📦boy of Scottish Fold 📦
July 1, 2023 2:32 PM Subscribe
On July 10, 2008, Youtube user mugumogu uploaded a video of their young cat Maru, but it was a collection of clips posted on January 11, 2009, with "まるです," "I am Maru," that made him a superstar, with over 26 million views. One of the first internet cats with a sizable following, last month, Maru celebrated his 16th birthday with fellow housecats Hana and Miri. Here's to a long and happy life of playing with boxes and sometimes embarrassing moments.
(I want to emphasize that, while cats don't live forever, and 16 is a long run, Maru is still around as of this writing, and is pretty spry for his age! Please enjoy his adventures while he's with us.)
(I want to emphasize that, while cats don't live forever, and 16 is a long run, Maru is still around as of this writing, and is pretty spry for his age! Please enjoy his adventures while he's with us.)
Maru is still around as of this writing
^
The lede
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 2:47 PM on July 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
^
The lede
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 2:47 PM on July 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
Having a genuinely joyful Abe Vigoda moment here because I’d been afraid to google.
posted by cortex at 2:56 PM on July 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by cortex at 2:56 PM on July 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
I considered putting the notice up in the FPP itself, but I'm always cowed by that admonition on the posting form to not make the post too long on the front page.
posted by JHarris at 3:09 PM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 3:09 PM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I haven’t seen Mary in years. So glad he’s doing great and never toured of walking around with a bag over his head. He’s a solid boi.
posted by waving at 3:18 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by waving at 3:18 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Glad Maru is still with us, and scowling at the shit he is asked to do...
posted by Windopaene at 3:50 PM on July 1, 2023
posted by Windopaene at 3:50 PM on July 1, 2023
I still always love watching Maru, and also Hana and Miri. Maru remains a placid eccentric, putting himself in boxes or bowls, or on his beloved swing.
posted by theatro at 4:19 PM on July 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by theatro at 4:19 PM on July 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Maru is the only part of the internet worth keeping.
posted by sdrawkcab at 4:52 PM on July 1, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by sdrawkcab at 4:52 PM on July 1, 2023 [16 favorites]
In the past I was annoyed when mugumogu got Hana and started featuring her in videos. I was there for Maru and only Maru! Except after a while I came to appreciate her, and subsequently Miri. First of all, it’s nice for cats to have other cats to live with and this was evidence that Maru’s home was really as nice as it seemed. Also they snuggle now which is supremely cute. But more importantly they serve as a contrast. Having Hana in the background while Maru does something just highlights how delightfully strange and adorable he is. He is not a normal cat! He does all this nonsense of his own volition (except wearing birthday hats) as far as I can tell. The other cats don’t wander around with bags on their heads or boxes on their torsos, they don’t become 100% liquid or actively choose to knock down all the obstacles that could simply be jumped over. Mugumogu doesn’t seem to be training them to do that or discouraging them either. Here’s to many more years of Maru really just being like that!
posted by Mizu at 5:04 PM on July 1, 2023 [38 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 5:04 PM on July 1, 2023 [38 favorites]
I was just coming here to say the same thing - Maru is a really smart and creative cat. Because the videos are funny, it's easy to think of him as sort of a silly goofball. Hana and Miri are very nice, of course, but they seem like they're just average nice cats.
I tell myself that actually with modern food and veterinary care and indoor living, sixteen is not really so old for a cat if you're lucky. I've known several cats who lived well into their twenties.
posted by Frowner at 5:25 PM on July 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
I tell myself that actually with modern food and veterinary care and indoor living, sixteen is not really so old for a cat if you're lucky. I've known several cats who lived well into their twenties.
posted by Frowner at 5:25 PM on July 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
my heart literally stopped when i saw the FPP - ouch! i follow the insta and thought, "omg, nooo - he only just had a birthday!"
whew. i love that big furry weirdo, and hope he lives an extraordinarly long life.
Hana and Miri are lovely, too!
posted by lapolla at 6:55 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
whew. i love that big furry weirdo, and hope he lives an extraordinarly long life.
Hana and Miri are lovely, too!
posted by lapolla at 6:55 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
He even got a mention on 30 Rock once. At least, I assume that's who they meant by "that Japanese cat who jumps into boxes."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:33 PM on July 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:33 PM on July 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Put "Birthday" in the title or the first line :) I swear my blood pressure went up and is still falling...
But thanks! It's good to revisit Maru.
posted by amtho at 10:02 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
But thanks! It's good to revisit Maru.
posted by amtho at 10:02 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Maru, my sweetheart, my love, you darling lover of boxes.
I love the ones where there are random wild monkeys outside.
I'm also amazed at how well behaved these cats are. Like, there are videos of their owner bathing them and clipping their nails and they're just like "Welp, this is my life now."
Where is my "how to train up Maru" cat behaviour book?
posted by Katemonkey at 1:32 AM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
I love the ones where there are random wild monkeys outside.
I'm also amazed at how well behaved these cats are. Like, there are videos of their owner bathing them and clipping their nails and they're just like "Welp, this is my life now."
Where is my "how to train up Maru" cat behaviour book?
posted by Katemonkey at 1:32 AM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
I will never be as calm and dignified as Maru, even on his most undignified day.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:06 AM on July 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:06 AM on July 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
Maru is an uncanny performer. An exceptional cat.
posted by ovvl at 11:39 AM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 11:39 AM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yay, Maru!
Forgive me, I'm going to tangent and derail into a cat tale.
My housemate got a new kitten a couple of weeks ago and she's so insanely adorable and cute it makes me angry and so sometimes I gnaw on her tiny little head.
She's growing up very fast and has gone from tiny little timid ball of floof to running amok over the entire house like a gangly pre-teen. She likes vegetables and produce and will happily steal your salad and eat it. I just caught her gnawing on a cherry and batting it all over the floor.
We haven't introduced her to the older and very cranky territorial cat we already had that has basically adopted me and lives in my side of the house but we're working on it.
But we have been socializing her with the enormous, very floofy and very patient Tibetan Mastiff who is actually terrified of cats due to the cranky older cat I just mentioned.
But they're now playing together and he's calmly tolerating having a pre-teen ninja cat crawling all over him, burrowing into his fur, playing with his tail and ears and so on and doesn't seem to mind at all. He actually was playing with her the other day doing the playful down-dog pose and encouraging her to wrassle, which is just mind-bendingly adorable because his head alone is like twice the size of the kitten, and she's very fierce and fearless.
And he just goes through the motions of playing by barely raising a paw or putting his head down to her level to signal play and lets her crawl all over him. It doesn't help that he also looks like a lion with a mane and is vaguely feline.
And just two days ago she got out of the house and got stuck 60 feet up in a tree overnight. I didn't know that cats actually can get stuck in trees so that was fun because we have hawks and eagles all over the place and she's like the size of small wild rabbit so, yeah, super nerve-wracking.
I was trying to climb the tree and I would have gone for it but I'm just too old and fat to fit through the branches on the way up like I used to when I was a kid. We did eventually find lie a 30 foot extension ladder but she was still a good 20-30 feet above the end of that.
I was about to go for it when my housemate's daughter and her boyfriend showed up, so we let the younger fellow go for the climbing and finally get her down.
Anyway, she's definitely a box and paper bag cat and loves diving into things. She also comes running when called and does super adorable things like leaping into my chest and arms from a table like a flying hug-pounce, reaches out with a paw as if to give a high five or just touch you to say hello and other totally adorable things.
Yesterday she was on the top of her cat tree and she called me over only to grab on to my hand with both paws and hug the crap out it. And not like a play attack, which she also does and it's different. She straight up hugged my whole arm and hand with no claws or aggression at all while nuzzling into the palm of my hand and holding tight.
Just a moment ago I was moving her off the kitchen table so I kind of tossed her on a nearby bench and without missing a single beat she bounced off of the landing like a spring to do a flying spread-eagle attack on the dog's back standing near by. Like she clearly thought this out in mid air before she even landed on the bench all wound up and ready to spring from the landing like "Oh yes, thank you, this line up is perfect for my needs. There's the bench. There's the dog. Wind up, stick the landing and BOING! Off the top rope on to the dog!"
posted by loquacious at 12:35 PM on July 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
Forgive me, I'm going to tangent and derail into a cat tale.
My housemate got a new kitten a couple of weeks ago and she's so insanely adorable and cute it makes me angry and so sometimes I gnaw on her tiny little head.
She's growing up very fast and has gone from tiny little timid ball of floof to running amok over the entire house like a gangly pre-teen. She likes vegetables and produce and will happily steal your salad and eat it. I just caught her gnawing on a cherry and batting it all over the floor.
We haven't introduced her to the older and very cranky territorial cat we already had that has basically adopted me and lives in my side of the house but we're working on it.
But we have been socializing her with the enormous, very floofy and very patient Tibetan Mastiff who is actually terrified of cats due to the cranky older cat I just mentioned.
But they're now playing together and he's calmly tolerating having a pre-teen ninja cat crawling all over him, burrowing into his fur, playing with his tail and ears and so on and doesn't seem to mind at all. He actually was playing with her the other day doing the playful down-dog pose and encouraging her to wrassle, which is just mind-bendingly adorable because his head alone is like twice the size of the kitten, and she's very fierce and fearless.
And he just goes through the motions of playing by barely raising a paw or putting his head down to her level to signal play and lets her crawl all over him. It doesn't help that he also looks like a lion with a mane and is vaguely feline.
And just two days ago she got out of the house and got stuck 60 feet up in a tree overnight. I didn't know that cats actually can get stuck in trees so that was fun because we have hawks and eagles all over the place and she's like the size of small wild rabbit so, yeah, super nerve-wracking.
I was trying to climb the tree and I would have gone for it but I'm just too old and fat to fit through the branches on the way up like I used to when I was a kid. We did eventually find lie a 30 foot extension ladder but she was still a good 20-30 feet above the end of that.
I was about to go for it when my housemate's daughter and her boyfriend showed up, so we let the younger fellow go for the climbing and finally get her down.
Anyway, she's definitely a box and paper bag cat and loves diving into things. She also comes running when called and does super adorable things like leaping into my chest and arms from a table like a flying hug-pounce, reaches out with a paw as if to give a high five or just touch you to say hello and other totally adorable things.
Yesterday she was on the top of her cat tree and she called me over only to grab on to my hand with both paws and hug the crap out it. And not like a play attack, which she also does and it's different. She straight up hugged my whole arm and hand with no claws or aggression at all while nuzzling into the palm of my hand and holding tight.
Just a moment ago I was moving her off the kitchen table so I kind of tossed her on a nearby bench and without missing a single beat she bounced off of the landing like a spring to do a flying spread-eagle attack on the dog's back standing near by. Like she clearly thought this out in mid air before she even landed on the bench all wound up and ready to spring from the landing like "Oh yes, thank you, this line up is perfect for my needs. There's the bench. There's the dog. Wind up, stick the landing and BOING! Off the top rope on to the dog!"
posted by loquacious at 12:35 PM on July 2, 2023 [18 favorites]
I love how Maru in Top Level Zen Weirdo, Miri is his chaotic apprentice, and Hana is just a normie cat. It's like she's the control group.
Happy birthday, sweet boy!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:40 PM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
Happy birthday, sweet boy!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:40 PM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
Oh that is desperately adorable, and I hope you have pictures to share.
posted by JHarris at 12:42 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 12:42 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Happy birthday Maru you chonky beautiful baby!
posted by supermedusa at 3:58 PM on July 2, 2023
posted by supermedusa at 3:58 PM on July 2, 2023
No love for the videography and editing? I mean, it's a huge part of the phenomenon that is Maru!
posted by amtho at 7:05 PM on July 2, 2023
posted by amtho at 7:05 PM on July 2, 2023
Maru is definitely a Zen Master.
Did you see the video where he gets a shower? It turns out he's a reasonably skinny cat. It is all fur.
posted by eye of newt at 10:17 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Did you see the video where he gets a shower? It turns out he's a reasonably skinny cat. It is all fur.
posted by eye of newt at 10:17 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
I haven't seen that one, but I always suspected that Maru wasn't really that wide. When he got his head stuck in the cup in the first I Am Maru video, it was amazing how tight the fit was, it was like Maru's whole head was just a cone. The floof is a lie.
posted by JHarris at 12:28 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 12:28 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Watched it and... wow. How Maru just stands there and accepts being washed, while most cats would begin the Ritual of Claws and Blood. So amazingly chill. Maru is awesome.
posted by JHarris at 12:31 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 12:31 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
No love for the videography and editing?
Yeah, what up with that?
posted by y2karl at 2:54 AM on July 3, 2023
Yeah, what up with that?
posted by y2karl at 2:54 AM on July 3, 2023
I'm curious what new people who are not a million internet years old think of Maru. Like is the magic only there if you were there with Maru from the early days? Do you have to have worried about Maru after the earthquake and tsunami? Is Maru like hearing your Dad go on about the sports heroes of his childhood? Does Maru Insta or Tiktok? Or does Maru transcend time the same way he encompasses all possible volumes in his own mind?
posted by srboisvert at 10:17 AM on July 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 10:17 AM on July 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
I just found out that I Am Maru 15 is like a best-of compilation from throughout his storied and illustrious career. Why can't they train AIs off of this?
posted by JHarris at 11:13 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 11:13 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
(Why not? I know why not. It sounds like a great idea, but after feeding in the input set the AI would immediately jump into a box.)
posted by JHarris at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I always suspected that Maru wasn't really that wide
I will commend to you Slim Box and Maru.
Maru always seems to me to have such an air of placid dignity; even when he's doing the goofiest things he does them with such grace.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:46 PM on July 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
I will commend to you Slim Box and Maru.
Maru always seems to me to have such an air of placid dignity; even when he's doing the goofiest things he does them with such grace.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:46 PM on July 5, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yesterday's compilation 15 year anniversary video of Maru&Hana&Miri is 54 minutes: very unusually long!
And that reminds me of another little bit of cleverness in mugumogo's chosen format: the very consistent snack-size length of the videos.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:24 PM on July 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
And that reminds me of another little bit of cleverness in mugumogo's chosen format: the very consistent snack-size length of the videos.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:24 PM on July 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
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Whew!
I feared the worst when I saw this post.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:40 PM on July 1, 2023 [60 favorites]