"I Feel Fantastic" is a surreal music video and online video created by John Bergeron in 2004. It includes a humanoid robot named Tara the Android, which Bergeron described as an effort to make "the world's first pop star robot." Bergeron made a five-part video series to introduce the robot. These videos were shared on his website and also sold as a DVD called "Android Music Videos Volume 1."
One of the videos, titled "Please," was uploaded to YouTube in 2009 by a user named Creepyblog. The video was shared without background information and given the title "I Feel Fantastic." It became popular because of its strange and unsettling appearance. The character Tara later appeared in other media, such as "Broadcast Signal Intrusion" and "Smiling Friends."
Video
The video "I Feel Fantastic" begins with low-quality footage of the inside of a house. A robot-like mannequin named "Tara the Android" is shown wearing a wig and women's clothing. Tara moves her arms suddenly and turns her head stiffly while singing, "I feel fantastic, hey hey hey" and "Run, run, run." A synth line with arpeggiated notes plays in the background. Throughout the video, Tara's wig and clothing change. Later, there is a sudden five-second cut to a shot of the backyard. The camera zooms in on the garden before returning to the house. Tara continues to sing "Please leave," followed by repeating "Run, run, run, run…"
History
John Bergeron created a robot named Tara using materials valued at about $2,000. His goal was to promote Tara as the "world's first android music star" and to perform live shows with her. The robot is 5 feet 10 inches tall and has a metal frame covered with artificial rubber that looks like skin. In 2004, Bergeron added information about Tara to an old website called "AndroidWorld.com." He shared five downloadable music videos titled Electricity (Metal Version), Brutal Metal, Please, Electricity, and Brutal1. The website also included a DVD version called Android Music Videos Volume 1, which was a collection of the five video clips. Bergeron has not shared any updates about Tara since 2006.
In 2009, the Please video was uploaded to YouTube by a user named Creepyblog. The video had no explanation and was titled I Feel Fantastic. Creepyblog's description mentioned a Greek story about Pygmalion, a sculptor from ancient Cyprus who believed women were not worthy of love. The video became very popular online and was viewed over 6 million times. In 2015, a Russian YouTuber named Brand-Smetana uploaded the DVD version of the videos. Smetana stated this version was "complete" and lasted nearly 15 minutes.
Legacy
The video "I Feel Fantastic" became popular in the early 2010s because of its strange and unsettling feel. Many people have suggested different ideas about the video, with one common idea being that Tara's creator was a murderer who made Tara wear clothes from his victims and that the backyard shown in the video is where he buried them.
The video has been discussed by YouTubers such as Michael Stevens of Vsauce in a video about why things are creepy and by PewDiePie in a video reacting to unusual online videos.
The character Tara the Android has appeared in other media without official permission. In an interview, American film director Jacob Gentry mentioned that "I Feel Fantastic" and the Max Headroom signal hijacking inspired his 2021 film Broadcast Signal Intrusion. A version of Tara, voiced by Erica Lindbeck, appears in the fourth episode of the second season of Smiling Friends, titled "Um, the boss finds love?"