@mestreensinador1/TikTok
Audra Schroeder
Internet Culture
Posted on Dec 2, 2022 Updated on Dec 1, 2022, 5:58 pm CST
Memory can be deceptive: Can you truly trust what you were told about your childhood, or are you now certain that you fluttered out of a tree stump?
Here’s why everyone on TikTok thinks a mysterious white puppet with a pointy green cap is “Me when I was a baby.”
The original TikTok was posted on Nov. 17, by the account @mestreensinador1. It has more than 8 million views and features a white puppet in a green hat emerging from a tree stump and then dancing around the forest.
The song accompanying the video is from popular Brazilian musician Raul Seixas, and it’s been used in more than 13,000 TikToks. The top comment, with more than 41,000 likes, reads: “me when I was a baby.”
That comment took off, as parents and kids duetted the sound and tried to convince each other they were once whimsical puppet babies.
#duet with @mestreensinador1 #mestreensinador
Others got a little more invested into becoming the puppet now.
#mestreensinador #greenhatguy
There doesn’t seem to be a collective nickname for the puppet yet, though most TikTokers are calling it “him.”
The creator, who appears to be Brazilian, has been posting the puppet to TikTok since 2020, and even documented its mysterious birth in May 2020. But how old is this creature, really?
A butija #foryou #foryoupage #assombraçao #misterio #epico
The creator also featured him in some different locales. The hashtag mestreensinador has more than 85 million views.
We reached out to the creator for comment, but he did recently post a sweet father-and-son photo to his Instagram. This little guy and Horace seem like they’d vibe.
The puppet has drawn out mostly positive responses on TikTok, as well as a sense of connection, in that we were all this baby.
Audra Schroeder is the Daily Dot’s senior entertainment writer, and she focuses on streaming, comedy, and music. Her work has previously appeared in the Austin Chronicle, the Dallas Observer, NPR, ESPN, Bitch, and the Village Voice. She is based in Austin, Texas.
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