Maurice

About

Maurice, also known as Maurice Monkey or Maurice the Baby Orangutan, is an image macro of a baby orangutan named Maurice who's used as an exploitable in many meme templates. The trend started in late 2020 on iFunny as part of the "Every Squad Got The" snowclone alongside the Le Monke / Uh Oh Stinky meme and the "Cum Beast."

Origin

The original photo of the baby orangutan who was later dubbed Maurice surfaced online in June 2020 as a part of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Australia campaign.^[1] For instance, the original baby orangutan photo was attached in a tweet^[2] posted on June 16th, 2020, by the Twitter account of BOS_AUS, earning 13 likes in two years (shown below).

On September 27th, 2020, iFunnyer^[2] PapaLouie__ posted an "Every Squad Got The" meme with four options, one being Maurice 🥴 with the others being Ceo of Swag, Convicted Felon and Cum Beast. In two years the meme received 73 smiles (shown below). It is unknown whether PapaLouie__ is the meme's creator, however, theirs is currently the first known online. Also, it's likely that the baby orangutan's name was chosen because of the orangutan character named Maurice in the Planet of the Apes movie franchise.

Spread

On October 2nd, 2020, Twitter^[3] user smallmonkyjdee tweeted the meme, earning over 750 likes in two years. On October 4th, 2020, Redditor Dr_Mantis-Shrimp_PhD posted the meme to /r/ape,^[4] earning over 970 upvotes in the same amount of time.

On October 7th, 2020, Instagram^[5] page monkeyseatingass used the "I Wish I Had Her Body" meme template, inserting a feminine Maurice into it. The post received over 300 likes in two years (shown below, left). Later on October 7th, the meme was reposted to /r/ape^[6] where it earned roughly 3,900 upvotes in two years. Redditors within the /r/ape subreddit started making Maurice content in late 2020. For instance, on November 1st, 2020, Redditor Galpalz29 posted a Maurice meme to /r/ape^[7] that inserted him beneath a communism vs. capitalism meme that used the Breezewood, Pennsylvania image. The post earned roughly 4,800 upvotes in two years (shown below, right).

The trend continued into 2021. In 2022, Maurice memes surfaced en masse on Instagram. For instance, on July 26th, 2022, Instagram^[8] page pipesbuffet posted Maurice with a Rueben sandwich, earning a hidden amount of likes (shown below, left). On July 27th, 2022, Instagram^[9] page idontreadtheory added onto the meme, adding a "Live Question Mark Dog Reaction" in reference to the Live Tucker Reaction template. In two days, the meme received roughly 1,300 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References