"I'm a Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)" is a noveltydance song by Gummibär, in reference to the gummy bear, a type of bear-shaped candy originating in Germany. It was written by German composer Christian Schneider and released by Gummibär's label Gummybear International. The song was first released in Hungary, where it spent eight months as number one atop the ringtones chart.[3]
Subsequently, it became a global phenomenon as an Internet meme, in large part due to its corresponding videos on YouTube and MySpace.[1] It has since been released in at least 43 languages, and the English version alone has spread virally worldwide, with more than 3 billion plays on YouTube alone.
With the song ready-made for ringtone use, one critic[who?] commented "he's the ultimate cross-platform, cross-cultural phenomenon YouTube was designed to unleash."[6] It is heard on his debut album I Am Your Gummy Bear released in 2007. Since the song's release, many songs, including a cover of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", have been released by Gummibär.
Multiple languages
Several versions have been released in many languages. The song was originally released in German[7] and English, and, as mentioned, the French version has received more than half a billion views.[8] Gummibär released a whole album of their new languages on YouTube.[9]
Other languages include Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Hungarian, Swedish, Slovak, Swahili, Polish, Turkish, Klingon, and several more.
Music video
Videos corresponding to at least 43 languages are currently uploaded featuring the titular gummy bear character in orange underwear bouncing and breakdancing.[1][10][11]
Gummibär is a blue-eyed, highly stylized, green gummy bear. He is slightly overweight and wears orange Y-front briefs and white sneakers. He also seems to have a half-chewed right ear. His muzzle, or mustache and goatee, are sugar-crusted and with only two small teeth spaced far apart on his lower jaw.
The English music video, posted on October 9, 2007, has over 3.4 billion views on YouTube as of October 2024[update], making it one of the top-50 most-viewed videos on the site.[12]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^berlin0708 (2006-07-14), GUMMIBÄR, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2018-05-13{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)