The Dancing Baby meme became one of the first viral videos in 1996.
The meme featured a 3D-rendered baby performing a cha-cha-style dance. Its source model, known as “Toddler with Diaper,” came from Viewpoint Datalabs and was distributed with Character Studio, an animation plug-in for 3D Studio Max.
The animation was demonstrated at the 1995 SIGGRAPH conference, but Character Studio was released in August 1996. Ron Lussier helped recover and circulate the dancing-baby animation, and developer John Woodell later converted it into an animated GIF that spread widely online.
The clip became a late-1990s cultural phenomenon through email, forums, websites, television coverage, advertisements, and the series Ally McBeal. The “Ooga Chaka” nickname came from versions paired with Blue Swede's “Hooked on a Feeling.” The original animation's creation and its later viral spread are related but distinct stages.