What's The Story Behind The Viral Dancing Cartoon Named 'Horace'?

Are you old enough to remember the dancing baby from the late 90s?

Well, this ‘Horace’ character reminds me of the dancing baby and I was curious about his story.

‘Horace’ is an animation of an old man and he’s wearing a pink jumpsuit, he is all over my TikTok ‘for you page’ and everyone is filming themselves dancing with the filter.

The trend is viral and while it creeps me out a bit, it’s also kind of funny.

The filter was created by Jackson Quinn Gray, who is just 23 years old and was an art student that enjoyed 3D modeling.

TikTok users are using the filter along with the song “Feel No Ways” by Drake, but some people have chosen different songs to use.

People participating in the viral TikTok trend are using the hashtag #Horace and in most posts “Horace” plays the role of a socially awkward person… maybe I am Horace?

Jackson actually created the “Horace” character over two years ago and was shocked at his recent take-off on TikTok.

See, Jackson originally made “Horace” as a Facebook and Instagram filter.

“Horace” was originally naked though…

Jackson uploaded the dancing old man so that people on Facebook and Instagram could post it in their stories and they did over 200,000 times.

However, “Horace’s” time on Facebook and Instagram was short-lived because the little dancing old man was nude.

This violated the nudity policy and said that the filter contained content of an adult or sexual nature, and they removed the character from the apps.

When I made Horace, I wanted him to bring some light into the lives of everyone at home who is facing boredom, solitude, and uncertainty amidst such heavy-hearted times.⁣⁣
Jackson Gray posted in a statement on Instagram

After this happened, Jackson decided that he was going to redesign “Horace” and use him to make a point about censorship!

When I released him it was such a fun and beautiful thrill for me to just see him traveling around the world and being appreciated by so many people. And then when he was cut down, out of nowhere, it was tragic, like a kind of death.
Jackson Gray told Insider

Jackson made up a fictional story about “Horace” saying that he had died and then he returned as a new character… he even edited in Mark Zuckerberg and other people making speeches and captioned it as they were silencing “Horace”!

When “Horace” came back he was wearing the pink jumpsuit that you see him in now on the TikTok filter.

Jackson added the “Horace” filter to TikTok just this past April and he has now been used in tons of TikTok posts!

I’m just amazed by how funny people are on TikTok. The amount of creativity and humor can just be so impressive. So, it’s been really fun to see the kinds of memes that people have created.
Jackson told Insider