“What is the name of the 1996 animated baby that became one of the first internet memes?” — It is the “Dancing Baby.” Also called Baby Cha-Cha or the Oogachacka Baby, it is a looping 3D animation of a diapered baby performing a cha-cha-style dance.
The animation began as a computer-graphics demonstration rather than a purpose-built meme. The baby model came from Viewpoint Datalabs’ commercially available “Toddler with Diaper” model, while the dance was adapted from animation work developed for Character Studio, then associated with Autodesk 3D Studio Max. A demo appeared at the 1995 SIGGRAPH conference, and Character Studio was released in August 1996.
Ron Lussier helped circulate the animation online, and developer John Woodell is widely credited with converting it into an easily shared animated GIF. Email, CompuServe forums, and personal webpages helped it spread before social media existed.
The clip became a late-1990s cultural phenomenon, especially when paired with Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling.” It also appeared in television, advertising, and the series Ally McBeal, making it an early example of online culture crossing into mainstream entertainment.