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Numa Numa (video)

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File:Numanumanewspaper.jpg
The 26 February 2005 New York Times article, entitled "Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Numa Numa Dancer", about Gary Brolsma and his movie, Numa Numa Dance.

Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, most notably Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma, made for the song "Dragostea din tei" as performed by Romanian pop band O-Zone. Brolsma's video, released in December 2005, was the first Numa Numa-themed video to gain widespread attention. Less than three months after the release, it had been viewed more than two million times on the debut website alone. Numa Numa Dance has since spawned many parody videos, including those created for the "New Numa Contest", sponsored by Brolsma, which promised US$45,000 in prize money for submissions. His original video was named 41st in the 2006 broadcast of 100 Greatest Funny Moments by Channel 4 in the UK.[1]

The phrase Numa Numa is from a refrain of "Dragostea din tei". The refrain, "nu mă, nu mă iei", can be approximately translated from Romanian as "you don't, you don't take me [with you]".[2]

Numa Numa Dance

The Numa Numa phenomenon was first popularized by Gary Brolsma's release of Numa Numa Dance onto Newgrounds.com, on 6 December 2004.[3] By February 25, 2005, less than three months after Brolsma released the video onto Newgrounds, it had been viewed more than two million times on that site alone.[4] Brolsma later stated in an interview, "...I found it ["Dragostea din tei"] in another (I believe it was Japanese) flash animation with cartoon cats".[5] Others have noted Brolsma's inspiration was the Japanese flash animation Maiyahi by the Albinoblacksheep.com user "ikari", whose video featured an animated version of the popular Shift_JIS art cat Monā.[6][a]

On Newgrounds.com Numa Numa Dance has since been seen more than 14 million times. From there it has been copied onto hundreds of other websites and blogs. According to a November 27, 2006 report by the BBC, based on page impression figures collated by viral marketing company The Viral Factory, Numa Numa Dance is the second-most watched viral video of all time, with 700 million views, losing out only to "Star Wars kid".[7] He received mainstream media coverage from ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's The Tonight Show, and VH1's Best Week Ever, and, according to The New York Times, was an "unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity".[8] He canceled media appearances but reappeared in September 2006 with a professionally produced video, New Numa. This video, hosted on YouTube, marked the start of the "New Numa Contest", which promised US$45,000 in prize money and a US$25,000 award to the winner.[9]

A story in the June/July 2006 issue of The Believer explores the song's spread and global homogenization, while arguing that Brolsma's video "singlehandedly justifies the existence of webcams (....) It’s a movie of someone who is having the time of his life, wants to share his joy with everyone, and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks".[10]

One version of Brolsma's video also contains some puns, among them pictures of "feta cheese" during the lyric "fericirea" ("happiness") and a LEGO representation of Bob Ross during the singer's words "sunt eu Picasso" ("it's me Picasso").

Parody

As an Internet phenomenon, the "Numa Numa Dance" has spawned many parodies hosted on Newgrounds, Google Video, YouTube and elsewhere.

Many themes have been chosen for Numa Numa parodies. Fictional characters, such as Yugi Mutou, Vash the Stampede, Rock Lee, Optimus Prime, Mario, Luigi, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Godzilla, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tamagotchi, Kingdom Hearts, The Muppets, Master Chief and characters from TUGS, Calvin and Hobbes, River City Ransom, Homestar Runner, Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, Resident Evil, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, M.U.G.E.N, Naruto, and World of Warcraft, have been featured.

Various items from pop culture have also been featured, including Lego bricks, army men, G.I. Joe and John F. Kennedy. In addition, Napoleon Dynamite- and American Idol-related versions have appeared. A parody of the infamous "Angry German Kid", "Star Wars kid" and "Tunak Tunak Tun" videos were made including Numa Numa. An alternate parody music video was also created for an engineering students video competition at the University of British Columbia. Another video featuring crew members from the US Navy ship the USS Enterprise is also available on YouTube under the title "Navy Numa Numa." Just recently, another version was released on Youtube featuring Osama Bin Laden.

There are also parodies on Youtube titled "numa numa misheard lyrics", in which the song plays with insane lyrics that sound like the real lyrics in captions.[11]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Channel4 - 100 Greatest FUNNY MOMENTS". channel4.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  2. ^ "Romania - Dragostea Din Tei - Miya Hee - Numa Numa - Lyrics in Romanian and English". The Cat-Tea Corner. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  3. ^ "Numa Numa Dance". Newgrounds.com. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
  4. ^ Feuer & George (2005)
  5. ^ "Gary Brolsma & The Numa Story". Gary Brolsma & New Numa!. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  6. ^ Lucas, Dean. "Famous Pictures Magazine - Numa Numa". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  7. ^ "Star Wars Kid is top viral video". BBC News. 2006-11-27. Retrieved 2007-07-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Feuer & George (2005)
  9. ^ "Viral video legend Gary Brolsma returns with "New Numa" and $45,000 in prizes for other viral enthusiasts" (Press release). Jaeter Corp. 2006-08-28. Retrieved 2007-07-12. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Wolk, Douglas (June/July 2006). "The syncher, not the song: The irresistible rise of the Numa Numa Dance". The Believer. Retrieved 2007-07-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Misheard Numa Numa Lyrics". Retrieved 2007-11-26.

References

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