Hello there! I’m Trym Stene, the creator of the Dancing Banana GIF-meme from way back in 1999. It’s quite surreal to think how much time has flown by since then. I clearly remember working on various GIF animations on my trusty AMD K6-2 350MHz computer – which, while maybe not cutting-edge by all standards, was my first computer and truly opened up a new world for a young me.
Creating fun and lighthearted content has always been something I’m passionate about. I really enjoyed making those quirky GIFs and sharing them online. I had a small but engaged community of followers on IRC, where I got some great feedback and encouragement.
Growing up in rural Norway, I didn’t have many friends who shared my specific interests. But that actually pushed me to be even more creative. I was inspired by other online artists who were exploring the possibilities of the internet. Mostly, I just wanted to make people laugh. I think I have a bit of that stand-up comedian in me – that desire to get laughs, even though I’m not really into public speaking. That’s why creating digital stuff with a humorous twist has always appealed to me. The Dancing Banana is just one of the earliest examples of that kind of humor in my work.
For those who are curious about the technical side, I used a simple animation tool called Animation Shop. It came bundled with Paint Shop Pro and was perfect for bringing my GIF ideas to life, including this now-iconic example of Gif Dancing. Animation Shop was quite user-friendly, with grids and tools ready to go, which made it easy to experiment and create GIFs and pixel art almost immediately.
Why a banana, you might ask? Well, I was active on internet forums and loved using emojis to express myself in online conversations. The Dancing Banana started as a kind of celebratory emoji – a fun, animated way to celebrate whenever I created something new and exciting. It was a way to visually express joy and excitement through gif dancing.
I also created other GIFs at the time. I remember an angry toaster and a melting ice-cream cone with big, sad eyes. But none of these caught on like the banana. It gradually won over internet users and became a popular way to add some gif dancing fun to online interactions.
Before Flash animations became widespread, I even managed to find a side hustle through IRC creating GIF ad-banners for a business owner, which I jumped at. I later sold my GIF creations to others, including a chalkboard ad that went for 250 Norwegian Krone (about 25 USD at the time). It might not sound like much now, but back then, it felt like I was rolling in dough, at least for a day or two, until I realized the fees to cash out those mailed checks were around 15 USD!
When Flash animations started to take off, The Buckwheat Boyz created a Flash version of the Dancing Banana, adding the now-famous song “Peanut Butter Jelly Time.” From that point on, the Dancing Banana really took off, popping up everywhere, even making a cameo in an episode of Family Guy. It’s amazing to think that this little creation became such a widespread cultural phenomenon, thanks in large part to the awesome internet community.
So, that’s the short story behind the Dancing Banana GIF-meme and its journey into the world of gif dancing!
