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The "Here's Johnny" meme originated from the catchphrase used in 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,' but gained meme status through its famous use in the horror film 'The Shining' (1980). In the iconic scene, Jack Nicholson, portraying the character Jack Torrance, breaks through a door with an axe. As he peeks menacingly through the broken door, he exclaims, 'Here's Johnny!', a moment that has been widely used as an exploitable template for various humorous purposes. The template typically features Jack Nicholson's deranged expression as he peeks through the door, setting up for humorous or unexpected replacements of his face or the quote.
The original phrase 'Here's Johnny' stems from 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,' which aired from 1962 to 1992. The catchphrase was used by Ed McMahon during the show's introduction, announcing the entrance of Johnny Carson. The line gained further popularity through a chilling scene in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, where Jack Nicholson uses it in a terrifying yet memorable context. This particular scene not only cemented the phrase in pop culture but also laid the groundwork for its use in various meme formats YouTube clip from The Shining.
Origin: 1962
Also known as: here-s-johnny-1
AI Memes is a free online meme maker that lets you create viral memes with custom text, images, and AI-powered editing tools.
You can browse our growing library of popular meme templates, quickly caption images, videos, or GIFs in Caption This, or design completely custom image memes from scratch in our free-form editor with extra AI tools like Magic Prompt, Magic Face Swap, Magic Erase, and Magic Face.
The platform includes three main tools:
Text is fully customizable with font selection, weight controls, colors, and styling like outlines and italics. Each text layer has its own opacity slider, and you can drag text around the canvas or drag layers in the sidebar to control which elements appear on top. Add as many text boxes as you need with the "Add Text" button.
Upload and layer additional images onto your meme with the "Upload Image" button. Each image can be repositioned, resized, and have its opacity adjusted. Paste images directly with CMD/CTRL + V for quick edits.
Enable custom headers above your media with adjustable colors and heights—perfect for adding context or reaction text. This works in both Caption This and when editing templates from the meme library.
Yes! Use Caption This to add text, headers, and captions to videos and animated GIFs. Simply upload your video or GIF file, add your customizations, and download the finished meme. The tool preserves the animation and exports your captioned video or animated GIF ready to share.
You can also upload your own videos and animated GIFs in Caption This to add captions and text overlays. The meme template library features hundreds of popular image templates that open in the same editor with all the same customization options.
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Yes! There are tons of use cases to use AI Memes for outside of memes. The tools work great for any image, GIF, or video editing needs. Create tutorial screenshots with text annotations, add subtitles to explainer videos, design eye-catching YouTube thumbnails, caption product demos, build Instagram story templates, or create branded video content for your business. If you need to put text or images on media quickly, AI Memes has you covered.
AI Memes supports PNG, JPG, and WEBP images, MP4 videos, and animated GIFs. Your download will match your upload format—bring us an image, get an image back; bring us a video, get a video back; bring us a GIF, get a GIF back.
No account required! You can start creating memes immediately without signing up. Simply visit any tool, upload or select a template, customize it, and download. However, creating a free account gives you access to features like saved projects and your meme creation history. Upgrading to AI Memes Pro removes the AI Memes watermark from your downloads and unlocks tons of powerful AI features in the full editor.
