Say Something Smart, Kowalski

About

Say Something Smart, Kowalski refers to a two-panel exploitable image macro format consisting of two images from Penguins of Madagascar; one in which the penguin Skipper says "say something smart, Kowalski" and one with Kowalski giving a blank stare alongside text reading something arguably smart or clever. The format was first uploaded to Reddit in February 2021 and was popularized over the course of the year in memes sharing strange but technically true statements.

Origin

On November 26th, 2014, the Madagascar spinoff film Penguins of Madagascar was released. Early in the film, the leader of the penguin group, Skipper, covered in cheese dust, introduces his team of spy penguins to the wolf character Agent Classified. When introducing Kowalski, the brains of the group, he says, "Say something smart, Kowalski," but Kowalski says nothing as he is staring at Eva, a snowy owl who he has a crush on (shown below).

On April 5th, 2020, YouTuber Jprpap posted an edit of the scene where Kowalski makes Animal Crossing villager noises when told to say something smart, gaining over 1,400 views in roughly a year (shown below). This is the earliest time the scene has been used as a meme.

On February 16th, 2021, Redditor u/TheOneYe posted an image macro to /r/dankmemes^[1] using two screenshots from the scene, one where Skipper has his arms crossed with subtitled "say something smart, Kowalski" and one where Kowalski is staring forward with text reading "If you think logically, Pinocchio is unlimited wood supply," gaining over 37,500 upvotes in seven months (shown below).

Spread

On February 17th, 2021, Instagram^[3] page @wubparpowerliftingmemes posted an original version of the meme, gaining over 2,300 likes in seven months (shown below, left). On May 4th, Redditor u/TheOneYe posted another image macro using the format to /r/dankmemes,^[2] gaining over 47,700 upvotes in four months (shown below, right).

On July 12th, Imgur^[4] user Falakstaaro posted a version of the meme, gaining over 89,000 views in two months (shown below, left). On August 26th, Redditor u/No1PDPStanAccount posted a version of the meme to /r/prequelmemes,^[5] gaining over 12,000 upvotes in six days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References