I Feel Fantastic

"John Bergeron" redirects here; not to be confused with John J. M. Bergeron.
I Feel Fantastic
DVD cover of Android Music Videos Volume 1
Produced byJohn Bergeron
StarringTara the Android
Distributed byYouTube
Release date
  • December 26, 2004 (2004-12-26)
Running time
3 minutes (full 15 minutes)
LanguageEnglish

"I Feel Fantastic" is a surrealist music video and viral video created by John Bergeron in 2004. It features a humanoid animatronic named Tara the Android, which Bergeron described as an attempt to create "the world's first pop star android". Bergeron produced the five-part video series to promote the animatronic, which was released on his website and also offered as a DVD titled "Android Music Videos Volume 1".

One of the videos, titled Please, was re-uploaded to YouTube in 2009, by the user Creepyblog without context, under the title I Feel Fantastic. It quickly gained popularity due its uncanny and creepy nature. The character Tara has since made unofficial cameo appearances in other media, such as Broadcast Signal Intrusion and Smiling Friends.

Video

I Feel Fantastic begins with low-quality footage of an interior shot of the house, featuring an animatronic mannequin named "Tara the Android", dressed in a wig and women's clothing. She repeatedly sings the lines "I feel fantastic, hey hey hey" and "Run, run, run," accompanied by an arpeggiated synth line, while jerking her arms and stiffly turning her head.[1] Tara's wig and clothing change throughout the video. Later, there is an abrupt, five-second cut to a shot of a backyard.[2] The camera zooms in on the garden before returning to the house, where Tara continues to sing "Please leave," followed by the repetition of "Run, run, run, run..."[1][3]

History

John Bergeron[note 1] built Tara from materials worth approximately $2,000 with the goal of marketing her as the "world's first android music star"[3] and planned to take her act on the road for live shows.[4] The animatronic stands at 5' 10" in height and consists of a metal skeleton and synthetic rubber for "skin".[‡ 1][‡ 2] Later in 2004,[5][6] Bergeron added an entity to the antiquated robot-builders information website "AndroidWorld.com", where he offered five downloadable music videos titled Electricity (Metal Version), Brutal Metal, Please, Electricity, and Brutal1.[4] The website also included a DVD version titled "Android Music Videos Volume 1", a mixtape of all five video clips.[4] Bergeron has not released any public updates since 2006.[4][7]

In 2009, the Please video was re-uploaded to YouTube without context by the user Creepyblog, under the title I Feel Fantastic. Creepyblog's description accompanying the YouTube video includes a cryptic reference to the Greek legend of Pygmalion, a sculptor from ancient Cyprus who believed that all women were tainted and unworthy of love.[4] It quickly went viral and now has over 6 million views as of 2018.[3][8][9] In 2015, the Russian YouTuber Brand-Smetana uploaded the DVD version, which, according to Smetana, is the "complete" version with a length of almost 15 minutes.[4]

Legacy

I Feel Fantastic gained its popularity in the early-2010s due its uncanny and creepy nature.[9] Many people have theorised about this video, with the most popular being that Tara's creator was a murderer who made Tara wear his victims' clothes[3][10][11] and that the backyard shown in the video is where he buried his victims.[2][7]

I Feel Fantastic has been subject to commentary by YouTubers. Including Michael Stevens of Vsauce in a video discussing "why are things creepy?" And PewDiePie in a reaction video about "weird" web videos.[‡ 3]

The character Tara the Android has since made unofficial cameo appearances in other media. In an interview, American film director Jacob Gentry cited "I Feel Fantastic" and Max Headroom signal hijacking as inspiration for his 2021 film Broadcast Signal Intrusion.[12][13] A depiction of Tara, voiced by Erica Lindbeck, can be seen in the fourth episode of the second season of Smiling Friends, titled "Um, the boss finds love?"[14]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The AndroidWorld website states "John Bergeron", although most secondary sources list him as "Jon Bergeron".

References

  1. ^ a b "7 Scariest Videos Ever Found on the Internet". The Lineup. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  2. ^ a b Lloyd, Brian (2020-10-31). "The 10 creepiest videos on YouTube". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  3. ^ a b c d "13 creepy YouTube videos that are pure nightmare fuel". Yahoo News. 2018-10-29. Archived from the original on 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Burkart, Gregory (2016-04-12). ""I Feel Fantastic" — The Horrifying History of Tara the Android". Blumhouse.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  5. ^ McAndrews, Mary Beth (2022-02-16). "10 Classic Cursed Youtube Videos Still Stressing Out The Internet [Watch]". Dread Central. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  6. ^ Mukhopadhyay, Arka (2021-10-31). "Is Broadcast Signal Intrusion Based on a True Story?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  7. ^ a b "13 of the creepiest, most messed-up YouTube videos". Digital Spy. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  8. ^ "5 New Creepypastas That Will Start Your 2017 Off Wrong". HuffPost. 2017-01-20. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  9. ^ a b Lucia (2024-01-01). "Mannequin Human (마네킹 인간): An Eerie Korean Urban Legend". The Ghost In My Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  10. ^ Kopsky, Anna (2016-09-01). "19 Freaky YouTube Videos That'll Scare The Hell Out Of You". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  11. ^ Mix (2016-07-05). "5 of the creepiest robots on the internet". TNW | Insider. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  12. ^ Cavanaugh, Patrick (2021-10-21). "Broadcast Signal Intrusion Director Talks the Max Headroom Incident and Blurring Fact With Fiction". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  13. ^ Miska, Brad (2021-03-16). "Jacob Gentry Investigates a 'Broadcast Signal Intrusion', Creepy Tapes, and Android Nightmare Fuel [SXSW Interview]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  14. ^ Kumar, Praveen (2024-05-28). "Smiling Friends season 2 complete release schedule: All episodes and when they arrive". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2025-06-11.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ^ 7. AndroidWorld prod10
  2. ^ John Bergeron Android Music Videos website (2006)
  3. ^ Multiple sources:
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