René la Taupe
Encyclopedia
René la taupe is a virtual singing character created in 2009 by Fox Mobile Group studios. The character, which is in fact a groundhog
, was made famous through a music for mobile phone
and a music video
available on the Internet
. The character was created to mediate ringtones on behalf of Jamster, a distributor of content for mobile phones that had already produced Crazy Frog
.
In May 2010, a second song was released, "Mignon, Mignon", which quickly became a hit. The lyrics, written by Christian Büttner, Hank Hobson and Marcello Pagin, suggest the chubby look of the animal that makes it adorable. The success of the single generated an increase of the ringtone sales, becoming one of the most downloaded of the middle of 2010 with help from Fun Radio.
Jamba, a brand of Fox Mobile Group, released a derivative version, "Mauvais, Mauvais" (English: "Bad, Bad") after the failure of the France team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
but it was the original song that ensured success. The music video is shown on the Internet and became an Internet meme
.
In late August 2010, René la Taupe announced a new single, "C'est la rentrée". A Christmas song is also scheduled.
's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
", the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
. It dethroned that song four weeks later. The single also entered the French physical chart at number one in the late August 2010, selling 17,300 units in the first week, which was the highest weekly sales for a single since August 2008, and remained at number one for a total of thirteen weeks, as of 30 November 2010. The music video has been seen over 5 million times on Youtube
in two months.
Despite its popularity, the character was controversial because some Internet users did not appreciate it: on Twitter
, the groundhog received messages of hate, and on Wikipedia, the French and German articles were proposed to deletion with the main argument that it is "a short-lived phenomenon which Wikipedia does not have to promote it". However, both articles were kept.
As of August 2010, the groundhog has over 28,000 friends on Facebook
.
In late August 2010, René la Taupe launched a new music video on the Internet entitled "C'est la rentrée". The song used the same tune as "Merde", the first single of the singing character.
In late October, a second single, entitled "Tu parles trop", was released. It entered as a peak of number three on the French Singles Chart, behind the former single "Mignon Mignon".
On 15 November 2010, the first album entitled Les Aventures de René la Taupe was released in France, with 15 tracks, and a DVD containing the music videos and the karaoke versions of the first four singles. The albums debuted at number 25, then dropped but reached a peak at number twenty about two months later.
1 Physical chart until 2010, physical + digital chart after 2010
2 No. 4 on the Physical chart
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
, was made famous through a music for mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
available on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The character was created to mediate ringtones on behalf of Jamster, a distributor of content for mobile phones that had already produced Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog, originally known as Adam King, is a computer-animated character created in 2003 by Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl in 1997 while attempting to imitate the sound of a...
.
History: ringtones and singles
The first ringtone, "Merde" (English: "Shit"), whose lyrics were sometimes considered vulgar, is the most downloaded song of 2009 on the German version ("Scheiße, ich liebe dich") of Jamba. The single reached number 30 in Germany and remained nine weeks on the charts, and peaked at number 38 in Austria.In May 2010, a second song was released, "Mignon, Mignon", which quickly became a hit. The lyrics, written by Christian Büttner, Hank Hobson and Marcello Pagin, suggest the chubby look of the animal that makes it adorable. The success of the single generated an increase of the ringtone sales, becoming one of the most downloaded of the middle of 2010 with help from Fun Radio.
Jamba, a brand of Fox Mobile Group, released a derivative version, "Mauvais, Mauvais" (English: "Bad, Bad") after the failure of the France team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
but it was the original song that ensured success. The music video is shown on the Internet and became an Internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
.
In late August 2010, René la Taupe announced a new single, "C'est la rentrée". A Christmas song is also scheduled.
Reception
In late July 2010, the single reached number two on the SNEP French downloaded chart, behind ShakiraShakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
", the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
. It dethroned that song four weeks later. The single also entered the French physical chart at number one in the late August 2010, selling 17,300 units in the first week, which was the highest weekly sales for a single since August 2008, and remained at number one for a total of thirteen weeks, as of 30 November 2010. The music video has been seen over 5 million times on Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in two months.
Despite its popularity, the character was controversial because some Internet users did not appreciate it: on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, the groundhog received messages of hate, and on Wikipedia, the French and German articles were proposed to deletion with the main argument that it is "a short-lived phenomenon which Wikipedia does not have to promote it". However, both articles were kept.
As of August 2010, the groundhog has over 28,000 friends on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
In late August 2010, René la Taupe launched a new music video on the Internet entitled "C'est la rentrée". The song used the same tune as "Merde", the first single of the singing character.
In late October, a second single, entitled "Tu parles trop", was released. It entered as a peak of number three on the French Singles Chart, behind the former single "Mignon Mignon".
On 15 November 2010, the first album entitled Les Aventures de René la Taupe was released in France, with 15 tracks, and a DVD containing the music videos and the karaoke versions of the first four singles. The albums debuted at number 25, then dropped but reached a peak at number twenty about two months later.
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart | Certification (FR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... (DD) |
|||
| 2010 | Les Aventures de René la Taupe | 20 | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart | Certification (FR) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... 1 |
GER Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
AUS Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
|||
| 2009 | "Merde" | — | 30 | 38 | — |
| 2010 | "Mignon Mignon Mignon Mignon "Mignon Mignon" is a 2010 song recorded by virtual singing groundhog René la Taupe. It was the second single from the album Les Aventures de René la Taupe and was released in July 2010... " |
1 | — | — | Gold |
| "Tu parles trop" | 3 | — | — | — | |
| "Petit papa Noël" | — | — | — | — | |
| 2011 | "Ou la la" | 622 | — | — |
1 Physical chart until 2010, physical + digital chart after 2010
2 No. 4 on the Physical chart