Squirtle Saxophone
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About
The Squirtle Saxophone meme refers to a viral video of the Pokémon character Squirtle playing the saxophone solo in the song "Run Away" by SunStroke Project, originally from the Epic Sax Guy meme. The viral animation was posted to TikTok in 2023, leading to its usage as an exploitable via a greenscreen template on CapCut.
Origin
On November 27th, 2023, TikToker[1] @merme.lada posted an animation of the Pokémon character Squirtle playing the saxophone. The animation replicates the "Epic Sax Guy" video that went viral after Eurovision in 2010, featuring saxophonist Sergey Stepanov from the band SunStroke Project playing their song "Run Away."[2] The TikTok[1] video received roughly 77.5 million plays and 7.8 million likes in 16 days (shown below).
@merme.lada honkin 🎷#3d #pokemon #animation #cg #epic #sax #squirtle #guy ♬ original sound – Marmalade
Spread
After the video's virality on TikTok, users on the platform started to make memes with it. For instance, one of the first viral uses of the video was posted by German TikToker[3] @behnan.0711 on November 29th, 2023, gaining roughly 1.7 million plays and 246,800 likes in two weeks (shown below, left).
On December 3rd, 2023, TikToker[4] @antonylee29 posted a What's On Your Mind? meme about the Squirtle Saxophone video, receiving over 3.4 million plays and 376,600 likes in 10 days (shown below, right).
@behnan.0711 #fyp ♬ original sound – Marmalade
@antonylee29 Anyone else #CapCut #saxophone #fyp ♬ original sound – Marmalade
Going into December 2023, TikTokers began re-animating the animation with new characters. For instance, on December 7th, 2023, TikToker[5] @masakawa_fan_art posted a re-animation, gaining over 391,200 plays and 19,300 likes in six days (shown below, left).
On December 9th, 2023, TikToker[6] @igreenscreenthings posted a greenscreen template of the scene for exploitable usage, receiving over 4.8 million plays and 280,000 likes in four days (shown below, right).
masakawa_fan_art</a> サックスを吹くちいかわ🎷 本家の動画▶Marmalade #ちいかわ #sax #pokemon #squirtle #ゼニガメ #chiikawa #effecthouse #ファンアート #fanart #CapCut ♬ original sound – Marmalade
@igreenscreenthings Squirtle Saxophone Meme – honkin | Green Screen #pokemon #saxophone #squirtle #meme #memecut #pokemonfan #fyp ♬ Squirtle Saxophone Meme – I Green Screen Things
Soon after, TikTokers[7] started to use the greenscreen template for their viral content.
Various Examples
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7309098921819688194
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7308330809247780114
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7307674405377707297
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7310750846227172651
Template
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] TikTok – @merme.lada
[2] YouTube – Moldova – Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Semi Final 1 – BBC Three
[3] TikTok – @behnan.0711
[4] TikTok – @antonylee29
[5] TikTok – @masakawa_fan_art
[6] TikTok – @igreenscreenthings
[7] TikTok – @itsjakattack
