TRYMSTENE
The Dancing Banana GIF, created by Trym Stene in 1999

the dancing
banana

A GIF I made in 1999 that never stopped dancing

The Dancing Banana — also just called the banana meme — is an animated pixel GIF created by Trym Stene in 1999: a little banana waving its arms in celebration. One of the internet's earliest memes, later set to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." Download it free below, make your own, or license it.

Take it with you

Download the Dancing Banana GIF

It's the people's banana — free to download, share and embed. Grab it however you need it.

The Dancing Banana GIF, free download
Original GIF ↓ Transparent GIF ↓ Transparent PNG ↓

🎨 Make your own dancing banana →

Want it as a Discord, Slack or Telegram emoji / sticker? Grab the transparent version.

It's free — always. But if the banana made you smile, you can buy the banana guy a coffee. ☕🍌

The story

Who made the Dancing Banana?

I did — Trym Stene, back in 1999, on an AMD K6-2 running at a blistering 350MHz, using Animation Shop (the little tool bundled with Paint Shop Pro). It started as a "celebration" emoji I'd post on forums and IRC — and somehow it never stopped dancing.

Read the full story

I grew up in rural Norway, without many people around who were into the same things, so I made silly digital stuff to amuse myself and the people I met on internet forums and IRC. The banana became my little "celebration" emoji — I'd post it whenever I finished something new. I made other animations too, an angry toaster, a melting ice-cream cone with big sad eyes — but none of them had whatever the banana had.

Before Flash took over, I actually made a bit of money drawing animated GIF ad-banners for people I met on IRC — about $25 a pop (250 kroner), though cashing a foreign check ate a chunk of that. Then Flash arrived, The Buckwheat Boyz set a version to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time," and the banana took on a life of its own — eventually even turning up in Family Guy.

The usual questions

Dancing Banana FAQ

What is the dancing banana meme?

It's an animated pixel banana that waves its arms and dances — one of the internet's first memes, created by Trym Stene in 1999. People also call it "the banana meme" or the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time banana."

What does the dancing banana mean?

It started as a "celebration" emoji — I'd post it whenever I finished something. These days it's shorthand for pure joy, silliness, or "it's [something] time!" energy.

Who made the Dancing Banana GIF?

I did — Trym Stene. I animated it in 1999 in Animation Shop. I don't still have the original file as a smoking gun, but the story's been picked up by USA Today, Fandom, City AM and others.

When was the Dancing Banana created?

Around 1999. I made loads of GIFs in those years, but this one shone the brightest.

Where can I download it?

Right here, free — as the original GIF or a transparent version. No sign-ups, no watermarks.

Is it the same as "Peanut Butter Jelly Time"?

Related, but not the same. I made the banana; later The Buckwheat Boyz set a Flash version to their song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." The song and that Flash are theirs — the banana is mine. Who made what →

Can I use it?

For fun? Go wild. For commercial use? Read this first.

USA Today Fandom City AM

Want to use the banana?

Licensing

Free to enjoy, share and remix for fun. For commercial use you'll need a license — and yes, that includes crypto/token projects, on stricter terms. I license the original directly, no middlemen, quoted per project.

How to license the banana →

Thank you, internet

Community remixes

A huge thank you to the meme community for all the Dancing Banana remixes over the years — the warrior banana, the skiing banana, the alien banana, all of them. (Gallery going up here soon.)

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