[imagesource: CNN]

Straight out of the 1990s, ‘Dancing Baby’ is widely credited with being the first big internet meme.

The obscure 3D graphic of a half-naked baby dancing on a loop began its viral journey through email exchanges and soon became one of the most popular internet phenomenons of its time.

I know, right? It’s hard to remember a time when email was the primary way of sharing internet things.

If that doesn’t make you feel old, then consider that this strange baby would now be 26 years old.

Take a trip down memory lane:

As the baby cha-chas its way into adulthood, CNN is reporting on how the cumbersome GIF has received a new 3D-rendered overhaul.

Thanks to the original creators, Michael Girard, Robert Lurye, and John Chadwick, in collaboration with the Vienna-based creative group HFA-Studio, the new dancing babies will also be released as NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Charlie Scheichenost, the HFA-Studio co-founder, said the graphic has the same appeal now as it did over two decades ago: “It’s the uncanny valley — something (about it) connects to people”.

Since there’s been some major ’90s and early internet nostalgia happening of late, the baby has been popping up again, appearing in Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s music video for their track ‘1999’ for example.

Catch the dancing baby at the two-minute mark:

The newly-rendered ‘Dancing Baby’ will have a more real, sharper, plumper look:

While updating the meme, HFA-Studio also asked contemporary digital artists to “remix” the image with their own interpretations as part of the new NFT collection.

Image: Courtesy HFA Studio / Autodesk

Chris Torres, creator of the rainbow feline meme “Nyan Cat,” has made an 8-bit “Nyan Baby,” while artist Yuuki Morita, who makes unsettling digital creatures, opted for a multi-headed child that “represents the cry of…(living) in the chaos of modern times,” according to a statement.

Media artist xtine burrough (she prefers her name stylised with lowercase letters), who is a professor at the University of Texas in Dallas with an academic interest in the meme, said that the original graphic was released with the welcome intent of being remixed:

 “And we saw the results of that, and we are still seeing the results of that. And that really gives people the freedom to take the image and allow it to meet the context of today.”

What a journey from forwarded email chuckles to becoming an NFT.

[source:cnn]