I Miss You Daddy — Cartoon blonde girl in pink dress holding a daisy in a moonlit graveyard with gravestones in background

I Miss You Daddy

2004viral videoclassic

Published October 9, 2026

I Miss You Daddy, also known as It's Been A Year Daddy, is a 2004 Newgrounds Flash animation where a cartoon girl mourns her father who died in the September 11th attacks, scored to DJ Sammy's candlelight remix of Bryan Adams' 'Heaven.' The sincere tearjerker spent nearly two decades as a 'try not to cry' staple before TikTok users rediscovered the audio in 2022 and flipped it into one of the year's defining ironic sound trends.

flash animation memes newgrounds memes tiktok sound trends delayed virality memes tonal whiplash memes

Overview

I Miss You Daddy, also known as It's Been A Year Daddy, is a four-minute Flash animation starring a cartoon girl who narrates a tearful monologue about her father a year after his death in the September 11th attacks3. The visuals cycle through her sobbing at his grave, in her bedroom, and in other quiet locations while she lists specific memories, all set over DJ Sammy's 2002 candlelight remix of Bryan Adams' 'Heaven'1.

For most of its life the clip was played straight. YouTube reuploads and 'try not to cry' compilations treated it as a legitimately devastating piece of early-2000s web animation, and the audio was recut into longer 9/11 tribute remixes2. The 2022 TikTok revival inverted that tone completely, with users treating the melodramatic opening line as a punchline on top of mundane or absurd footage3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Newgrounds (origin) / TikTok (2022 viral spread)
Creator
Philljc
Date
2004

On September 11th, 2004, Newgrounds user Philljc, who also went by Phill Collins, uploaded 'I miss you Daddy' to the site to mark the third anniversary of the attacks3. The animation accumulated more than 843,000 views and a 4.6 out of 5 average rating on Newgrounds over the following 18 years3. A YouTube reupload of the original cartoon preserved it for audiences who found it after the host site's Flash era ended4.

On May 20th, 2015, Dailymotion user Simona Creamer posted a version pairing only the girl's monologue with a slideshow of 9/11 imagery, claiming it was the real original, though no supporting evidence was provided3.

How It Spread

The animation picked up traction on YouTube through the late 2000s and 2010s as a reaction-bait clip. On June 11th, 2008, user 1t2t3t4t5t6s uploaded a video built around the same audio that pulled in over 1.6 million views5. YouTuber KiKi Pepper's May 17th, 2016 'try not to cry' reaction to the cartoon pushed past 4.9 million views6, and Shemar Walters' December 30th, 2016 upload billed as the 'WORLD'S HARDEST TRY NOT TO CRY CHALLENGE' crossed 33 million views7.

The audio got a second life as a remix. On September 9th, 2016, Las Vegas radio DJ John Moug of 98.5 KLUC layered the monologue and other children's 9/11 testimonials onto DJ Sammy's 'Heaven' for a 15th anniversary edit2. A YouTube reupload of that remix hit roughly 9.7 million views, and a 2018 nightcore version by Nighcore Mtb added another 10 million8. In 2019, YouTuber Gacha-Cupcake remade the cartoon with Gacha Life avatars and racked up 8.8 million views3.

In February 2022, TikToker @raven123444 posted a now-deleted clip using a snippet of the monologue starting from 'I miss you daddy,' and the sound exploded as an ironic shitpost backing3. More than 10,000 videos used it inside a month, including @krulcrepes' February 4th attempt to shove a human-shaped ice cube into a jar, @friendswillb3friends' February 6th skit about an '8 year old me watching try not to cry videos,' and @metalinmynose' March 5th tribute to missing his bro3.

Timeline

2004-09-11

Philljc uploads the original 'I miss you Daddy' Flash animation to Newgrounds on the third anniversary of 9/11[3].

2008-06-11

YouTuber 1t2t3t4t5t6s posts a video using the same audio, eventually clearing 1.6 million views[5].

2015-05-20

Dailymotion user Simona Creamer reposts the audio with 9/11 imagery, claiming it is the true original[3].

2016-05-17

KiKi Pepper's 'try not to cry' reaction to the animation reaches 4.9 million views on YouTube[6].

2016-09-09

KLUC DJ John Moug publishes a 'Heaven 9/11' 15-year remix that folds the monologue into the DJ Sammy track[2].

2016-12-30

Shemar Walters uploads the 'WORLD'S HARDEST TRY NOT TO CRY CHALLENGE,' which later surpasses 33 million views[7].

2019-06-19

YouTuber Gacha-Cupcake releases a Gacha Life remake of the animation, pulling 8.8 million views[3].

2022-02

TikToker @raven123444 posts a now-deleted clip of the monologue; the original sound powers over 10,000 ironic videos within the month[3].

Frequently Asked Questions