Attention: Old people. We are about to explain something the youths are obsessed with.
Pee-yew! Skibidi Toilet is getting a movie, and Michael Bay of Transformers fame is directing it.
The viral YouTube web series centers on a war between toilets, with human heads coming out of drains and humanoids with CCTV cameras, speakers, and televisions for heads.
Since its 2023 launch, Skibidi Toilet has become one of the internet’s most infamous memes, particularly with Gen Alpha, solidifying the generation’s online presence as bizarre and chaotic.
But for anyone not chronically online—or for those who happened to be born before 2010—you might be thinking: What is this toilet-inspired series even about? Why are kids obsessed with it? And, why, oh why would Michael Bay attach his name to the movie?
Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through this.
Skibidi Toilet
It all started when a creator named Alexey Gerasimov started uploading skibidi shorts to their YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!.
In the beginning, skibidi was nothing more than some good old toilet humor, to the tune of 11-second videos. However, when it grew in popularity, the creator began to make narrative episodes for the series.
The very first episode follows a humanoid cameraman, who walks into a bathroom to investigate a toilet. Upon his arrival, it is revealed to viewers that the toilet isn’t normal, but a skibidi toilet, as a giant head is coming out of the drain.
It starts singing the lyrics: “brrr skibidi dop dop yes yes skibidi dabudu neep neep,” before the head finally consumes the cameraman.
Skibidi Toilet quickly grew into a global phenomenon, garnering the kind of attention that even a platform like YouTube didn’t think was possible. At one point, it was so huge that Kim Kardashian’s daughter, North West, gifted Kim a diamond skibidi necklace. (Yes, this is completely true.)
Currently, DaFuq!?Boom! has over 45 million subscribers, an impressive number for just about anyone on the site.
The Moral Panic
“Skibidi Toilet Syndrome.”
This phrase got parents worldwide into a panic, worrying that this weird toilet series was corrupting their children. In some instances, parents would film their kids getting upset after they banned them from watching it.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, the police force investigated the series for its “corrupting force” on children following a complaint made by a concerned parent. Later, politicians presented videos in a legislative assembly as part of their annual children’s safety report.
Michael Bay and the Movie
Most of the world knows Bay through his work on Transformers, an action franchise about two warring races of robots that bring their battle to Earth and endanger humanity. But now, an entirely new generation of people will know him for his work on Skibidi Toilet, the movie.
Although the pairing may seem unlikely at first glance, there is actually some logic behind Invisible Narratives, the production company behind the film, choosing Bay for the movie.
Apparently, Bay’s Transformers was a huge source of inspiration for Gerasimov when they began creating the series.
So, if you think about it, Bay is fulfilling the call Gerasimov laid out for him.
Given the financial success of the Minecraft movie, a hugely popular video game that became a meme phenomenon following the film’s release, it’s clear that the studio is hoping for a similar outcome for Skibidi Toilet, due to its resonance with Gen Alpha.
Will it be successful? Or is Skibidi Toilet destined to remain a weird internet obsession? Well, if the reaction to the news about Michael Bay directing the movie is any indication, then it’s looking like it will be a hit.
