An AI Rumpelstiltskin Clip Becomes a Viral Meme After Viewers Mistake It for a Film

Viewers went looking for an old movie and found an AI-generated meme instead. A Rumpelstiltskin-like imp has spread widely online over the past week, dancing to Riff Raff’s “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz.” Learning that the footage was synthetic did not end the joke: users began replacing its star with other characters.

The recent wave began with users adding the song to a clip that had been online since August. Its original creator was Tatyana Tereshchenko, who describes herself as an AI artist and filmmaker. NBC News’ Angela Yang reported the meme’s spread on October 7, tracing its progression from a puzzling fairy-tale scene to a format people could reuse.

The footage has a complete, strange little plot. An imp approaches a woman sitting amid piles of straw and dances while she cries in fear. He turns the straw into gold coins, prompting her delight. When she kisses him, he transforms into a prince.

Its old-movie appearance sent viewers searching for a source film. Some believed they recognized the 1987 musical adaptation of “Rumpelstiltskin.” According to Yang, it took days for viewers to begin realizing the clip was AI-generated. By that point, it had already become a meme, and its artificial origins did little to dampen participation.

A soundtrack turns the dance into a template

One early popular version paired the dance with the caption, “The type of dreams I be having after taking dollar store melatonin.” Yang cited the meme database Know Your Meme in identifying that post as one of the first to popularize the format. The TikTok video passed 900,000 views in less than a week.

More than 65,000Followers for a meme-reposting account

A TikTok account dedicated to reposting variations gained more than 65,000 followers within a few days, according to NBC News.

Other captions made the imp’s movements stand in for ordinary, awkward situations. The same dance became a late-night snack expedition, a shoe-store fitting and a roadside sobriety test. Examples cited by NBC News included:

• “creeping downstairs at 2am for a lil treat”
• “having to walk the aisle in Payless shoe to make sure our $15 shoes fit just right”
• “acing the field sobriety test” at a traffic stop

The imp becomes replaceable

Once users recognized the AI origins, the remixes moved beyond changing the soundtrack or caption. They replaced the imp with fictional characters including Sam and Dean Winchester and Wednesday Addams. Other versions substituted public figure Gypsy-Rose Blanchard or mascot Ronald McDonald, turning the scene into a vehicle for an expanding cast.

Some people have also re-enacted the clip in real life. Not everyone wants another variation, though: Yang described users already tiring of the “scary” imp and hoping the meme would run its course. The response ranges from obsessive replaying to fatigue, even as the character-swapping versions continue to circulate.