About

Sad Penguin refers to a clip from the 1999 Pixar animated film Toy Story 2 in which the character Wheezy, wearing a red bowtie, looks back in sadness at Woody. Though the format saw some usage as a reaction, the scene became a prominent source of caption memes on TikTok in September 2024, typically presenting situations that evoke sadness or depression reflected by Wheezy in the video.

Origin

In Toy Story 2, released November 24, 1999,^[1] there is a scene in which Woody finds Wheezy, a forgotten squeaky penguin toy covered in dust, stashed beneath some books.

The image saw occasional use as a reaction image on social media starting around 2022. On October 2nd, 2022, Twitter / X user @reactjpg^[3] posted a still image from the clip as a template, gaining over 30 retweets and 350 likes in two years.

Spread

The reaction image saw minor usage on TikTok prior to September 2024 when it became known as the "Sad Penguin meme." For example, on June 25th, 2023, user @evilkillamcperson^[5] posted a TikTok with the image that gained over 7,000 views in one year.

In early September 2024, the clip in which Woody first finds Wheezy, who then looks back at him in sadness, began spreading on TikTok as a caption meme. On September 2nd, TikTok user @xoxo_cherry5^[2] posted a captioned version of the clip, gaining over 15,000 views in three days.

Over the following several days, other memes featuring Wheezey were posted on the platform. For example, on September 4th, 2024, TikTok user @sweefxq^[4] posted an example that gained over 17,000 views in one day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References