Otsukare Summer Cat Dance: Turn Your Pet Photo Into It
What’s new on this page
- — Published after our own Wan 3.0 Prime test with a Scottish Fold cat, which worked first time.
- — Added a second test with a clip where the dancing cat wears a bib, the prompt line that stops the outfit being copied, and the new 10-second template settings.
The Otsukare Summer cat dance is the TikTok trend where a cat (or dog) stands on its back legs and paws along to HALCALI's song "Otsukare Summer". Most of the clips you've seen are animations or AI edits. Real cats don't do this on command, which is exactly why people want to see their own pet do it.
So we tried it with a real cat: one photo of a grey Scottish Fold lounging on the sofa. Below is what we used, what it cost, and how to do it in one click.
What is the Otsukare Summer cat dance?
"Otsukare Summer" (おつかれSUMMER) is a 2003 song by the Japanese duo HALCALI. The title is a pun on "otsukaresama", roughly "good work" or "thanks for your hard work", so it reads as "Good job, summer". The song blew up again on TikTok in 2025, and the version that stuck was animals doing the dance: upright, serious face, little paw swings in time with the beat.
The joke is the mismatch. A breezy J-pop summer song, and a cat who looks like it's clocking in for a shift.
Test 1: a lounging cat
| Our run | |
|---|---|
| Photo | A grey Scottish Fold sprawled on a sofa, one leg in the air |
| Model | Wan 3.0 Prime, video to video |
| Settings | 9s · 480P · aspect ratio auto · audio on |
| Credits | 280 |
| Time to finish | About 2.5 minutes |
| Result | Success, first try |
What surprised us: the photo was the opposite of a dance pose. The cat is lying down with a leg in the air. The model still got the folded ears, the copper eyes and the grey coat right, and put the cat on its back legs for the whole 9 seconds. Because the prompt keeps the source clip's background, the sofa is gone and the cat dances on a pink and blue cloud stage.
Test 2: when the dancing cat wears clothes
For the template we switched to a better clip: a ginger cat dancing on a peach set with cotton clouds. That cat wears a little bib, and our first render copied it. Our Scottish Fold came out wearing the same bib, even though our photo shows no clothes at all.
The fix was one line: do not copy any clothing from the source video. Same photo, same clip, same settings, and the bib was gone.
| Test 2 (now the template) | |
|---|---|
| Photo | The same lounging Scottish Fold |
| Model | Wan 3.0 Prime, video to video |
| Settings | 10s · 480P · aspect ratio auto · audio on |
| Credits | 310 per run |
| Time to finish | About 2 minutes |
| Result | First run copied the bib; second run with the fix was clean |
Method 1: Make it yourself with Wan 3.0 Prime
Step 1: Save an Otsukare Summer dance clip
Find a clip with one animal doing the dance, body fully in frame, plain background. Save it as an MP4, around 10 seconds. Ours was a ginger cat on a peach set with cotton clouds. If the clip has a watermark, trim or crop it out first.
Step 2: Pick your pet photo
One pet, face clearly visible, fur colors not hidden by blankets or shadows. As our test shows, it doesn't have to be standing. A front-facing, full-body photo is still the safer bet, especially for dogs with long legs or unusual markings.
Step 3: Set up video to video
Open Photo to Video AI, switch to the Video tab, add the clip under Source clip and your pet under Reference images. Pick Wan 3.0 Prime as the engine, then set 10s, 480P, aspect ratio auto and keep Audio on.
Step 4: Paste the prompt
This is the prompt from Test 2. The line about clothing matters if the animal in your clip wears anything.
Replace the character in the video with the character from image 1. Keep their face, hair or fur, colors, outfit and body shape exactly as in image 1. do not copy any clothing from the source video. Keep the original motion, dance moves, timing, camera movement, framing and background from the source video unchanged. Remove the logo and any watermark or text overlay from the video; fill that area naturally with the surrounding background. No logos, no watermarks, no text, no subtitles anywhere in the output.
Press Generate. Our Test 2 runs took about two minutes and cost 310 credits each. The video lands in My Videos, so you can close the tab.
Method 2: Use the ready-made template
We saved this exact setup (clip, model, settings and prompt) as a template, so you only need the photo.
- Open the Otsukare Summer AI generator.
- Upload one photo of your cat or dog. People work too.
- Press Generate. The cost is shown on the button before you start.
- Download the MP4 (no watermark) and post it.
FAQ
How do I make my cat dance to Otsukare Summer?
Upload one photo to the Otsukare Summer AI template and press Generate. Or run Wan 3.0 Prime video-to-video yourself with a dance clip, your photo and the prompt above.
What is the cat dance called?
Most people call it the Otsukare Summer cat dance, after the HALCALI song it's set to.
Is Otsukare Summer a Japanese song?
Yes. It's by HALCALI, a Japanese pop duo, released in 2003. The title means roughly "good job, summer".
Does it work with dogs?
Yes. Our first clip actually had a dog dancing in it. Use a clear photo where the face and coat pattern are visible.
Why is my pet wearing clothes it doesn't have?
The model copied the outfit from the source clip. Add "do not copy any clothing from the source video" to the prompt, or use the template, which already includes it.
Does my pet need to be standing in the photo?
No. Our cat was lying on a sofa with one leg up and the result still stood upright for the whole video.
How much does it cost, and is there a watermark?
On Wan 3.0 Prime, our 9-second test cost 280 credits and the 10-second template setup costs 310 at 480P. Downloads have no watermark, new accounts get free credits, and failed renders are refunded.
More dance trends we tested: Toc Toc, Smalltown Boy, Bad Times and the AI moonwalk.