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The Dancing Baby, also known as "Baby Cha-Cha", refers to a 3D character and 3D-rendered animation of a baby dancing for several seconds. The video, one of the earliest examples of an Internet phenomenon, became popular in 1996-1997 after being distributed widely over the Internet. The dancing baby originated as a collection of experimental testing data and files, ultimately released in Fall/1996 as a product sample source file with the ground-breaking 3D character animation software product "Character Studio" that is used with 3D Studio Max (both products from Autodesk). The original sample source file was produced and prepared by the original Character Studio development team (Michael Girard, Susan Amkraut, John Chadwick, Paul Bloemink, John Hutchinson, Adam Felt) of Unreal Pictures and Kinetix (Autodesk). Part of the original Dancing Baby data consists of animation keyframes that were manually and automatically generated in the "Biped" portion of the Character Studio toolset. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the original Dancing Baby animation data (keyframes) were not created using motion capture at all. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... 3D computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that utilize a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... 3D Studio Max (name changed to 3DS Max, also sometimes called 3dsm, or just Max) is a 3D modeler developed by Autodesk Media & Entertainment (formerly known as Discreet and Kinetix). ... Autodesk, Inc. ... In animation, a key frame is a frame in an animated sequence of frames that was drawn or otherwise constructed directly by the user. ... Motion capture, or mocap, is a technique of digitally recording the movements of real things — usually humans — it originally developed as an analysis tool in biomechanics research, but has grown increasingly important as a source of motion data for computer animation. ...

Subsequent to its release, animators in the commercial sector have used or modified the Dancing Baby source file using the Character Studio product to produce different versions of rendered visualizations for use in media. This helped develop the Dancing Baby animation into a meme or media and internet phenomenon. The dancing baby video and its variations have appeared in a broad array of mainstream media, including television dramas (i.e "Ally McBeal"), commercial advertisements, and music videos such as Blue Swede's cover of the song "Hooked on a Feeling (Ooga Chaka)." More stylized versions and parodies were created shortly thereafter, including a 'drunken baby', a 'rasta baby', 'samurai baby', and others. For the character, see Ally McBeal (character). ... Blue Swede was a Swedish rock band from the early to mid 1970s that succeeded with a few singles which were covers of other artists material. ... Hooked on a Feeling is a 1969 pop song written by Mark James originally preformed by B. J. Thomas. ... Drunkenness, in its most common usage, is the state of being intoxicated with alcohol (i. ...

Appearance in mainstream media

The dancing baby character and animations quickly made the rounds on the Internet through email. It was then featured as a recurring hallucination on the television program Ally McBeal. On the series, the baby was meant to signify the ticking of Ally's biological clock. A hallucination is a sensory perception experienced in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ... For the character, see Ally McBeal (character). ... Callista Flockhart as Ally Mcbeal Ally McBeal is the central character in the Fox Television show Ally McBeal. ... A biological clock enables an organism to anticipate periodical changes in their environment. ...

The dancing baby was also featured in a Blockbuster Video commercial immediately after gaining mainstream media attention. Blockbuster video store This article is about the chain of video stores. ...

In line with the Ally McBeal appearance, in a Celebrity Deathmatch match between Lucy Lawless and Calista Flockhart, the dancing baby suddenly appears in the ring with his back turned to the camera. After a moment of dancing, he turns around and is shown to be Dennis Franz in nothing but a diaper; referee Mills Lane shouts at him, "I told you I didn't want you in my ring, Dennis Franz!" Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation parody television show that pits celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the losers gruesome death. ... Lucy Lawless (born Lucille Frances Ryan on March 29, 1968 in Mount Albert) is a New Zealand actress and singer best known for her role as Xena on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001. ... Calista Kay Flockhart (born on November 11, 1964) is an Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress, primarily on soap operas and television. ... Dennis Franz (born Dennis Franz Schlacta, October 28, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is a German-American actor best known for his roles as Andy Sipowicz, a gritty police detective in the television series NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues and Beverly Hills Buntz. ... This article is about Mills Lane, the referee. ...

At the height of the Ally McBeal series, a dance group called Trubble released a song called Dancing Baby (Ooga-Chaka) which charted well in Australia in late 1998/early 1999 and hit #21 on the UK charts.

In the television series Millennium, the episode "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me" features a demon that looks and moves like the Dancing Baby. Millennium is a grim, suspenseful American television series, produced by Chris Carter (creator of The X-Files), and set during the years leading up to the dawn of the new millennium. ... “Fiend” redirects here. ...

The Dancing Baby is a recurring feature on VH1's I Love the 90s series, and it also appeared on Best Week Ever. VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division... I Love the 90s is a television mini-series originally produced by the BBC, and later for American audiences by VH1, in which various music and TV personalities reminisce about 1990s culture. ... Best Week Ever logo. ...

Iowa State University basketball games frequently feature the dancing baby on the scoreboard during timeouts. Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa, USA. Until 1959 it was known as Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. ... This article is about the sport. ... A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. ...

The Dancing Baby appeared on an episode of Unhappily Ever After, with Dennis Franz as the baby. It appeared on an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, with Harry Solomon (French Stewart) as the baby. The Malloys, clockwise from top left: Ross, Ryan, Jack, Tiffany, and Mr. ... Dennis Franz (born Dennis Franz Schlacta, October 28, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is a German-American actor best known for his roles as Andy Sipowicz, a gritty police detective in the television series NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues and Beverly Hills Buntz. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... French Stewart - Promo picture from 3rd Rock from the Sun Harry S. Solomon is a character in 3rd Rock from the Sun, played by French Stewart. ... Milton French Stewart (born on February 20, 1964) is a American actor, best known for his role as Harry Solomon on the 1990s sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. ...

The Dancing Baby also makes an appearance in the Xbox and PS2 title, Silent Hill 4. The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... PS2 can mean: PlayStation 2 (Sony PS2), sixth-generation video game console PS/2 (IBM Personal System/2 office PCs, or the interface standard for mice and keyboards that the PS/2 series set) Phantasy Star II, second in the Phantasy Star seiries of video games. ... Silent Hill 4: The Room is the fourth game in the survival horror series. ...

An easter egg exists in Quest_for_Glory_V:_Dragon_Fire where the hero dances in the Dead Parrot Inn. When he does so, he imitates the exact moves of the Dancing Baby.

The Dancing Baby is also spoofed in a Simpsons episode. Homer creates his first website, which features a dancing Jesus busting the same moves as the baby. The Simpsons. ... Homer Simpson is also a character in the book and film The Day of the Locust. ...

The Cincinnati Ohio classic rock station WEBN featured the dancing baby grooving to the song "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC on a television commercial for the station. WEBN (102. ... You Shook Me All Night Long is a hit song by the hard rock band AC/DC that appeared on one of the most successful albums in music history, Back in Black. ... This article is about about the band. ...

On the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode "4 A.M. Miracle", when Danny asks Cal to repair a baby doll that is computerized and reacts like a real baby, Cal asks "Want me to make it dance, too?" Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is an Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe Award nominated American television Comedy-drama series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. ...

In the EA Sports football game FIFA 99, the editor includes an animation of a player doing a version of the Dancing Baby. current EA Sports logo EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. ... Mega Drive FIFA International Soccer cover The FIFA Series is a popular series of football (soccer) video games, released yearly by EA under the EA Sports label since late 1993. ...

The Dancing Baby is seen now on the Tenacious D website during the intro. This article is about the band. ...

The Dancing Baby was used in an animation featured at the end of a level in the game "RollerTyping"

In the Journeyman episode "The Year of the Rabbit", a scene from Ally McBeal with the Dancing Baby appeared anachronistically in a 1997 scene. In actuality, the Dancing Baby first appeared on Ally McBeal in a 1998 episode. For other uses, see Journeyman (disambiguation). ... For the character, see Ally McBeal (character). ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

See also

• Internet phenomenon

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

External links

• "Dancing Baby cha-chas from the Internet to the networks" - Sci-Tech Story Page, CNN, Jan 1998
• Source of original animation and technology
• Variations of the original dancing baby by various artists
• Dancing Baby Dance Club - dancing baby fan website with movie downloads