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Sad Johnny (Hotel Transylvania)
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About
Sad Johnny (Hotel Transylvania) refers to a black-and-white image of the Hotel Transylvania character Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran looking sadly out of a window with earbuds in. The image macro became a popular reaction image on TikTok and Twitter / X in 2024 to portray sadness and longing in memes. On TikTok, Sad Johnny memes were mostly shared in photo slideshows and used a sound of a guy singing, "What the, what the, what the hell?"
Origin
In 2012, the original Hotel Transylvania movie was released in American theaters.[1] In one scene, the character Jonathan "Johnny" Loughran is on a plane headed back home after getting his heartbroken. He's seen sadly looking out of the plane window with wired earbuds (YouTube[2] upload shown below).
Years later, on March 10th, 2019, Amino Apps[3] user α«α₯βα₯α₯α§ shared a long-form blog post about Jonathan Loughran, including a black-and-white GIF of the abovementioned scene. The post is currently the first discovered instance of the black-and-white Sad Johnny photo (shown below).
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Currently, the first-known memes to use the Sad Johnny image were shared on TikTok on May 9th, 2024. Both were Spanish-speaking users and it's unclear which post was shared first on the day. One was shared by TikToker[4] @zingaro.2, gaining over 2.8 million plays and 595,100 likes in four months (shown below).
@zingaro.2 #ventilador #flyp #meme #parati #ganadordemilbatallas β¬ sonido original β Yovani
The other was a slow fade-in meme shared by TikToker[5] @elqesos4, gaining over 599,900 plays and 72,600 likes in four months (shown below).
@elqesos4 bad momooooooo #lentejas #paratiiiiiii #viral #anecdotas β¬ sonido original β Yovani
Spread
In the weeks following the abovementioned TikToks, other Spanish-speaking meme creators shared Sad Johnny memes using the same TikTok sound.[6] For instance, on May 17th, 2024, TikToker[7] @diego_martt shared an iteration about Minecraft in a photo slideshow, receiving roughly 2.7 million plays and 436,400 likes in four months (shown below).
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Later, in September 2024, English-speaking users adopted the Sad Johnny meme en masse. For instance, on September 23rd, TikToker[8] @foodfattie76 posted a photo that captioned Sad Johnny, "me when i find something crunchy in a soft food," gaining over 2.6 million plays and 607,300 likes in a week (shown below).
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In the following weeks, many Sad Johnny memes used the same TikTok[9] sound of a man singing, "What the, what the, what the hell?"
During the same timeframe, Sad Johnny memes spread on X, evident in a post shared by X[10] user @yummybeefcakee on September 26th, which was captioned, "found out oomf goes to my school," and received roughly 53,000 likes in four days (shown below).
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Redraws of Sad Johnny also began appearing in late September 2024. For instance, on September 28th, TikToker[11] @tobzyzx shared a drawing of Sonic as Sad Johnny, gaining over 18,500 plays and 5,400 likes in two days (shown below).
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Various Examples
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@str4berryswitchblade Side profile ruined the video π€¦ββοΈπ€¬π€¬ #hawktuah #real #fyp #509 β¬ original sound β Vooran
@tenk0re #hawktuah #tuah #sadjohnny #relatable #freaky β¬ original sound β themanthecool
Template
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Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] IMDb β _Hotel Transylvania
[2] YouTube β Chasing After Johnny Scene
[3] Amino Apps β α«α₯βα₯α₯α§
[4] TikTok β @zingaro.2
[6] TikTok β sonido original β Yovani
[7] TikTok β @diego_martt
[8] TikTok β @foodfattie76
[9] TikTok β original sound β Vooran
[10] X β @yummybeefcakee
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