Do the Roar

About

Do the Roar refers to a scene from the fourth Shrek movie, Shrek Forever After, in which a blonde dad approaches Shrek with his blonde son, canonically known as Butter Pants, asking Shrek to do his "famous Shrek roar" prompting the kid to say "Do the roar" in a nasally and deep voice over and over again. The scene was uploaded to YouTube upon the film's release in 2010, resulting in memetic remixes similar to YouTube Poop. Going into the 2020s, the scene gained notoriety and memes on TikTok as many recreated the scene and did Butter Pants' voice.

Origin

On May 21st, 2010, the fourth Shrek movie Shrek Forever After was released in American theaters.^[1] In one scene in the movie, Shrek is at his kid's birthday party when a dad approaches him with his son, asking Shrek to do his "famous Shrek roar" for his son. His son, known as Butter Pants,^[2] then tells Shrek, "Do the roar," over and over again with his nasally and deep voice (HD YouTube^[3] upload shown below, left). The first discovered video and meme to use the scene was uploaded by YouTuber^[4] Proclaimer001 on May 18th, 2010, who remixed the scene with MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This," gaining roughly 1.3 million views and 2,300 likes in 13 years (shown below, right).

Spread

Going into 2010, more uploads of the scene landed on YouTube, such as one edit uploaded by YouTuber^[5] OmgItsKiona on May 24th, 2010, that received roughly 731,400 views in 13 years (shown below, left). On January 8th, 2011, YouTuber^[6] Miki Nebulah uploaded a video that remixed the scene with Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," gaining roughly 696,000 views and 2,700 likes in 12 years (shown below, right).

Memetic usage continued on YouTube going into the late 2010s. For instance, on February 19th, 2018, YouTuber^[7] XpVerse uploaded an iteration that gained roughly 2.8 million views and 91,000 likes in five years (shown below, left). On November 6th, 2020, YouTuber^[8] Bosh posted an iteration, receiving roughly 3.1 million views and 97,000 likes in three years (shown below, right).

On TikTok

Going into the 2020s, the "Do The Roar" scene was used in TikTok content. For instance, one of its earliest uses was a video uploaded by TikToker^[9] @thesnikle on April 18th, 2020, who did Butter Pants' voice repeatedly, gaining roughly 1.8 million likes in three years (shown below, left). In 2022, TikToker @yaboyywill started posting videos in which he did the voice and impersonated Butter Pants. For instance, on May 17th, 2022, @yaboyywill posted a "Do The Roar" TikTok^[10] that gained roughly 28.4 million plays and 4.8 million likes in one month (shown below, right).

In 2023, TikToker^[11] @steftee went viral for a similar impersonation TikTok uploaded on May 6th, 2023, gaining roughly 27.7 million plays and 3.7 million likes in 12 days. Also, other TikTokers^[12] in 2023 referenced "Do The Roar" in association with Gorlock the Destroyer, likening her to Shrek.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References