TikTok just canceled a cartoon elephant

Ok, I'll admit it, I've seen both of the Sing movies. Yes, I'm talking about the kid-friendly, celeb-studded animated films where a cast of animals sings upbeat covers of Hallelujah, Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing, and Shake it Off. I voluntarily sat through this lighthearted, goofy song-fest not once, but two times as a full-on-adult, and I'd even say I enjoyed it. As for what I thought of Meena, the shy, vocally gifted elephant voiced by pop singer Tori Kelly? She was fine for a cartoon elephant, I guess. 

Clearly, according to the internet, this assessment was very, very wrong. Hate posts about Meena have proliferated my TikTok "For You" page in recent days, with users setting fire to pieces of paper bearing the character's image or "stepping on" the Sing 2 soundtrack in Target because it displays her face. Torching the character has become a surprisingly popular trend. 

So how did this bizarre gathering of virtual pitchforks come to be? It seems people started to turn against the character after a video of her singing Happy Birthday made rounds on TikTok in January. In the clip, from the first Sing movie, Meena belts the birthday song to her grandpa and continues to croon even after everyone else stops. "She was mad extra for singing happy birthday like that," the text over one Happy Birthday video reads. "She tryna get the will," one user wrote in a comment.

TikToks reacting to Meena's performance followed. Videos under the hashtag "meenasing" on TikTok had racked up 44.8 million views as of this writing, with seemingly all of TikTok uniting against a common, mammalian enemy. 

The original Sing film debuted in 2016, and featured an A-list cast of voice actors including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson. The musical raked in $271 million at the domestic box office and crossed $600 million worldwide. A sequel, Sing 2, arrived in theaters just last year, and has cleared $100 million domestically, the most for an animated movie since Frozen II in 2019. 

It's worth noting that not everyone has been here for the "Meena slander," as it's been labeled on TikTok. Some rushed to defend the elephant, who "is the nicest little girl ever," and "just trying to sing happy bday," according to one user. But did it do much to slow the Meena-hating majority? Well, you can see for yourself. 

Cue the TikToks

There was the wrecking of an elaborate piece of Meena chalk art.

"Bye bye Meena."

This TikToker decided to take on some stuffed Meenas IRL.

Here's a hilarious parody of Meena's Happy Birthday performance. 

There was a video taken from an episode of the Wendy Williams show we all apparently missed.

A movie-theater concession stand employee doesn't appear jazzed about the Meena poster hanging nearby. 

As Meena sings, some girls deliver withering looks. 

This user is here for all the drama.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Meena-smearing spectacle.