![Lolrus Lolrus](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/000/029/lolrus.jpg)
Lolrus
Part of a series on LOLcats. [View Related Entries]
About
Lolrus is the nickname given to the subject of two image macros featuring an elephant seal with a blue bucket. The photographs spawned a series of other image macros featuring pinnipeds and other animals referencing buckets.
Origin
The original photographs were taken of the southern elephant seal Minazo raised in Japan's Enoshima Aquarium. Minazo was known for his signature pose in which he would hold a bucket against his torse while sticking his tongue out of his mouth. The earliest known posting of Minazo holding a bucket with the caption "I has a bucket" was in a YTMND[15] page created by user ZombiePirate on July 24th, 2006, which was accompanied by the theme song from the television game show The Price is Right.
![Bucket](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/380/275/b69.jpg)
On December 23rd, 2006 Flickr user T-Bisqit uploaded an image macro featuring a photograph of Minazo holding a bucket with the caption "I has a bucket", followed by another photograph of an aquarium employee next to Minazo with the caption "Noooo they be stealin' my bucket" (shown below). While the image macro is rumored to have originated on 4chan, no threads featuring the image have been archived prior to 2007.
![lolrus.jpg Noooo they be stealin'my Bucket I Has a Bucket](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/000/026/lolrus.jpg)
Death
On October 7th, 2005, The Japan Times[4] reported that Minazo died at the age of 11 after his appetite rapidly declined the day before.
Minazo. On June 27th, 2006, the Japanese noise musician Masami Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow) released a tribute to Minazo in a two-part album[5] featuring Minazo's likeness as the cover art (shown below).
![e4f.jpg 美男象](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/380/161/e4f.jpg)
Spread
On January 4th, 2007, the Internet humor blog I Can Has Cheezburger highlighted the "I Has a Bucket" image macro in a post that received over 3,900 Facebook shares within six years. On February 6th, the image macro was featured on the single serving site IHasABucket.com.[9] On April 24th, Urban Dictionary[7] user Chupac submitted an entry for "lolrus", which defined the term as "a walrus who has lost a bucket." On September 12th, the meme was referenced in a Jeopardy thread on 4chan's /b/ (random) board (shown below).
![e50.jpg File :1189658830219 ipg-(21 KB, 435x329, Jeopardyloljpg) THIS WATER MAMMAL BECAME A MEME WHEN IT HELD A BLUE CONTAINER AND SAID Your fortune: Excellent Luck 39294851 winraf GO â–¡ Anonymous 0913.07(Thu)00:49:17 No.39295363 39295197 what is a walrus who said, "I has a bucket" Anonymous 09.13.07(Thu)00:50:05 No.39295442 39295191 What is a walris saying "THEY BE STEALIN MAH BUCKET!"?](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/380/245/e50.jpg)
On January 27th, 2008, the Internet humor blog Neatorama[12] published a post mistakenly reporting that Minazo had recently died, before updating the post with a correction that the seal had passed away in 2005. On December 15th, 2010, I Can Has Cheezburger[8] published a post titled "The Story of the Lolrus", which featured a fictional account of the elephant seal's history accompanied by several notable image macros. The meme has spread on the microblogging site Tumblr under the tags "#lolrus"[13] and "#i has a bucket."[14] As of August 20th, 2012, a Facebook[10] page titled "Lolrus" has accumulated over 1,800 likes.
Notable Examples
![tumblr_lkfmu8vauD1qiu3clo1_500.jpg I IZ PLAYIN TEH BLUEZ TEH NO-BUKKIT BLUEZ AP](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/185/282/tumblr_lkfmu8vauD1qiu3clo1_500.jpg)
![Original Lolrus mah bucket t holds ur luv and mah fishies](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/000/485/lolrus.jpg)
![theybestealinmybucketseij5.jpg Noooo they be stealin' my Bucket JJ.AM](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/185/283/theybestealinmybucketseij5.jpg)
![107-nothing-to-do_wookielord1.jpg without mah buckit](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/021/615/107-nothing-to-do_wookielord1.jpg)
Search Interest
External references
[2] Wikipedia-Elephant seal
[3] Wikipedia-Southern Elephant seal
[4] Japan Times – Popular Enoshima Aquarium Seal Dies After 10 1/2-year Run
[6] I Can Has Cheezburger – I Has a Bucket
[7] Urban Dictionary – lolrus
[8] I Can Has Cheezburger – lolrus
[9] IHasABucket.com – I Has a Bucket
[11] Chanarchive – 4chan Jeopardy
[12] Neatorama – Walrus Found Stolen Bucket, Kicked It
[14] Tumblr – i has a bucket
[15] YTMND – I has a bucket
Top Comment
Piano
Jun 12, 2011 at 01:15AM EDT