Lolrus
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
A Lolrus is an image macro with a picture of a whiskered sea mammal often referencing a wistful relationship with a bucket.[1] Due to the popularity of the first lolrus, I Has a Bucket, a number of other lolruses have been created that extend the saga of the sea creature and his lost bucket. These later lolruses generally assume prior knowledge on the reader's part of the ur-lolrus. Lolrus images are often posted to websites featuring lolcat image macros such as I Can Has Cheezburger.
Lolruses, like lolcats, tend to use Internet slang and poor grammar extensively, and the caption tends to be in white with a thin black border.
I Has a Bucket
The first lolrus, posted in January 2007 on the website I Can Has Cheezburger, consisted of two photographs of an elephant seal.[2] In the first, the seal is gladly holding onto a blue bucket and above there is the caption I Has a Bucket. In the next photograph, the seal is angry as the bucket has been taken away from him, and the caption reads Noooo they be stealin' my Bucket.
I Has a Bucket quickly spread to become an Internet meme, largely due to the existing success of lolcats.[3] Because the elephant seal was mis-identified by many as a walrus, and referred to simply as the Bucket Walrus, the new image macro type acquired the name lolrus. Further lolrus images continued the fictional saga of the bucket and lolrus.[4] As is common for Internet memes such as this, I Has a Bucket soon inspired its own domain.[5]
The I Has a Bucket meme plays on the endearingly simple yet often misunderstood emotions of animals. Although largely unrecognized, I Has a Bucket recalls the character of Milton Waddams (played by Stephen Root) in the 1999 film Office Space. Like the lolrus, Milton is whiskered, however unlike the lolrus, Milton loves a redline stapler instead of a blue bucket. Although seemingly gentle, both are outraged when their favorite objects are taken from their possession.
Origin of the Lolrus and Bucket Meme
The origin of the lolrus image can ultimately be traced to a southern elephant seal named Minazo (kanji: 美男象, and hiragana: みなぞう).[6]
Born in 1995, Minazo was captured in the wild when he was half a year old and transported from Uruguay to Japan. Until his death in 2005, he was held in captivity at Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture where he became a very popular attraction, even appearing on Japanese television shows.[7] Despite his fame in Japan, Minazo remained obscure until June 27, 2006, when noise artist Merzbow (aka Masami Akita) released a two volume album (vol. 1, vol. 2) in tribute to Minazo. Cover art for the album by Jenny Akita showed Minazo holding his beloved bucket.[8] By the time I Has a Bucket was posted in January 2007, the image of Minazo on Merzbow's album and t-shirt merchandise, and the story of Minazo's life and death had reached an international audience. A full four months passed before observant lolrus commenters at icanhascheezburger.com identified the elephant seal shown in the ur-lolrus image macro as none other than Minazo performing his signature bucket holding, tongue-lolling pose.[9][10] In the original uncropped image, rather than angry over a lost bucket, Minazo appears to have opened his mouth to receive a fish as reward for this performance.[11]
In his liner notes, Masami Akita suggests that Minazo's frequent and demanding performances left him exhausted, contributing ultimately to his death at the age of 11. Male elephant seals generally live till about 14 years of age.[12]. Akita's intention in celebrating Minazo was to highlight the plight of captive animals used for public entertainment.[13]
References
- ^ see slate.com[1]
- ^ see icanhascheezburger.com for the first posting of I Has A Bucket [2]
- ^ see Time Magazine 2007-07-12, "Creating a Cute Cat Frenzy" by Lev Grossman: "The I HAS A BUCKET lolrus, starring a tragic walrus deprived of its only possession, is threatening to spin off into a freestanding meme in its own right." Note also that Grossman misidentifies the elephant seal as a walrus. [3]
- ^ A number of image macro sites have sections devoted to the meme. For example, The Complete Walrus Bucket Saga[4]
- ^ see ihasabucket.com [5]
- ^ see images of Minazo being fed at Enoshima Aquarium. The "bucket walrus" is immediately identifiable as Minazo, the elephant seal[6]
- ^ "Popular Enoshima Aquarium Seal Dies After 10 1/2-year Run" (Japan Times 2005-10-05) [7]
- ^ see Minazo vol. 1 album artwork [8]
- ^ see I Can Has Bucket comments beginning April 2007, I Has A Bucket [9]
- ^ see above, Japan Times 2005-10-05.[10]
- ^ A source image for the unedited lolrus was posted with a definition of lolrus in April 2007 at urbandictionary.com[11]
- ^ For more information on southern (and northern) elephant seals including their lifespan, see wikipedia's article on Elephant Seals
- ^ The liner notes to Merzbow's album Minazo makes clear his intention, see Merzbow's Minazo press release, Important Records 2006)[12]