THEN: Creator of the Hampsterdance (1998)
NOW: ???
The origin of one of the most popular, early Internet memes is well-documented: Deidre LaCarte, a Canadian art student at the time, created the Hampsterdance (archived here) as an homage to her pet hamster. The dancing hamsters phenomenon eventually led to a CD and an appearance in an EarthLink commercial.
In 2000, LaCarte launched HampsterDance2.com, a page with more advanced, interactive dancing hamsters. That same year, she requested the deactivation of several hampsterdance parody sites for copyright infringement, listing herself as CEO of Inner Child Productions, Inc. in the email. In 2002, Abatis, Inc. acquired the rights to HampsterDance2 as well as the original Hampsterdance site.
What's next? SAI tracked her down via Facebook and asked her, but got only this response: “Yes, I am the originator of the Hampsterdance.”
