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May 26, 2012

The 'I like turtles' boy goes worldwide -- VIDEO

by Richard Keller, posted Aug 5th 2007 4:05PM

From 'I like turtles' to world-wide fameAndy Warhol got it all wrong. Back in 1968 the pop culture artist said 'In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes' when talking about celebrity status attached to an object of media attention. Obviously, Warhol never even considered the invention of the Internet and YouTube when he made this statement. If he did, then that 15 minutes of fame would have turned to a life of eternal infamy.

Take for example the video you will see after the jump. It's from one of those live segments that news broadcasts normally run to promote some local event going on in the area. In this case it's the Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon. In the segment the reporter interviews 10-year-old Jonathan Ware, fresh from being face-painted as a zombie. When the reporter asks young Jonathan how he likes the festival all he can do is stare out into space and respond 'I like turtles.'

It's only a 17-second clip. In Andy Warhol's time he would probably have been a local star for a few days and then slipped off to resume his childhood. However, in today's world of instantaneous information, Jonathan Ware is a world-wide star.

Since its premiere the clip has generated nearly 900,000 hits over at YouTube. KGW, the station that originally aired the interview, began playing the clip again asking for Jonathan or his family to contact them. Jimmy Kimmel contacted the Ware family. So did a ring-tone seller in the United Kingdom who wanted to use 'I love turtles' for cell phones. Fans of the clip began splicing Jonathan's quote into other videos, like The O'Reilly Factor video you can see below. T-shirts were made of the boy and his quote and are selling on eBay.

How is Jonathan taking this? In an interview with The Washington Post this international star says he's taking his new star status in stride. The only thing he wants out of it is an appearance on Ellen. Hey, as long as he doesn't end up like Britney or Lindsay I'm fine with that.

Watch the original clip and let me know if Jonathan should be as famous as he is now.

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9 Comments

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Anthony

People are morons...some news stations fall under the same category...And the whole bit about ringtones, no, not idiots, genius. Preying on what is popular and exploiting the heck out of it, good call. Are they that desperate for sales and profits? Of course they are.

August 06 2007 at 1:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sarah

It's not at all funny and I can't imagine why it's on You Tube or why we're talking about it.

August 06 2007 at 11:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Crow

He's like a real life Ralphie from the Simpsons. Funny stuff.

August 06 2007 at 2:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tess Capra

The hell? I'll take five seconds of the Dramatic Prairie Dog over this every time.

August 06 2007 at 1:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joey Geraci

I'd have to say, no, I don't get what the big deal is. He says, "I like turtles". Uhm, and that's the whole clip. Fame? No.

August 06 2007 at 1:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dave

I've been watching this for the last 3 weeks and it's still as funny now as it was then. The remix is even funnier...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscTj38iaHk

August 05 2007 at 11:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mel

I'd never seen this before this post, but I think it's hilarious. I laugh every time.

August 05 2007 at 8:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bd

>In an interview with The Washington Post this international star says he's taking his new star status in stride.

Just like Theo Huxtable!

August 05 2007 at 5:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brooks Williams

Eh, it isn't that funny but I can see why the kid is going to have one week of fame.

Also you reported the article wrong: He wants to be on Ellen the most, he doesn't want to get out of it:

'Jonathon sounds game for whatever comes next, but he does have a goal: He wants to be on "Ellen." He's a huge fan of "Ellen."

"I just e-mailed her," he said. "She's rad. She's cool.'

August 05 2007 at 5:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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