How the positive Dr. Livesey from the cartoon "Treasure Islands" became a gloomy meme

Dr. Livesey is one of the most beloved characters of the cartoon "Treasure Island" by viewers. An indefatigable merry fellow, a passionate supporter of healthy lifestyle and a brave fighter sometimes outshines even the main character Jim. Despite all the advantages, no one could even imagine that this hero of Soviet animation would turn into a meme popular all over the world, and even quite cheerless.

The full-length cartoon directed by David Cherkassky "Treasure Island" was released in 1988. It is very unusual, as it consists of animated chapters interrupted by music videos of the Odessa troupe "Grotesque". Those who have read Robert Louis Stevenson's novel know that the plot has been greatly changed. Also, the characters of the characters do not always coincide with the original book.

In the novel Treasure Island, Dr. Livesey is not at all a laughing buffoon and an opponent of smoking. This is a serious, calculating man — a real British gentleman. Besides, he does not part with the pipe. Actor Evgeny Paperny, who voiced the animated doctor, said that the Soviet playwright Leonid Slutsky became the prototype of his hero.

Dr. Livesey started turning into a meme just a year ago. Moreover, not the most cheerful gentleman was taken into circulation, but his gloomy photo from the dossier. If you remember, in the cartoon there are brief characteristics of the characters, similar to police orientation. This technique was borrowed from another Soviet film "Seventeen Moments of Spring".

After reviewing the doctor's photo on the photo in the dossier, someone came up with an antagonist for him - Dark Livesey. Internet users liked him, and the meme began to spread across the network. They called it "It" and create creepy legends around it. Some of them concern the Bristol Hospital, Dr. Livesey's main place of work.

It all started in Runet, but soon the image of Dark Livesey became world famous. Now he is very popular in the West, where his lines are translated into other languages, and cuts from videos are provided with witty dubbing. The doctor's finest hour was July 2022, when tiktok user @weirdyunus superimposed the Ghostface Playa song "Why Not" on an excerpt from the cartoon. The video immediately went viral and has not lost its popularity yet.

This is very strange, but despite the abundance of cute cats on the web, various horrors like Hagga Wagga are increasingly becoming popular with users.