matches the arm-pump and hip sway4. Text overlay is optional; the punchline is normally just the song choice itself. A common convention is the split-screen version, pairing the loop with the Key and Peele workout sketch that fans said inspired the choreography3. Reaction uses drop the clip into an image macro as the payoff frame, in the same slot as older 'celebration' reaction images3.