You may have heard about the Stuttering Kid meme, or as some call it, the Have You Ever Had A Dream Like This? meme. Or, you may have seen it and just need a little nudge to remember it. Either way, have you ever wondered where it's from? The meme is a clip spawned from the 1999 HBO docuseries Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales.
The Stuttering Kid meme has done its time amassing massive popularity on the likes of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and everything in between. In it, the little boy named Joe Cirkiel can be heard struggling to say the following:
Have you ever had a dream?
Kid Behind Stuttering Kid meme says he'd thought he'd "nailed that"
Over the years, the Stuttering Kid meme has since amassed a sizeable cult following given its relatability and hilarity. The little boy is seen mincing every single word, and users online have since rendered their own takes on the same. Take a look at this one, for example:
And, as if that wasn't enough, the clip even served as the basis for a musical remix. Check it out:
In December 2021, however, that little boy sat down for an interview with Buzzfeed to talk about his experience of "accidentally becoming a meme." In the video, he explains that he was five years old at the time, back when he loved watching cartoons. Here's what he said:
"My favorite thing to do when I was a kid was watch fantasy action stuff, you know, Dragon Ball Z, Power Rangers. I liked all the Disney stuff. Hercules came out around the summer before I went into kindergarten and I definitely watched it a lot. I really liked the soundtrack, especially Zero to Hero."
He continued, noting that one day his mom asked him if he'd like to be in a movie. At the time, he was enrolled at one of the few schools the HBO docuseries filmed at, and he said yes. He revealed that he picked up early on that the show was about bedtime stories and rituals.
In speaking about his iconic outfit, the "red sweater, the haircut, that was like all of [his] mom." He divulged that she really wanted her son to get on TV. Speaking about the instances leading up to the legendary moment, Cirkiel revealed that he was asked about dreams. He said:
"I remember this one scene from Hercules where Hercules searches out for Pan, who's Danny DeVito's character. He doesn't want to train anybody anymore and he's a failure. So that's when Hercules comes in and tries to persuade him about a dream. "Have you ever had a dream? I've had a dream that I wanted so much that I could do anything." And once he said that it really resonated with Pan and Pan said, "Okay, fine. I'm gonna train you." And the rest is history."
However, he adds that he had one chance to deliver a good answer, and he blew it:
"So that was when I came in with my Hail Mary speech about dreams. Suffice to say, I didn't come even close to what Hercules had to say about dreams. I'm thinking a little bit slower than how I'm talking, which tends to happen, so. But I'm kind of hoping that if I have the beginning and the end of that speech down, everything else was gonna kind of fall into place."
In another video that same year in August with Know Your Meme, Cirkiel revealed that the Hercules clip was the "deepest thing" he could think of at the time. He went on:
"So as everyone likes to point out, my signature lean back and smile is just like, 'oh, I totally nailed that.'"
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Cirkiel also revealed that the crew reacted professionally, with a "deadpan" reaction from the interviewers. He revealed that they ran with it, told him he'd done a good job, and left him hanging. He added that he felt unsure if they were going to use his footage, but notably, at the time, he felt what he said was "compelling."
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