About

Parakeet Running Remixes, also known as Budgie Running Remixes is a video and GIF series based on a viral video of a parakeet running toward the camera. The video, which was first posted to YouTube in 2012, inspired a series of remixes that add other elements to the video, including explosions, cultural figures and captions.

Origins

On June 25th, 2012, YouTuber mky45 posted the original video of a bird running entitled "セキセイインコが走って来る来る" (translation "Budgies are running"). Budgie is a nickname for the budgerigar bird, also known as the parakeet. Within nine years, the post received more than 1.3 million views (shown below).

Spread

Roughly one year later, on June 13th, 2013, Tumblr ^[1] user cineraria shared a GIF of the video. The post received more than 48,000 notes in less than eight years (shown below, left). That day, Imgur ^[2] posted the GIF, receiving more than 55,000 views in less than eight years.

Later that month, on June 24th, Redditor Nivlek273 posted a remix of the video in the /r/birdswitharms^[3] subreddit, adding arms to the bird. The post received more than 2,700 points (shown below, right) .

That year, on November 13th, YouTuber hate everything posted a version of the meme, adding explosions to the background. The post received more than 214,000 views in less than eight years (shown below).

Over the next decade, the meme continued to spread online. On February 4th, 2015, YouTuber AlmiuxFloc shared a version that features clips of actor Jean Claude Van Damme superimposed into the video. The post received more than 87,000 views in less than seven years (shown below, left).

Memers began using the video as a GIF to express feelings of quick escape after some questionable behavior. On February 17th, 2021, Redditor SaifNisar posted a GIF of the meme in the /r/memes^[4] with the caption, "Me after posting NSFW video in /r/NoFap." The post received more than 3,700 points (96% upvoted) in less than one month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not available.

External References