AI startup Luma Labs released Dream Machine last week, and already its AI-powered video-generating software has proven extremely popular. Demand for Dream Machine overloaded Luma's servers to the point that it introduced a queuing system and daily prompt limit for its free tier. Now users are putting the AI model through its paces by animating and making extended versions of popular memes — and the results are cracking me up.
Content creator Madni Aghadi kicked off the trend over the weekend with a thread on X (formerly Twitter) of popular still-image memes converted into videos using Dream Machine, according to Know Your Meme. Examples included Distracted Boyfriend, Captain Picard's infamous facepalm, and more.
Naturally, the thread inspired other users to try giving their favorite memes a new life. We've rounded up some of the best examples, which you can check out below. We even tried our luck with animating one of our own favorite still-image memes.
1. Distracted Boyfriend
Dream Machine by Luma AI is just 3 days old.Now memes are becoming videos.10 wild examples:1. Distracted boyfriendpic.twitter.com/QXNDQdkY4PJune 15, 2024
First up is an oldie (well, at least in terms of meme lifespans) but a goodie. As a video, Distracted Boyfriend shows the eponymous partner rubbernecking at another woman walking by and even beginning to follow her. His girlfriend looks around in shock just like in the meme. She also seems to glance at the woman before staring into the sky and awkwardly shuffling in place alongside him as he walks, like they're character models in a video game that got stuck on each other.
2. Success Kid
5. Success kidpic.twitter.com/B6esoTamNoJune 15, 2024
Heck yeah, success! The popular reaction image of a baby on a beach with a smug facial expression and clinched fist doesn't really add much in video form. He shakes his fist a little, rocks back and forth, and quickly gets distracted to stare at something in the distance. (Maybe it's the same thing the girlfriend was looking at? I smell a crossover episode!)
3. Baby Wearing Nike Jordans
Be free! https://t.co/QOSyBMthYC pic.twitter.com/BILnUHlxeDJune 16, 2024
I couldn't find a name for this one on Know Your Meme, but it was too funny not to include it. The original image shows a baby sleeping on a mattress with adult-size Nike Jordans that obviously dwarf their tiny feet. Dream Machine really took that prompt and ran with it — and I mean that literally.
In the video version, the baby floats up and breaks off in a mad dash through the window into a sunlit suburban yard. This video might be the roughest, as the baby floats around like a marionette supported by invisible strings and seems to run straight through the window's glass. Then again, who knows, maybe there's fancy new glassless windows out there and I'm just not hip with the times.
4. Deez nuts
https://t.co/NMKHa5Lcsq pic.twitter.com/6R6T3bqNa9June 16, 2024
Is this joke immature? Yes. Do I still make it regularly? You bet. The infamous Deez Nuts video, easily the oldest meme on this list (it even predates YouTube), now has an extended version thanks to Dream Machine. And out of all of these, it got the biggest chuckle out of me.
After he delivers the punchline over the phone, his face glitches out for a second before he whips his head around to stare straight at the camera, mean-mugging, as what sounds like an off-brand version of the Law and Order "dun-dun" plays.
5. Im Outta Here
I couldn't tell you why this meme always makes me laugh, but since it does, I figured it'd be a perfect candidate to get the video treatment. The Animal Crossing villager's walk animation looks pretty janky, almost like a paper doll being moved instead of a three-dimensional object. And don't ask me what their shirt is doing. Either Dream Machine was trying to emulate the material swooshing back and forth with their stride or mistook the shirt for part of the villager's body. (Am I crazy or does it kind of look like it's breathing?) Dream Machine also generated some alphabet soup out of the "I'm leaving" caption in the original image.
