More Updates to Hampsterdance Revealed! are coming. Check back soon.

Update! (03/19/03) - I've been sent some good information concerning the song used on the original hampsterdance site. I'm not sure what to call the person, but s/he writes:

the original song that was used by the hampsterdance site is an early techno song from 1992 called Bad Base by B.T.B featuring Street Mob and is on a Best of Techno Volume Two cd and was produced by Profile records. There is a little clip on Amazon where you can listen to it but the clip is from the middle of the song and the hampsterdance part is from the begining of the tune.

Update! (08/07/00) - If you want to go directly to the dancing hampsters without seeing the other parts of the hampsterdance site, you can catch them here: www.hampsterdance2.com/hampsterdance.html. Thanks to HT for this one.

Update! (07/18/00) - It's been brought to my attention that the hampster dance has been moved. Here's what Nicole had to say:

The 'www.hampsterdance.com' site has been taken down. You can't see the hampster dance from there, because Tilted Media decided to remove it, and change the site to promote their Nutty Sites company. So perhaps you could edit your article, and change the URL to www.hampsterdance2.com.

Many people have viewed the infamous Hampster Dance (http://www.hampsterdance.com), but few know of its origins. Nearly everybody that views the hampster dance these days views it at hampsterdance.com, where there is no explanation of the thought behind the dancing and no credit given to the sources of the song and dancers. This leaves many new viewers the impression that the content is original. I was met with many shocked faces when I revealed that I knew the true origin of the infamous Hampster Dance song, and it was indeed not the site on which it is placed. We will get to that soon, but first, a little history concerning these dancing hampsters. The concept of hampsters (or at least little rodents that could be passed off as hampsters) dancing to a cute song looped over and over again belongs to Hampton the hampster and his owner Deidre LaCarte. It was originally and still is hosted at Geocities; hampsterdance.com is simply a mirror of this site that contains only the dancing hampsters page. The site at Geocities appears to be the home page of Hampton and thus has other things besides the dancing, including personal information about Hampton, how to care for a hampster, and hampster heroes. However, very little is mentioned of the source of the cute 'song' and of the cute 'hampsters' used in the hampster dance, the single thing that made the site a success.

Well, I've found the dirt for you all of you interested folks. The hampster dance song, or 'dedodedo.wav' as it's become known, is from the 1973 Walt Disney film Robin Hood and was written by Roger Miller; it is a small excerpt from the introduction to the movie. However, the little tune is not in its original state. It has been raised from its initial, intended pitch, to a much higher (and admittedly cuter) one; one much closer to that of a 'hampster'. LeCarte claims to have received this song from her sister and "thought it would go well with the dancers." It is quite possible that LeCarte is not even aware that the song has been manipulated. In any case, I'm not sure that Roger Miller would appreciate such a brash alteration of his beloved song, one of which I have grown very fond. I have, through means I won't mention here, acquired a copy of the original song used in the film. They are in both RealAudio and mp3 for your convenience. I have left 'dedodedo.wav' as it is directly from the Hampster Dance website.

Here is the entire introduction: RealAudio | MP3
Did you hear the section in question?

Here is the section by itself: RealAudio | MP3
Do you recognize it now?

Here is the 'song' used in the hampster dance: Wave
Sounds familiar, does it not?

The so-called 'hampsters', on the the other hand have been much more elusive. I have not been able to pinpoint their exact origin, but I suspect it was from an archive or gallery of clipart somewhere. I have traced several of the hampsters back to other web sites, but I suspect they were taken from the Hampster Dance and not vice versa. As all of my searches for the original source have wound up fruitless, I must abandon my search and move on. However, if you happen to have any knowledge of the whereabouts of the origins of these hampsters and would like to take part in this exclusive, then please contact me to discuss our options.

Where will the hampsters go from here? Will they continue to ravage the internet with their incessantly cute dancing and singing? No one knows. Only time will tell. I end my pursuit of the past and future of these hampsters here. It was entertaining while it lasted, but alas, all things must come to an end. I bid thee farewell.

Please give me your feedback. I know it's short and incomplete, but I'd still like to know what you think about it. Mail me please.