Squirtle Saxophone

2023Animated video / exploitable templateactive

Also known as: Squirtle Sax · Squirtle Sax Guy · Epic Sax Squirtle

Squirtle Saxophone is a 2023 viral TikTok animation by @merme.lada featuring Pokémon's Squirtle in sunglasses performing the saxophone solo from SunStroke Project's "Run Away.

Squirtle Saxophone is a viral TikTok animation featuring the Pokémon character Squirtle wearing sunglasses and playing the saxophone solo from "Run Away" by SunStroke Project. First posted in November 2023 by TikToker @merme.lada, the clip racked up over 77 million views in just over two weeks and spawned a wave of greenscreen edits, character re-animations, and remixes3. The meme later crossed into professional sports when the Philadelphia Flyers adopted it as their locker room victory anthem during the 2024-25 NHL season2.

pokemontiktok sound trendsearworm memesanimation memeseurovision memes

Overview

The Squirtle Saxophone meme is a short animated loop of Squirtle, the Water-type starter Pokémon from Generation I, rocking a pair of sunglasses while headbanging and playing a saxophone. The audio is the iconic sax solo from "Run Away" by Moldovan band SunStroke Project, which first went viral as the "Epic Sax Guy" clip after the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest1. The animation mashes together two deeply embedded pieces of internet culture: Pokémon nostalgia and the endlessly loopable Epic Sax Guy solo3.

What makes the clip sticky is its simplicity. A cute, familiar character doing something unexpected, set to an earworm that burrows into your skull and refuses to leave. The combination proved irresistible on TikTok, where the animation quickly became a greenscreen template that creators could drop into any context3.

On November 27, 2023, TikToker @merme.lada uploaded an animation of Squirtle playing the saxophone, recreating the "Epic Sax Guy" performance that Sergey Stepanov made famous during Moldova's 2010 Eurovision entry3. The original "Run Away" performance had already been memed to death over the previous decade, with the sax solo looped for hours on end across YouTube2. But @merme.lada's Pokémon spin gave the format new life.

The TikTok exploded. Within 16 days, the video hit roughly 77.5 million plays and 7.8 million likes3. The animation's appeal was immediate: Squirtle in shades, bobbing his head, shredding a sax solo that most internet users already knew by heart.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (viral animation), Eurovision 2010 (source music)
Key People
@merme.lada, Sergey Stepanov
Date
2023

On November 27, 2023, TikToker @merme.lada uploaded an animation of Squirtle playing the saxophone, recreating the "Epic Sax Guy" performance that Sergey Stepanov made famous during Moldova's 2010 Eurovision entry. The original "Run Away" performance had already been memed to death over the previous decade, with the sax solo looped for hours on end across YouTube. But @merme.lada's Pokémon spin gave the format new life.

The TikTok exploded. Within 16 days, the video hit roughly 77.5 million plays and 7.8 million likes. The animation's appeal was immediate: Squirtle in shades, bobbing his head, shredding a sax solo that most internet users already knew by heart.

How It Spread

The meme moved fast after @merme.lada's original post. Just two days later, on November 29, 2023, German TikToker @behnan.0711 posted one of the first viral edits using the clip, pulling in about 1.7 million plays and 246,800 likes within two weeks.

By early December 2023, the format branched in multiple directions. On December 3, TikToker @antonylee29 posted a "What's On Your Mind?" meme built around the Squirtle Saxophone video, which hit over 3.4 million plays and 376,600 likes in 10 days. Creators started re-animating the scene with different characters starting around December 7, with @masakawa_fan_art's version collecting 391,200 plays.

The real catalyst for exploitable content came on December 9, 2023, when @igreenscreenthings uploaded a greenscreen template version of the animation. That template post alone got over 4.8 million plays and 280,000 likes in four days. With a clean greenscreen version available on CapCut, TikTokers could now drop saxophone Squirtle into any background or scenario they wanted. The meme spread across platforms, with countless iterations, remixes, and musical mashups appearing on social media.

Media

How to Use This Meme

The Squirtle Saxophone meme typically works in a few ways:

- Pure vibes: Share or post the original animation loop when something good happens or you want to celebrate. No context needed. - Greenscreen edits: Using the CapCut template, place saxophone Squirtle into any scenario. Common setups include putting Squirtle in front of chaotic situations, sad moments, or anywhere his carefree energy creates a contrast with the background. - Re-animations: Replace Squirtle with a different character performing the same sax solo and headbang. Creators often use characters from other franchises or original designs. - "What's On Your Mind?" format: Pair the clip with a caption about being unable to stop thinking about the song, playing on its earworm quality.

The meme works best when Squirtle's relaxed, sunglasses-wearing energy clashes with or enhances whatever context surrounds him.

Cultural Impact

The meme's most unexpected second life came through professional hockey. During the 2024-25 NHL season, the Philadelphia Flyers turned the Squirtle Saxophone clip into a locker room staple, playing it after every win.

The credit goes to assistant trainer Alex Ambrose, who joined the Flyers that summer after three years with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers. Ambrose encountered the clip on social media in late 2023, like most people, and it lodged itself firmly in his brain. On the morning of December 29, during pre-game treatments in Seattle, he couldn't take it anymore. "I said, 'Hey guys, sorry, I have to get something off my head, so I'm gonna play this. Now it's gonna be stuck with you,'" Ambrose recalled to PHLY Sports.

The players loved it. Scott Laughton, described as a "noted saxophone appreciator," immediately gravitated to it. That same night during the game against the Seattle Kraken, the arena's jumbotron played the Squirtle animation during a stoppage. The entire Flyers bench turned to look at Ambrose, grinning. Joel Farabee confirmed: "Oh, everyone on the bench was looking at Alex."

From there, the song became an inside joke that evolved into a genuine team tradition. By mid-January, reporters could hear it blasting from the locker room after big wins. Ambrose would come in dancing, the players would look at him from the bench whenever it played mid-game during a tie, and even Gritty, the Flyers' famously chaotic mascot, got in on the act at the team's home arena.

"The Squirtle song, yeah, that one's been a staple this year. That one actually gets me hyped up," Farabee said with what the reporter described as "legitimate sincerity". The team typically followed it with "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, a choice pinned on Farabee and likely inspired by the 2020 Ocean Spray TikTok meme.

Fun Facts

The original "Run Away" sax solo that the meme references was SunStroke Project's entry for Moldova at Eurovision 2010. Sergey Stepanov's performance turned into one of the longest-running Eurovision memes.

The Flyers' locker room has a rotating playlist of victory songs, and the tradition is driven almost entirely by running jokes. The Squirtle clip, Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," and train-themed music (inspired by Travis Konecny's train antics in Minnesota) all made the cut.

According to Laughton, the Flyers have a "true" win song that plays before the Squirtle sax, but the team keeps it secret from the media.

The Wells Fargo Center staff picked up on the team's music bits and started playing train-related songs when players came out for new periods at home games.

The original TikTok's ratio of 7.8 million likes on 77.5 million views is unusually high, sitting at roughly a 10% like rate.

Derivatives & Variations

Character re-animations:

TikTokers replaced Squirtle with other Pokémon and characters from different franchises performing the same routine[3].

CapCut greenscreen template:

@igreenscreenthings created a clean greenscreen version that became an exploitable format with over 4.8 million views on the template post alone[3].

Flyers victory meme:

Philadelphia Flyers fans adopted the animation on social media to celebrate wins, mirroring the team's locker room tradition[2].

Musical mashups:

Creators combined the animation with different songs and audio tracks beyond the original "Run Away" solo[1].

Frequently Asked Questions

Squirtle Saxophone

2023Animated video / exploitable templateactive

Also known as: Squirtle Sax · Squirtle Sax Guy · Epic Sax Squirtle

Squirtle Saxophone is a 2023 viral TikTok animation by @merme.lada featuring Pokémon's Squirtle in sunglasses performing the saxophone solo from SunStroke Project's "Run Away.

Squirtle Saxophone is a viral TikTok animation featuring the Pokémon character Squirtle wearing sunglasses and playing the saxophone solo from "Run Away" by SunStroke Project. First posted in November 2023 by TikToker @merme.lada, the clip racked up over 77 million views in just over two weeks and spawned a wave of greenscreen edits, character re-animations, and remixes. The meme later crossed into professional sports when the Philadelphia Flyers adopted it as their locker room victory anthem during the 2024-25 NHL season.

pokemon tiktok sound trends earworm memes animation memes eurovision memes

Overview

The Squirtle Saxophone meme is a short animated loop of Squirtle, the Water-type starter Pokémon from Generation I, rocking a pair of sunglasses while headbanging and playing a saxophone. The audio is the iconic sax solo from "Run Away" by Moldovan band SunStroke Project, which first went viral as the "Epic Sax Guy" clip after the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. The animation mashes together two deeply embedded pieces of internet culture: Pokémon nostalgia and the endlessly loopable Epic Sax Guy solo.

What makes the clip sticky is its simplicity. A cute, familiar character doing something unexpected, set to an earworm that burrows into your skull and refuses to leave. The combination proved irresistible on TikTok, where the animation quickly became a greenscreen template that creators could drop into any context.

On November 27, 2023, TikToker @merme.lada uploaded an animation of Squirtle playing the saxophone, recreating the "Epic Sax Guy" performance that Sergey Stepanov made famous during Moldova's 2010 Eurovision entry. The original "Run Away" performance had already been memed to death over the previous decade, with the sax solo looped for hours on end across YouTube. But @merme.lada's Pokémon spin gave the format new life.

The TikTok exploded. Within 16 days, the video hit roughly 77.5 million plays and 7.8 million likes. The animation's appeal was immediate: Squirtle in shades, bobbing his head, shredding a sax solo that most internet users already knew by heart.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (viral animation), Eurovision 2010 (source music)
Key People
@merme.lada, Sergey Stepanov
Date
2023

On November 27, 2023, TikToker @merme.lada uploaded an animation of Squirtle playing the saxophone, recreating the "Epic Sax Guy" performance that Sergey Stepanov made famous during Moldova's 2010 Eurovision entry. The original "Run Away" performance had already been memed to death over the previous decade, with the sax solo looped for hours on end across YouTube. But @merme.lada's Pokémon spin gave the format new life.

The TikTok exploded. Within 16 days, the video hit roughly 77.5 million plays and 7.8 million likes. The animation's appeal was immediate: Squirtle in shades, bobbing his head, shredding a sax solo that most internet users already knew by heart.

How It Spread

The meme moved fast after @merme.lada's original post. Just two days later, on November 29, 2023, German TikToker @behnan.0711 posted one of the first viral edits using the clip, pulling in about 1.7 million plays and 246,800 likes within two weeks.

By early December 2023, the format branched in multiple directions. On December 3, TikToker @antonylee29 posted a "What's On Your Mind?" meme built around the Squirtle Saxophone video, which hit over 3.4 million plays and 376,600 likes in 10 days. Creators started re-animating the scene with different characters starting around December 7, with @masakawa_fan_art's version collecting 391,200 plays.

The real catalyst for exploitable content came on December 9, 2023, when @igreenscreenthings uploaded a greenscreen template version of the animation. That template post alone got over 4.8 million plays and 280,000 likes in four days. With a clean greenscreen version available on CapCut, TikTokers could now drop saxophone Squirtle into any background or scenario they wanted. The meme spread across platforms, with countless iterations, remixes, and musical mashups appearing on social media.

Media

How to Use This Meme

The Squirtle Saxophone meme typically works in a few ways:

- Pure vibes: Share or post the original animation loop when something good happens or you want to celebrate. No context needed. - Greenscreen edits: Using the CapCut template, place saxophone Squirtle into any scenario. Common setups include putting Squirtle in front of chaotic situations, sad moments, or anywhere his carefree energy creates a contrast with the background. - Re-animations: Replace Squirtle with a different character performing the same sax solo and headbang. Creators often use characters from other franchises or original designs. - "What's On Your Mind?" format: Pair the clip with a caption about being unable to stop thinking about the song, playing on its earworm quality.

The meme works best when Squirtle's relaxed, sunglasses-wearing energy clashes with or enhances whatever context surrounds him.

Cultural Impact

The meme's most unexpected second life came through professional hockey. During the 2024-25 NHL season, the Philadelphia Flyers turned the Squirtle Saxophone clip into a locker room staple, playing it after every win.

The credit goes to assistant trainer Alex Ambrose, who joined the Flyers that summer after three years with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers. Ambrose encountered the clip on social media in late 2023, like most people, and it lodged itself firmly in his brain. On the morning of December 29, during pre-game treatments in Seattle, he couldn't take it anymore. "I said, 'Hey guys, sorry, I have to get something off my head, so I'm gonna play this. Now it's gonna be stuck with you,'" Ambrose recalled to PHLY Sports.

The players loved it. Scott Laughton, described as a "noted saxophone appreciator," immediately gravitated to it. That same night during the game against the Seattle Kraken, the arena's jumbotron played the Squirtle animation during a stoppage. The entire Flyers bench turned to look at Ambrose, grinning. Joel Farabee confirmed: "Oh, everyone on the bench was looking at Alex."

From there, the song became an inside joke that evolved into a genuine team tradition. By mid-January, reporters could hear it blasting from the locker room after big wins. Ambrose would come in dancing, the players would look at him from the bench whenever it played mid-game during a tie, and even Gritty, the Flyers' famously chaotic mascot, got in on the act at the team's home arena.

"The Squirtle song, yeah, that one's been a staple this year. That one actually gets me hyped up," Farabee said with what the reporter described as "legitimate sincerity". The team typically followed it with "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, a choice pinned on Farabee and likely inspired by the 2020 Ocean Spray TikTok meme.

Fun Facts

The original "Run Away" sax solo that the meme references was SunStroke Project's entry for Moldova at Eurovision 2010. Sergey Stepanov's performance turned into one of the longest-running Eurovision memes.

The Flyers' locker room has a rotating playlist of victory songs, and the tradition is driven almost entirely by running jokes. The Squirtle clip, Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," and train-themed music (inspired by Travis Konecny's train antics in Minnesota) all made the cut.

According to Laughton, the Flyers have a "true" win song that plays before the Squirtle sax, but the team keeps it secret from the media.

The Wells Fargo Center staff picked up on the team's music bits and started playing train-related songs when players came out for new periods at home games.

The original TikTok's ratio of 7.8 million likes on 77.5 million views is unusually high, sitting at roughly a 10% like rate.

Derivatives & Variations

Character re-animations:

TikTokers replaced Squirtle with other Pokémon and characters from different franchises performing the same routine[3].

CapCut greenscreen template:

@igreenscreenthings created a clean greenscreen version that became an exploitable format with over 4.8 million views on the template post alone[3].

Flyers victory meme:

Philadelphia Flyers fans adopted the animation on social media to celebrate wins, mirroring the team's locker room tradition[2].

Musical mashups:

Creators combined the animation with different songs and audio tracks beyond the original "Run Away" solo[1].

Frequently Asked Questions