Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, on Sept 19, 2024. - Photo: AP
BANGKOK: If you think Baby Shark is both hypnotic and annoying with its trance-inducing loops and hyper-repetitive lyrics, wait till you hear the 50-second ditty a Thai music company has produced for everyone’s favourite baby pygmy hippo: Moo Deng.
The song, titled Moodeng Moodeng, plays at an aerobic 145 beats per minute, with babyish lyrics like “Moo Deng Moo Deng, deng, deng, deng” and “Moo Deng Moo Deng, boing, boing”.
The only discernible lines are: “Mommy, Mommy, play with me. Bounce with me, mom.”
It wraps it all up with: “Are you ready? Hip Hip hooray!”, before closing as it began: “Moo Deng Moo Deng, deng, deng, deng”.
You can watch and listen to it on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music in Thai, English, Chinese and Japanese.
Spiced with some psychedelic flourishes, the YouTube videos show clips of Moo Deng hopping, running, twirling and tripping on her feet. She is also seen sidling up to her mum, getting sprayed with water, and having her pinkish cheeks rubbed.
The Thai version has been the most popular one so far, racking up over 80,000 views since it was uploaded on Nov 13.
On YouTube, one user poked fun at American DJ and record producer Steve Aoki, commenting: “Now I have some new material I can play in my concerts – Steve Aoki.”
Another comment called it the “song of the year”, while one likewise noted its march towards world-pop domination: “Oh, Moo Deng, don’t end our favourite pop stars like that.”
The song was released by one of Thailand’s largest music companies, GMM Music.
Moo Deng became an internet sensation just a month after she was unveiled on Facebook on July 25 by the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand’s southern Chonburi province.
What has made her so endearing to millions is her seemingly chaotic and relatable personality, pop culture experts say.
Moo Deng literally means “bouncy pork” in Thai, and videos of her show her as exactly that: a bouncy, sassy, defiant and chubby baby.
Her online fans say they also enjoy watching her on streaming videos to get them through a particularly rough patch of their day.
The Khao Kheow zoo has made the most out of its resident diva since her claim to fame.
The zoo, which sits on 800 ha of land and is home to more than 2,000 animals, has trademarked her name.
It has also launched a series of hippo-patterned merchandise, such as clothes and beddings.
Moo Deng, now four months old, has drawn some 3,000 to 5,000 visitors a day on average in the past few months.
However, some tourists were previously reported to be seen harassing her, with videos online showing them throwing objects at her.
Outside the zoo, interest has also skyrocketed. Moo Deng’s image has been expropriated by public transit systems, sports teams and meme makers. There is even a cryptocurrency that bears her likeness.
Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi told Associated Press that the increasing income from Moo Deng will help its breeding programmes for many endangered species like the pygmy hippopotamus, which is threatened by poaching and loss of habitat.
The species is native to West Africa, and there are only 2,000 to 3,000 of them left in the wild. - The Straits Times/ANN
