About

Oscar the Millionaire is a catchphrase said by Will Smith as the fish character Oscar in Shark Tale during a scene in the movie, which later became the subject of memes on TikTok in early 2023. The audio went viral on TikTok first via people recreating the actions within the scene, with the scene itself later becoming an object-labeling meme two years later in a larger resurgence.

Origin

On October 1st, 2004, the film Shark Tale was released, starring Will Smith as the fish Oscar. Within the context of the scene, the character has just placed a bet on a seahorse race that he was previously told was a fixed race with no chance of losing, causing him to become ecstatic upon being told the possible payout. On March 26th, 2020, the YouTube channel Movieclips^[1] uploaded the scene, gaining over 2.3 million views in three years (shown below).

Two months later, in May 2020, the audio from the scene would go viral on TikTok, posted by the account RomeNotRomeo, with the oldest surviving TikTok being uploaded on May 17th, 2020, by TikToker timothyhaskellamb^[2] (shown below).

Spread

On March 4th, 2023, TikToker wmovieclips0^[3] uploaded the clip with subtitles to TikTok, refreshing it into the cultural consciousness and earning over 3,000 likes in one month (shown below).

On April 3rd, 2023, TikToker r.l3y_6^[4] uploaded the most viral version of the meme clip, with Oscar being the meme viewer, and Lola the fish being the girlfriend of the meme creator, alerted to him getting his paycheck, earning over 450,000 likes in one week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References