I have seen .gif images for as long as I can remember. I found it especially interesting to learn that within the last few years, people have successfully sold digital images in a completely digital format for some pretty vast sums of money. Coming from the position of knowing the .gif as a purely internet-based medium, I feel ambivalent about the commodification of data. I feel that, in order for a .gif to be worthy of more than reposts on places like Instagram or Reddit, it should contain some note of originality. To me, simply spotlighting a line from a movie does not really constitute the transcendent use of the media that I think defines .gif art. That being said, I absolutely love being able to find .gif images of a lot of my favorite media, regardless of whether or not they happen to be of high art aestheticism. I picked a lot of these images mostly because of nostalgia, and mostly because they make me chuckle.
1. Just after Dark Helmet tells them to comb the desert.
2. For when you need sheer motivation.
3. As a guitarist myself, I love that this guy chooses to shred on the big hotdog.
4. I watched an awful lot of MTV as a kid.
5. Cat Breading was a fad for a while. Pretty self-explanatory.
6. Chairman Kaga loves food almost as much as I do. This was the best version of Iron Chef.
7. Kuato gives good advice. This film had some of my favorite special effects, and I still think this stuff is way better than CGI.
8. So, this guy runs our country now.
9. This is an older .gif, and one that I think is masterfully done. While it does not have animated motion as many contemporary .gifs tend to, it scores high points for creativity and execution.
10. I laughed so hard the first time I saw Dave Chappelle’s Rick James punch Charlie Murphy in the forehead.