I was always more of a Maru guy.
August 2, 2024 1:07 PM Subscribe
The legend of Keyboard Cat: How a man and his cat(s) won the internet lottery. Part of Mashable's Tales of the Early Internet.
Bento, the second Keyboard Cat, passed away in 2018 and scored more online obits than 99% of humans—and yet, surprisingly, none at Mefi. (Fatso, the original keyboard cat, died in the 1980s.) Now (or at least as of last August), Charlie Schmidt, Fatso's and Bento's and lately Skinny's owner and cat video pioneer, is set to be the focus of a documentary. Not bad for the guy behind BuzzFeed's No. 1 of 30 Most Important Cats of 2009 (link is full of dead BuzzFeed embeds, but readers of a certain age can visualise them from their vivid epithets). A few previouslies, from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Not to be confused with this keyboard cat.
Bento, the second Keyboard Cat, passed away in 2018 and scored more online obits than 99% of humans—and yet, surprisingly, none at Mefi. (Fatso, the original keyboard cat, died in the 1980s.) Now (or at least as of last August), Charlie Schmidt, Fatso's and Bento's and lately Skinny's owner and cat video pioneer, is set to be the focus of a documentary. Not bad for the guy behind BuzzFeed's No. 1 of 30 Most Important Cats of 2009 (link is full of dead BuzzFeed embeds, but readers of a certain age can visualise them from their vivid epithets). A few previouslies, from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Not to be confused with this keyboard cat.
I love it that KC predates the internet. (As we know it.)
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 1:20 PM on August 2 [4 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 1:20 PM on August 2 [4 favorites]
Office Space keyboard cat.
IWillVote Cat (video from 5 yrs ago)
posted by zaixfeep at 2:41 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
IWillVote Cat (video from 5 yrs ago)
posted by zaixfeep at 2:41 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
I feel unwarranted anxiety when I see Maru mentioned. Maru will live forever, I’ll have it no other way.
posted by sdrawkcab at 4:09 PM on August 2 [13 favorites]
posted by sdrawkcab at 4:09 PM on August 2 [13 favorites]
The story of his mom giving him her pantyhose cardboard to draw on!!! 😭
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:44 PM on August 2 [2 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:44 PM on August 2 [2 favorites]
MARU 4 EVER
posted by scose at 6:01 PM on August 2 [6 favorites]
posted by scose at 6:01 PM on August 2 [6 favorites]
I loved this article, I love that this quirky guy Did A Thing and had a friend help him get paid for it, so he could keep being quirky.
The story of his mom giving him her pantyhose cardboard to draw on!!!
My mom used to give me copier paper to draw on that she stole from work. Sometimes there would be letterhead that they had gotten rid of.
Chuck Jones wrote that his dad started many failed businesses, and each time, he would get new letterhead that would then become unusable when the business failed. Jones said that having all that paper around had a lot to do with his ability to practice art as a youngster.
posted by emjaybee at 7:58 PM on August 2 [7 favorites]
The story of his mom giving him her pantyhose cardboard to draw on!!!
My mom used to give me copier paper to draw on that she stole from work. Sometimes there would be letterhead that they had gotten rid of.
Chuck Jones wrote that his dad started many failed businesses, and each time, he would get new letterhead that would then become unusable when the business failed. Jones said that having all that paper around had a lot to do with his ability to practice art as a youngster.
posted by emjaybee at 7:58 PM on August 2 [7 favorites]
A lot of my kids' drawings were done on the back of single-sided printouts of drafts of student assignments that I'd marked. Wouldn't have been if they were little today, as I now use a tablet for that.
I was struck by the moment in the Mashable article when Schmidt invested in a ton of equipment to transfer old video tapes to digital to show them to his two-year-old (ostensibly, but mainly because he had a hunch there was gold in there). Most people would have just let them slide into degraded obscurity.
posted by rory at 1:58 AM on August 3
I was struck by the moment in the Mashable article when Schmidt invested in a ton of equipment to transfer old video tapes to digital to show them to his two-year-old (ostensibly, but mainly because he had a hunch there was gold in there). Most people would have just let them slide into degraded obscurity.
posted by rory at 1:58 AM on August 3
I also used the cardboard inserts from product packaging for artistic purposes in my youth. Not even just the white cardboard ones—that heavy grey cardboard on the back of pads of lined paper often came in handy. Cereal boxes also made passable files for loose sheets of writing and art. Having time but no money is a great spur to creativity.
posted by rory at 2:03 AM on August 3 [1 favorite]
posted by rory at 2:03 AM on August 3 [1 favorite]
Okay, so, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm deep into Internet Cats, but I'm into Internet Cats.
While not yet a cat of history, she will become one: Nina Dancing Queen is perhaps the best of the cat video cats, these days. Fedja has more Maru-like variety, but much more embedded sponsorship content. Nina, on the other hand, keeps things brief and wonderful, leaving you wanting more.
I can forgive Natalya for doing what she has to do in order to support her animals, but in the end, a dancing cat with exactly one (perfect!) gimmick will be memorable forever.
posted by majick at 6:27 AM on August 3
While not yet a cat of history, she will become one: Nina Dancing Queen is perhaps the best of the cat video cats, these days. Fedja has more Maru-like variety, but much more embedded sponsorship content. Nina, on the other hand, keeps things brief and wonderful, leaving you wanting more.
I can forgive Natalya for doing what she has to do in order to support her animals, but in the end, a dancing cat with exactly one (perfect!) gimmick will be memorable forever.
posted by majick at 6:27 AM on August 3
What a great and fun background. Kudos to that guy! And RIP, OG Keyboard cat.
posted by davidmsc at 7:59 AM on August 3
posted by davidmsc at 7:59 AM on August 3
I know Charlie although I haven’t seen him in a long time. Keyboard cat was on a demo reel in mid-1988 so it predates the web by a long time. Charlie also did some Dime Bar ads by using a piece of glass to make his nose dance. It won him some fame in Europe.
posted by bz at 9:43 AM on August 3 [2 favorites]
posted by bz at 9:43 AM on August 3 [2 favorites]
Man, I miss having a cat who will sit still so I can manipulate her paws and make her dance. I used to hold my old cat, Lucy, on my lap and she'd 'conduct' the music to Game of Thrones. When I tried that with my current (psycho) cat, I nearly lost an eye.
posted by essexjan at 2:05 AM on August 4 [2 favorites]
posted by essexjan at 2:05 AM on August 4 [2 favorites]
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posted by HearHere at 1:13 PM on August 2 [2 favorites]