What is Sweet Peppermint Cat?

Sweet Peppermint Cat is an animated character named Junipurr the Christmas Cat from a 2022 YouTube short by acstlu, animated in a Rankin/Bass claymation style and singing Suzanne's "Sweet Gingerbread Man".

Where did Sweet Peppermint Cat come from?

Animator acstlu posted the original video to YouTube and X on December 25, 2022, where it gathered more than 630,000 YouTube views and 28,000 X likes in its first year.

What does Sweet Peppermint Cat mean?

The clip works as both a sincere nod to classic Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and as a furry character design, which is why the fandom took to Junipurr for SFW and rule 34 art.

How do you use Sweet Peppermint Cat?

People share the acstlu videos on Christmas Day and draw their own art of Junipurr, with popular riffs including Pokémon-style reinterpretations by X user @DarknWindie in December 2023.

Is Sweet Peppermint Cat still popular?

Yes, acstlu returned to the character for the 2023 holiday season with a "My Favorite Things" animation that pulled over 100,000 views in two days, and fan animators like Coomic kept the character active.

Sweet Peppermint Cat

2022viral videosemi-active

Published October 28, 2026

Sweet Peppermint Cat, also known as Junipurr the Christmas Cat, is an animated red and white feline from a December 2022 YouTube short by animator acstlu where she sings a cover of Suzanne's "Sweet Gingerbread Man" in a Rankin/Bass claymation style1. Within days of the Christmas Day upload, the character picked up SFW and rule 34 fan art on X and FurAffinity, and by the 2023 holiday season acstlu posted follow-up videos including a "My Favorite Things" rendition2 3.

furry fandom memes cats seasonal memes animation memes character design memes

Overview

Sweet Peppermint Cat / Junipurr the Christmas Cat is a short animated video by acstlu styled after the Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials of the 1960s and 70s, such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman1. The clip stars a red and white striped cat named Junipurr belting out "Sweet Gingerbread Man," a 1970 song by Suzanne, with wide saucer eyes and a slightly off-model, candy-cane body that reads as both wholesome holiday special and uncanny furry mascot1.

The appeal split along two lines almost immediately. On one side, people shared it as a sincere Christmas Day treat for the retro animation chops. On the other, the design of the character, a cute anthropomorphic cat, pushed the clip into the furry fandom, where SFW illustrations and rule 34 pieces appeared within 48 hours of the original drop2 3. Acstlu leaned into the character over the following year with new shorts, including a nod to the then-circulating NSFW bowling animation trend4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (origin) / X (viral spread)

Creator

acstlu

Date

2022

On December 25, 2022, animator acstlu uploaded the original Sweet Peppermint Cat animation to YouTube, a roughly minute-long clip of Junipurr the Christmas Cat performing "Sweet Gingerbread Man" in a hand-crafted claymation aesthetic1. The video gathered over 630,000 views in its first year on the platform5. Acstlu cross-posted the piece to X on the same day, where it collected more than 28,000 likes and 5,800 reposts over the following year5.

The character's design, a cherry-striped tabby with huge black eyes, was explicitly tuned to look like a lost Rankin/Bass puppet, and acstlu named her Junipurr the Christmas Cat in the video description and subsequent posts5.

How It Spread

Fan art appeared within days. On December 27, 2022, X user @SpicyKikwi posted a SFW illustration of Junipurr that pulled in over 380 likes across the next year2. Two days later, on December 29, @optical_69 posted a Junipurr meme on X that cleared 430 likes, while FurAffinity artist RushEloc uploaded a SFW piece the same day that passed 3,000 views5. The lewd side of the fandom moved just as fast, with rule 34 pieces circulating alongside the wholesome art5.

Interest cooled through most of 2023 and then spiked again that November. On November 30, 2023, YouTuber Coomic released a fan animation starring Sweet Peppermint Cat that collected over 145,000 views in a month6. Acstlu followed on December 16 with a new short that referenced the viral NSFW bowling animation format, grabbing over 115,000 views in ten days4. The day after, X user @DarknWindie posted two drawings reimagining Junipurr as a Pokémon, which gathered over 2,200 likes in ten days5.

On December 25, 2023, acstlu closed out the second holiday season with another Junipurr short, this time animating her singing "My Favorite Things" in the Pentatonix arrangement, which pulled over 100,000 views within two days3.

Timeline

2022-12-25

Acstlu uploads the original Sweet Peppermint Cat animation to YouTube and X, with Junipurr singing "Sweet Gingerbread Man."

2022-12-27

X user @SpicyKikwi posts early SFW fan art of Junipurr.

2022-12-29

FurAffinity artist RushEloc and X user @optical_69 post Junipurr art and memes the same day.

2023-11-30

YouTuber Coomic releases a fan animation starring Sweet Peppermint Cat.

2023-12-16

Acstlu posts a new Junipurr animation referencing the NSFW bowling animation trend.

2023-12-17