The story of the Keyboard Cat spans all the way back to1985. Back in 2009, the kitty quickly went viral, garnering nearly 100 million views and 823,000 followers!
On March 8th, 2018, Bento the beloved Keyboard Cat ultimately crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and now we honor him here.
RIP Bento. You will not be forgotten. <3
The cat, known as Bento, passed away at only 8 years old— and today, we mourn the loss of the famous orange tabby by sharing the story of his legacy, and how he came to be known around the world.
Bento became famous when he took over the piano-playing role of Fatso, the original keyboard cat.
Fatso rose to international fame when a video of him playing the keyboard was filmed back in 1985 by Charlie Schmidt.
Charlie never really planned to film Fatso playing the keyboard, but inspiration and boredom struck at the perfect time. With a piano and a baby onesie that Charlie happened to have lying around, the famous video ultimately came to be.
“I wasn’t aiming for anything except relieving my boredom,” Schmidt told The Washington Post.
(In case you were wondering, Charlie still has the onesie worn by Fatso in the video. It’s been framed and hangs in his home to commemorate the special cat.)
Despite being filmed nearly 20 years earlier, Charlie’s video somehow found its way into the hands of Brad O’Farrell in 2007.
Brad is a developer with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. When he came across Charlie’s video of Fatso playing the keyboard, he thought it would be the perfect addition to a funny “fail” video. He wanted to use Fatso’s piano-playing as the opposite of a round of applause, showing the kitty happily tapping the keyboard as people fell and did stupid things. Brad discusses the concept below.
With Charlie’s permission, Brad created his first mashup video in 2009. It instantly went viral and spawned many more. Since then, Brad’s combined videos have now garnered nearly 100 million views.
In 2010, as Brad’s videos grew in popularity, Charlie adopted Bento from a shelter. He was a chubby orange tabby that looked nearly identical to Fatso. Naturally, Charlie figured he could recreate the famous video with Bento— but with much better quality than the classic 1985 clip.
And with that one decision, Keyboard Cat had been revived.
The videos that Charlie created with Bento were only the beginning of the kitty’s fame. Bento went on to star in commercials and movie trailers— and soon enough, he was a household name.
Thankfully, Bento had always been a willing actor and happily let Charlie dress him up and film him. He bathed in the attention he received. Bento’s Facebook page quickly reached 820,000 followers— and he even has his own store for Bento-branded merchandise!
Naturally, Charlie is the most distraught after losing his precious kitty and says that bedtime is the worst.
“I’d just get in, and he would snuggle up,” Schmidt told The Washington Post. “He would come really close and then put his paw on your arm. That was a good way to end a day.”
Thanks to the power of technology and the internet, Bento will not be forgotten. Charlie knows it may be up to him to carry on the kitty’s legacy, but the real question is whether there will be a Keyboard Cat III…
Chris created a heartwarming tribute video to celebrate Bento’s life. It focuses on the kitty’s notoriety and accomplishments.
