In 2016, a meme turned self-aware and helped a cancer patient

A heartwarming story from the world of internet memes

It all started with a kids show from Iceland, 2004.

LazyTown

Aired in over 180 countries including the United States (Nick Jr.), LazyTown is a live-action + CGI show for kids, all about “promoting a healthy lifestyle for children, in a positive, entertaining and catchy way.” (according to their official YouTube channel)

Catchy songs encouraging kids to be active. (LazyTown | No One is Lazy in LazyTown)

Rise to meme-dom

The show enjoyed a pretty good run from 2004 to 2014, probably not too different from other kids shows… until this happened.

Cue earworm sax melody. Seriously, go check out the video. (LazyTown | We are Number One)

Now for those of you wondering, the lead singer is LazyTown’s villain number one Robbie Rotten. Look at his antics, he’s basically trying to stop the kids of LazyTown from living healthy.

This video, for whatever reasons in 2016, turned into a popular meme all over the inter

Net.

The meme involves editing the We Are Number One music video with ridiculous effects, and it’s WONDERFUL. (Go search “We Are Number One” on YouTube. Enjoy.)

Some of the edits on YouTube. Trippy.

Behind The Meme has a really good explanation about the origins of the meme, so do check it out!

Helping with cancer

Here’s where the story gets all warm and fuzzy.

The actor of Robbie Rotten, Stefan Karl Stefansson, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Stefan Karl Stefansson. (Stefan)

On October 2016, a GoFundMe campaign was created so people can donate and assist with his recovery, and guess how much has been raised?

MEME POWER (Stefan Karl GoFundMe). As of 13th Dec 2016.

IT’S CRAZY. In 2 months, a meme has raised more than $90k and it’s still going strong. Say what you want about the silliness of internet memes, but this kinda restores my faith in humanity.

That’s not all

It got even more awesome: the meme actually turned self-aware. Instead of shrugging it off, the creators of the show essentially embraced the meme status. Fans were DELIGHTED.

First, the official LazyTown YouTube channel created their own twist to the meme:

How often do we get an OFFICIAL MEME?

Then, as a gratitude for the GoFundMe campaign, Robbie Rotten himself performed the song live on Facebook. (it’s never been performed anywhere else except for the show 3 years ago)

“This is going down in history.”

The icing on the cake? The original composer, Mani Svavarsson, just uploaded the song with separate Vocals, Instruments, and SFX — opening even more possibilities to the meme that wasn’t possible before.

!More stuff to mess around with.

You don’t get to see memes reach this status everyday. Can’t wait to see how this meme will evolve!

P.S. Feeling like helping Stefan Karl? THROW IT AT HIM, NOT ME!