A lot of Filipino netizens are going gaga over a man named Dante Gulapa (aka Big Papa), a former stripper who has become this season’s favorite living meme after his dancing videos went viral on Facebook. Recently, a group of fans exhibited their admiration by creating an animated tribute video for Big Papa.
The video was compiled and posted yesterday on the official Facebook account of Rocketsheep, an animation studio.
The compilation contained animated clips created by 23 Gulapanatics aka fans of Big Papa. The compilation, set to the tune of “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly, has gone viral. It’s been shared more than 8,800 times as of this writing.
Gulapa is a Philippine viral sensation and videos of him dancing are shared all over the internet. His image has even been featured in a comic strip where he’s saving families from Momo, of the Momo Challenge and a meme where he’s selling gulaman, a sweetened drink.
There was even this guy who used a photo of Gulapa to troll his brother. The dude masterfully inserted Gulapa’s photo into his sibling’s class project.
The latest viral video to feature him is the animation posted by Rocketsheep. Watch the video below and see why it became a sensation on Facebook. All the artists’ names are written in the video’s caption.
In a chat interview with Coconuts Manila, Avid Liongoren, the director of Rocketsheep Studio, said that the group of Gulapanatics call themselves BEATLOG, which stands for Band of Artists and True Lovers Of Gulapa. That’s a play on “beat” and the Filipino word “itlog” (“egg”).
He said they came up with the compilation because they’re really big fans of Gulapa’s dancing.
“His dance moves are fantastic,” Liongoren said in a mix of English and Filipino. “It’s really tough when you try to do them! When we watched his interviews, it’s apparent that he’s a great guy; so our admiration for him grew even more.”
The studio first started compiling fan art, but they found it too limiting. They wanted to show his Flying Eagle move where he stands on one foot and flies like a bird. They also wanted to show his signature “skip frame” move where his videos appear to be hanging but it’s just Big Papa moving like a robot.
“Since drawing is static, we thought of a video to showcase his moves,” Liongoren said.
The studio then posted on social media an open call for videos and the best ones made it on the final cut. Gulapa has been tagged on the video, but Liongoren said they still haven’t heard from him.
Naturally, fans loved the compilation.
Angee De Sierra wrote that if Filipino animators were paid well, they would be able to make world-class videos just like the compilation.
Michael Balane wrote: “Pinoy animators are so good. It’s a pity most of them work abroad.”
Kaye Chua said it was beautiful, and a good way to publicize the artists’ talents and Gulapa. “The artists and animators are so good!” she wrote.
But who is Gulapa, the subject of all these viral posts?
In an interview with the TV show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (“One Heart, Jessica Soho”), Gulapa said he used to work as a stripper when his family incurred a lot of debt. In an interview with News 5, he told his young fans that it was OK to idolize him, but he told them to make their education their priority.
Nice dude, indeed. Props to you, Big Papa!
