Chapter 10 - The power of the famous guinea pig

Friday, September 11 | 61 days until the conference | 203 registrations Victor was unable to drive the jolly jingle from his mind in the car that morning, and he had no desire to. The drumming tune the boys from Viral Fantasy had picked out for the video would get a smile from a stone. Filming had taken three days, the shots were edited to the speed of a modern music video and the result was hilarious.            In their studio, they had built an enormous guinea pig circuit, through which Pooky had to find his way to ‘Rodentia 2015’. Running, and with eager wheeks and purrs, the little animal crossed bridges, climbed a mountain, slid off a slide and ran circles in a running wheel. His chewing movements had been synchronized with a voice saying things like ‘where’s the party at?’ and ‘guinea pig powerrrr!’ In the end, he pushed a button with his nose, opening the door to the final area: Rodentia2015. Banners fell from the sky, disco lights flashed on and loud music started to play. This gave Pooky such a fright, he jumped backwards into a panicked summersault and nearly fell off the table supporting the circuit. The slow motion image of that moment was Victor’s favorite scene.            When he saw it for the first time with Catja and Casper yesterday, a weight had fallen off his shoulders. Catja had been in stitches watching Pooky rolling around in the running wheel and Casper, usually so serious, nearly choked on his coffee during the scene that showed Pooky walking through high straw and sneezing into the camera. All the viral demands had been met: it was funny, unexpected and international. Pooky had been renamed SuperGnawer, a character that far outdid the modest little chewer who spent his days contentedly sitting in his cage. ....----Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell