In June 2007, an excerpt from a November 2000 episode of
Mini-Moni Chiccha (their segment on Hello! Project's variety show
Hello! Morning) of a
prairie dog suddenly turning his head became the basis for the Internet phenomenon the
Dramatic Chipmunk. A parody of the Dramatic Chipmunk clip, including lookalikes of Mini-Moni, appears in
Weezer's music video for their 2008 single "
Pork and Beans".
Shin Mini-Moni On 26 May 2009, Yaguchi posted on her blog discussing how the head producer of Hello! Project,
Tsunku, had contacted her asking for permission to bring the group out of hiatus. Tsunku confirmed on his own blog that Mini-Moni would be revived as a
Hello! Project Shuffle Unit with an entirely new line-up, announcing then-
Smileage member
Kanon Fukuda as the first member. He later announced then-
Morning Musume member
Linlin as the group's leader, with then-
Hello Pro Egg trainees
Akari Takeuchi and
Karin Miyamoto as the final two members. The group, rebranded as , released songs for Hello! Project's compilation albums
Champloo 1: Happy Marriage Song Cover Shū and
Petit Best 10. The group was also active as a concert-only unit until 2011. == Discography ==