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'Old Town Road Remix' Animated Video Shows Keanu Reeves Doing 'Naruto Run' to Storm Area 51
posted on by Kim Morrissy
A bizarre Facebook event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" went viral within the last few days, as over 1.4 million users clicked that they would attend this event on September 20 that would involve invading a US air force facility in Nevada in order to "see them aliens," a reference to an urban legend that Area 51 is secretly harboring extraterrestrial life.
The event's description offers very little information about the logistics of the operation, but does state "If we naruto (sic) run, we can move faster than their bullets."
The "Naruto run" is a reference to a running style where characters are shown stretching their arms behind their backs, which was popularized in the United States by the Naruto anime and manga series. This is referred to as the Ninja hashiri, or "Ninja run" in Japan. Although the run looks cool in the anime, it tends to look very silly when performed in real life.
American rapper and songwriter Lil Nas X took the joke even further in a music video he released on Wednesday of his hit song "Old Town Road." The animated video, which is directed by Somehoodlum, dramatizes the Storm Area 51 event by showing artists Billy Ray Cyrus, Young Thug, and Mason Ramsey rescuing aliens from the compound. At one point, the video shows actor Keanu Reeves performing the Naruto run while dressed as the orange-garbed ninja.
The video also has other pop culture references, including a nod to Avengers villain Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.
The unholy hodgepodge of internet memes that is the Area 51 event has hit various mainstream news outlets, although Crunchyroll News noted in a satirical article that the mainstream media has a mixed record when it comes to actually name-dropping the "Naruto run" in its coverage. However, to be fair, even the millennial journalist writing this article is mystified by the memes.
