Hello there! My name is Trym Stene, and I’m the creator of the Dancing Banana GIF meme, all the way back in 1999. It’s quite surreal to think how long ago that was! I vividly remember working on various GIF animations on my AMD K6-2 350MHz computer, which was pretty advanced technology for a young enthusiast like myself back then. It was my first personal computer, and it truly opened up a new world of possibilities.
Creating fun and light-hearted content has always been a passion. I loved making quirky GIFs to share online. I had a small but engaged community on IRC, where I connected with people who appreciated my creations and offered valuable feedback and encouragement.
Growing up in rural Norway, I didn’t have many local friends who shared my specific interests. However, this isolation fueled my creativity and motivated me to explore my imagination further. I was particularly inspired by other digital artists who were experimenting with the boundaries of what could be done on the early internet.
I used a user-friendly animation tool called Animation Shop, which came bundled with Paint Shop Pro. This software was instrumental in bringing my GIF ideas to life, and it was through this program that the Dancing Banana was born.
But why a banana? Well, I was an active participant in internet forums and often used emojis to convey emotions in my online interactions. The Dancing Banana started as a festive, animated emoji—a way to celebrate whenever I finished a new creative project or had something exciting to share online. It was a digital symbol of joy and accomplishment.
While I also created other GIFs, such as an angry toaster and a melting ice-cream cone with sad eyes, none of them achieved the same level of popularity as the banana. The Dancing Banana gradually resonated with internet users and started to spread.
Before Flash animations became widespread, I found an opportunity through my IRC connections to create GIF ad-banners for a business owner. I eagerly took on this project and eventually sold my GIF creations to others. I even sold a chalkboard ad for 250 Norwegian Krone, which was about 25 USD at the time. It might not seem like a fortune now, but for me then, it felt like a significant achievement and validation of my digital art.
When Flash animations became the dominant trend, The Buckwheat Boyz famously created a Flash version of the Dancing Banana, pairing it with the now-iconic song, “Peanut Butter Jelly Time.” This combination propelled the Dancing Banana into mainstream internet culture. From there, the Dancing Banana made numerous appearances, including a memorable cameo on an episode of Family Guy. It’s still amazing to me that this little GIF I made has become such a widespread cultural phenomenon, greatly helped by the positive and collaborative nature of early internet culture.
So, that’s the short story of the Dancing Banana GIF meme. I hope you enjoyed learning about its origins as much as I enjoyed creating it!
