# Zoolander Zoolander is a 2001 Ben Stiller comedy about a dim-witted male model that built a cult online afterlife through endlessly quoted scenes, screencap edits, and reaction clips. Years after its theatrical run, YouTube compilations, a dedicated subreddit, and a 2015 Paris Fashion Week stunt pulled the film back into meme circulation ahead of its 2016 sequel. ## Origin Ben Stiller first played Derek Zoolander in sketches shot for the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1996 and 1997, years before the feature. The theatrical Zoolander was released on September 28, 2001, directed by Stiller and co-starring Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell[3]. On a $28 million budget it grossed about $60.7 million worldwide[3], a modest performer that outgrew its box office through cable reruns and online clips. As YouTube matured, fans began uploading individual scenes and compilations. One August 18, 2011 scene compilation drew more than 430,000 views in the years after[3], and dedicated communities followed, including an r/zoolander subreddit launched on November 24, 2011[3]. Urban Dictionary entries from the same era describe it in blunt fan terms as a movie "some people can't appreciate" with the usual Derelicte and "derelick my balls" quotes attached[6]. - **Platform:** Film (theatrical) / YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** Ben Stiller - **Date:** 2001 ## Overview Zoolander centers on Derek Zoolander, a slow-witted male model played by Ben Stiller, who gets ousted by the rising star Hansel (Owen Wilson) before being brainwashed by designer Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) into an assassination plot against the Malaysian prime minister[3]. The movie's meme life runs almost entirely on quotables and clipped scenes, Blue Steel, Magnum, the gasoline fight, the tiny model school, and Derek asking why things can't be built with the floor as the ceiling. Online, the format is less image macro and more scene reference. YouTube rips of individual gags racked up hundreds of thousands of views in the years after release, with the gasoline fight scene alone pulling over 700,000 views by the mid-2010s[3]. On fan sites, searches for the film returned over 1,800 deviantART results by late 2015, and a dedicated subreddit went live in November 2011[3]. The film holds a 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.6 user rating on IMDb[3], numbers that undersell how heavily its lines are reused in replies, captions, and reaction videos. ## How It Spread Scene clips were the main vehicle for the meme's second life. YouTube uploads of the gasoline fight, the walk-off, and Derek's "center for ants" rant drew hundreds of thousands of views each by the early 2010s, and reaction channels used them as shorthand for anything absurdly vain[3]. The film also kept a steady presence on Tumblr and deviantART, where fan edits of Derek, Hansel, and Mugatu ran into the thousands of results by late 2015[3]. The 2015 run-up to Zoolander 2 pulled the meme back into the feed. Ben Stiller first teased a sequel in 2008[2], and in March 2015 Paramount Pictures confirmed the project for a February 12, 2016 release[1]. On March 10, 2015, Stiller and Owen Wilson surprised the audience at Valentino's Paris Fashion Week show by walking the runway in character, a stunt that was uploaded the same day and racked up over 800,000 views within five months[4]. Viner Jerome Jarre filmed Stiller grabbing his phone mid-walk, which spread as its own clip[3]. Promo tie-ins kept rolling into early 2016. On November 18, 2015, Paramount's official trailer passed 10 million views within three days[3]. On January 19, 2016, Katy Perry posted an Instagram video of Derek approaching her as she sang Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax," and Vogue's YouTube channel ran a "73 Questions With Derek Zoolander" episode set in his apartment[5]. A few days later, on January 22, 2016, a clip of Kristen Wiig in full makeup as the sequel character Alexanya Atoz spread through movie-trailer channels[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Zoolander? Zoolander is a 2001 Ben Stiller comedy about dim male model Derek Zoolander, whose scenes and quotes became long-running internet references through YouTube clips and fan communities[3]. ### Where did Zoolander come from? The character started in Stiller's 1996 and 1997 VH1 Fashion Awards sketches, then got a feature film released on September 28, 2001[3]. ### What does Zoolander mean? Online, calling something "Zoolander" usually points at the film's vain-model humor, Blue Steel pose, or quoted lines like "a center for ants"[6]. ### How do you use Zoolander? People typically drop clipped scenes or quoted lines into replies and video edits, especially gags like the gasoline fight or the model school rant, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube[3]. ### Is Zoolander still popular? The film kept a steady fan footprint through subreddits, Tumblr, and deviantART, and got a fresh push around the 2016 sequel's rollout, including a Paris Fashion Week runway stunt in March 2015[1][4]. ## References 1. [http://www.slashfilm.com/zoolander-2-announced/]() 2. [http://www.slashfilm.com/ben-stiller-working-on-zoolander-sequel/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/zoolander]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRNwGimhok4]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXtNkqXmi4]() 6. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Zoolander]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQq0T3ExLs]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/zoolander Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library