About this Video || 12:00 AM – 3:59 AM || 4:00AM – 7:59AM || 8:00AM – 11:59AM || 12:00 PM – 3:59 PM || 4:00PM – 7:59PM || 8:00PM – 11:59 PM || List of Names & References
Click any of the above links to browse through the dancers for various hours of 24 hours of Happy. I started this webpage in 2014, but stopped in 2017 in the face of life events and technical issues preventing me from doing so. July 16 2023 I figured out a solution to the technical issues. Instead of putting everything on a single page, I subdivided the 24 hours into 6 blocs of 4 hours each. That still leaves the hardest part — making screenshots that aren’t terrible — but I think I can populate the rest of the 4 minute blocks relatively quickly. This blog post has been shortened considerably and contains three things: 1)a long description about the music video project, 2)a long list of names of people involved in the project and 3)blog comments which have been very helpful. Also, thanks to Rob O.’s information about street addresses for the Happy project, I hope to trace the map of all 24 hours! ]
Here’s a running list of the Happy Dancers in the Pharrell Williams official 24 Hours of Happy video. At the very bottom of this web page is a list of everybody’s names, and I’m beginning to cross-index their dance times. I’m not going to try to rate these dance vids too harshly; the main purpose of this page is just to list the dances and identify the people. Asking people to do impromptu dances on a city street is hard enough. So everybody receives 1 star unless there’s something highly unusual about it (with 3 stars being the best).
The Fastcocreate article about the filming said that filming took 11 days and 2 separate days for Pharrell’s stuff.
Those chosen by audition had the advantage of getting the song in advance, allowing them to rehearse their moves. But on the day itself, everyone got just one take, including Pharrell. “That’s what accounts for the charm,” says Valdes. “Everyone knew they had one shot–this was their moment to go all out, and we love that.” “The video’s imperfections, the funny bloopers and mess-ups, are what give it character,” says Pharell, whose own performances alternated between what he calls “semi-choreographed” (see the bowling alley at 11:00 p.m.) and improvisation. “I’m not interested in perfection. It’s boring. Some of my favorite moments are accidental. There’s one where I’m underground. I was turning a corner just as a train was coming in our direction, and it stopped right on cue! It was weird. The universe gave us great moments that day.” … WAFLA chose to shoot in Los Angeles, … starting at sunrise in Downtown L.A., moving to LAX, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Hollywood, among other places, ultimately circling back to Downtown.
I was lucky enough to be a part of this as the location manager. It was a rough one. Not sure how Jon (Beattie) did it. We did 12-15 hour days. There was a crew of 15-20 people with us at all times. Sometimes when we where shooting, we would have to make a u-turn to head back the other way. So all of a sudden, this mob of people would have to stand behind the camera, and do a 180 in sync. It was madness. There would also be times when we had to make a quick decision on which way to go. We would scout ahead and find out that the street was blocked, so at the last second, we changed the route. We also had fun with the talent. We would find someone walking down the street, and invite them to be a part of the video. It turned out amazing.
The biggest obstacle was the fact that we were walking backwards through non-locked off streets and side walks. I ran into many a telephone pole and street sign, and on several occasions had to crawl under John to stay out of the picture. It was a lot of fun to work on, and I think the 4 minute edited version looks great.
Background about the Video: 2 Minute Behind-the-Scenes Video and interview with the directors, Fastcocreate profile of the production process, A video production blog describes the lens, filming process, etc. I just learned that the steadicam guy who shot most of the vids was Jon Beattie.
Other articles with lots of photos and snarkiness: We Watched Pharrell Williams 24 Hours Happy Video so you didn’t have to , Pitchfork’s 5 Best Things about the Happy Video, Christopher Grant Harris expanded account of dancers (with generous screenshots); Wikipedia page for the Pharrell Williams Happy song (it doesn’t yet have a separate page).
My favorites so far are: Happy Hair! 3:32AM, Bollywood-style dancer Monica Moskatow 7:56AM, Elegant Blonde Girl in Street 9:56 AM (just magical!), Jiggly guy with a fan 11:28AM, Preteen Acrobatic Girl 12:28 PM, Asian Gene Kelley 1:28 PM, 2 Asian guys in tuxes in front of a Star Bucks 2:20pm, Girl in Polka Dotted Dress 7:16PM (unbelievably good!) Man on Stilts at 7:36 PM, Amazing & Speedy Guy at 10:44 PM (Amazing Choreography!), 2 Cute & Entertaining Girls at the Bowling Alley 11:08PM, Hula Hoop Girl 11:40 PM (but seriously I’m only getting started)
How to Help: If you know the name of any of the dancers, mention it in the comment section. (If you were one of the dancers who participated, drop me a line — I’d love to do a brief interview!). I’d also like to identify the buildings and neighborhoods if you know it. (I will probably look through Youtube comments for help, but give me time!) . April 2 Update: I’m currently gathering information about places where everything was shot. I hope to have a nice map showing landmarks and dance paths fairly soon. Stay tuned. I definitely appreciate everybody who identifies the dancer’s name. By the way, I’m behind on doing my screenshots and commentary, but the index of all the actors (at bottom) is updated every day.
Tangential Aside #1: You may already have heard about the fatal car accident of Courtney Ann Sanford, caused by the Facebook update she posted while driving, “The Happy Song makes me fell so happy.” What a tragedy! I do not condone texting while driving (and certainly don’t believe the song deserves any blame here), but this page needs to acknowledge that a song about being happy is just a song — ephemeral, distracting and even a bit escapist. All humans need a little bit of happy in their lives, but we also need to recognize that happiness — like life itself — is a fragile commodity. Ultimately this dance video (and this page) is precisely a celebration of this ephemerality — while we still have time. Tangential Aside #2: You knew it was going to happen: some repressive regime was going to ban the song “Happy” or arrest the people who made the dance clip. Seems like Iran couldn’t resist the opportunity to steal the thunder. (Read more) This seems to come straight out of a Kundera novel.
Dance Credits
List of 24 Hours of Happy Dancers
(Taken from the Credits; when I get time, I’ll try to add times to each dancer’s name)
Special Guests
- Buddy
- Steve Carell 5:08 pm
- Miranda Cosgrove 5:40 pm
- Tyler, The Creator 6:16pm
- Cyrcle
- Gavin DeGraw
- Urijah Faber & Michaella Tastad 8:36am
- Luisa Fernanda Espinosa
- Francesco
- Jamie Foxx 5:28 pm
- Ryan Heffington
- Whit Hertford 1:04am
- Magic Johnson 5:36am
- JoJo 6:16pm
- Jimmy Kimmel 11:48am
- Leah LaBelle 12:00 PM
- Alonso Mateo
- Sérgio Mendes 10:32 am
- Ana Ortiz 5:32pm
- Kelly Osbourne 1:28am
- Issa Rae
- Fatima Robinson
- Golden Sisters 11:36am
- Bevy Smith
- Earl Sweatshirt
- Rob Zabrecky 10:12am
- Odd Future 1:48 pm
Dancers
- Anna Abovyan
- Kim Adams
- Zaire Adams
- Gianna Adams
- Lisa Alcindor
- Logan Alexander
- Ben Allen
- Lynette Almeron
- Katrina Amato
- Armond Anderson-Bell
- Mecca Vazie Andrews
- Rachel Angelini
- Michael Angeloe
- Kenny Apel
- Judy Aquino
- Freddie Araujo
- CJ Archuceta
- Ohmar De Arida
- Leonard Baker
- Belinda Bales
- Natasha Zohra Banon
- (uncredited?: Nathan J. Barnatt? 11:16AM His other dance videos are here and here )
- Mary Bartnicki
- Lauren Barzman
- Megan Batoon 6:44pm
- Dina Bedenko
- Michael Beinuthy
- Francis Raziel R. Belandres
- Brianna Benford
- Jude Berberian
- Richard Berdecia
- Lauren Bernard
- Dave Birr
- Nora Boghassian
- Itsoso Bolivar
- Amber Boone
- Dena Bordelon
- Brandee
- Ray Brickerson 7:16am
- Myesha Brown
- Paula Bryisk
- Al Burke
- Delaney Burke
- Alexander Burke
- Kathryn Burns
- Erin Burts
- Bei Caldice
- Kelly Campbell
- Lucian Carter
- Bryan Carter
- Jacquan Carter
- Shaquille Carter
- Melissa Castillo
- Erica Castillo
- Ingel Catindrg
- Josephine Cavalluzzi
- Danielle Chambers
- Seaonna Chanadet
- Remey Chanadet
- Cravon Charles
- Joshua Christophe
- Michael Churien
- Germana Cifani
- Tifani Ciotti
- Stefani Ciotti
- Joelle Claret
- George Clarke
- Alfonso “Enzo” Colichon
- Brian Corona
- Nicole Crepeau
- Iman Crosson (aka Alphacat) 12:40pm
- Omar Crossor
- Joshua Curtis
- Teresa Dablquest
- Steven Dady
- Brittany Daniel
- Samuel David
- Kelly W. Davis
- Madison S. Deaver
- Jean Delkhaste
- Eric DeLoretta
- Lauren deMauregne
- Jessica DeShaw 3:08 PM
- Rae Lynn Devine
- Jennifer Deyaing
- Jonathan Diaz
- Gabe de Dios
- Gina Dobson
- Desarae A. Dotson
- Bill Douglas
- Abraham A. Duella
- Emmet Duffy
- Cindy DuLong
- Jake DuPree
- Joseph A. Bunaham Durant
- Joe Van Dyke
- Beach Eastwood
- Lisa Eaton
- Kota Eberhardt
- Layne Eiler
- Raymond Ejiofor
- Frederick Emmerson
- Brittany Falk
- Chris Farah
- Alyin Fernandez
- Zamara Fernandez
- Julia Fife
- Heather Flores
- Tibor Fober
- David Charles Franklin
- Sydney Freggiaro
- Mariella Freyre
- Jared Frieder
- Galit Friedlander
- Kathy Frye
- Makayla Brooke Galindo
- Callista Gallerani
- Kimmy Gatenoor
- Victoria Geil
- Dianne Geivett
- Arne Gelten
- Karen Gevorkian
- Brian Gibbs
- Malik Gillins
- Ronald L. Glass
- Christopher Troy Gonzalez
- Jamie González
- Adisa Gooding-Henry
- Alana Gospodnetich
- Jasper Gough
- Avery Gough
- David Graf
- Isaac Gray
- Isaiah Gray
- Alyssa Gray
- Joy D. Green
- Rodnesha Green
- Andrew Grosso
- Sarah Gul-Mohamed
- Moniqu Guzman
- Luke Haeger
- Erik Hall
- Tamara Ham
- Erina Hamada
- Juliet Hantig
- Matt Harfield
- Kelvin Harris, Jr.
- Ryna Harrison
- Aye Hasegawa
- David Hawkins
- Ivy Heeny
- Josh Heller
- Naomi Henderson
- Nic Hernandez
- Eduardo Hernandez
- Bonnie Hernandez
- Amy Hessler 6:12 AM
- Aaron Hicks
- John Hicti
- Natsuko “Coco” Higashikawa
- Marlee Hightower 6:48am
- Marlon Hightower 6:48am
- Olana Himmel
- Amalia Holl
- Anne-Marie “Diamondback Annie” Holman
- Alyssa Hovey
- Isaiah Howard
- Corlina Hoyes
- Steve Huang
- Christy Huertas
- Giulia Isacchini
- Shawntae Jackson
- Tami Dewell James
- Ellie Jameson
- Michelle Janine
- Daniel Jaquez
- Morgan Jenkins 11:44 PM.
- Saudia Jenkins
- Sarah Jenks
- Trent Jeray 3:52 PM
- Diamond Johnson
- Jackie Johnson
- Brittany Johnson
- Dorothy Jean Joly
- Grace L. Jones
- Mao Kawakami
- Sammy Kaye
- Briana Kennedy
- Jeremy Kesner
- Torey Ketcham
- Ara Keuroghun
- Beckie Kiefer
- Callie Kiefer
- Ellen Kim 2:04 AM?
- Essence King
- Princess King
- Jason Richard Kirby
- NayNay Kirby
- Kasi Kirkpatrick
- Daniel Kwan 1:32am (more)
- Bailey LaFlam
- Quinn Lake
- Scott Laurie
- Jamie Lawrence
- Julia-Thao V Lê
- Georgina Leahy
- David Leavitt
- Harlem Lee
- Brian Lee
- Kendel LeGore
- Francesca Leigh
- Alexandra Lemelle
- Will Leon
- Cynthia Lester (IMDB) 4:48am
- Siláwn Lewis
- Tanita Ligons
- David “Dash Riprock” Lipkin
- Dava Liu
- Everth López
- Mandi Lowery 2:24 AM
- Aerick Luckie
- Anthony Andre Mack
- Naiqui MaCobroad
- Bill Manaqun
- Alfredo Mancuso
- Kathleen Mangan
- Artur Manvelyan
- Cerise Marchon
- Teri Marlowe 4:36pm
- Jamel Marshall
- Isabel Martin-Horwth
- Jose Martinez
- Eddie Martinez
- Jore Mana Amsel Martinez
- Nikki Marvin
- Tony Maseno
- Hillary Matthews
- Sean McBride
- Ashleigh McGordan
- Brian McGowan
- Katherin McGowan
- Jos McKain (misspelled in credits as “Jes McKain”)
- Erinilda Medeiros
- Sergio Mendes 10:32 AM
- Alberto David Mercado
- Darwyn Metzger
- Mikayla & Callie
- Dustin Miller
- Kevin Mimms
- Albert Minero, Jr.
- Ariana Moini
- KC MoMillan
- Nylah Mondesir
- Chloe Mondesir
- David Moore
- Edgar Morgan
- Tommy Morrison
- Monica Moskatow 7:56AM (her youtube channel and her Happy Dance Audition!)
- Omar Mosley
- Aliyah Moulden
- Terence Mufaland
- Mike Munich
- Jenny Muscatelli
- Cameron Navam
- Justin Nesbitt
- Kevin Nguyen
- Joseph Niemeier
- Tyrell Noel
- Warren Nomi
- Deanna O’Bryan
- Natalya Oliver 1:36PM
- Jouré Omar
- Annabell Osorio
- Jon Overgaauw
- Roxanne “Roxy Rene” Pacheco
- Mitch Pearlstein
- Marlon Pelayo
- Rhoda Pell at 9:04AM.
- Brianna Perez
- Tuyla Peters
- Trina Peterson
- Trina Nicole Peterson
- Timothy J. Petracca
- Breanna Phillips
- Avelavunee Phillips
- Brian”BJ” Pierce, Jr.
- Fatima Poenyoub
- Frankie Ponce
- Tara-Jean Popouich
- George Powell
- Ashton Powers
- Ondreu Psenicka
- Allison Quiller
- Jon Raagas
- Mattias Ramos at 5:56 AM Original audition video is here.
- Charlie Ramos
- Samuel Ramzy
- Beau Ray
- Rebecca Ray
- Gavin Logan Raygoza
- Jonathan Redavid 2:20pm
- Vicki Reed
- Amber Reed
- Lupida Resh
- Heather Reyes
- Victor Reyes
- Alfredo Reyna
- Holly Richards
- Hannah Richte
- Veondra Roxxanne Riley
- Luisa Rivera, Jr.
- Billy D. Robertson
- Estella Robinson
- Jack Robinson
- Alfonso Rodriguez
- Nick Rodriques
- Meredith Rogers
- Sapna Rohra 9:16 PM
- James Ross
- Dylan Russcet
- Faisal Salah
- Azzle Salais
- Olivia G. Salerno
- Anastasia Salinger
- Sasha Salinger
- Elin Sandegard
- J. Eric Sandoval
- Anthony Sands
- Reynaldo C. Santiago, Jr.
- Sami Martin Sarmientov
- Daniel Scheinert 1:32am ,(more)
- Page Schorer
- Page R. Sdn
- Mahesh Seneviratue
- Chaldea Sevilla 6:32 pm
- Kristen Shapero
- Loretta Shenosky 9:16AM.
- Kiara Sieen
- Melanie Siegel
- Simmie “Boobly” Sims
- Felicia Skrzypek
- Jarrett Sleeper
- Aaron Smith
- Sterling Smith
- Lauren Smith
- Gwendolin Smith
- Harpal Sodhi
- Hannah Sotelo
- Samie Soulogheh
- Hope Spear
- Anaya Sperlin
- Neal Spinler
- Carole Stanford
- Melissa Staroszik
- Ross Steeves
- Athena Sterig
- Alejandra Suayde
- Yannnus Sufandi
- Art Sughyan
- Genevieve Svehiak
- Theodore Szeto
- Joanna Szeto
- Etsgenet Tadesse
- Arlene Tai, 4:20 PM
- Ada Tai, 4:20 PM
- Tsuyoshi Takayama
- Mikaela Tallut
- Louisa Tampi
- Justine Tauriainen
- Shaka Terry
- Hondo Tey
- Cleveland Third
- Dayzjah Thomas
- Whitmer Thomas
- Jason Sensation Thomas
- Ella Thomas
- Nyah Monet Thompson
- Cynthia Marie Thompson
- Kumei Tneorio
- Arleen Torgersen
- David Torres
- Gustavo Torres
- Shenika Travis
- Angela Trimbur (aka the “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching Girl”) 12: 24 AM
- Marilou Troadec
- Derrick T. Tuggle 12:20AM
- Alceem Turner
- Nadia Vazquez
- Tyler Vazquez
- Clayton Velasquez
- Liane Vitzk
- Tonya Vivian
- Minn Vo 2:20pm
- Kara J. Wade
- Bo Walker
- Zoe Savannah Walker
- John Ward
- Jasmiru Shira Ware
- Daisy Washington
- Charity Watts
- Ricky Webb
- Brooke-Monaé Westbrook
- Michelle Westbrook
- Shawna Whitlock
- Dallas Wiley
- Deferra Williams
- Ashley Williams
- Xuly Williams
- Josh Williams
- Nicholas Williams
- Rosalind Williams
- Deshawnte “Smoothgalaxy” Williams
- Phoebe Wilson
- Michael Wilson
- David Wincheu
- Jenna Winn
- Connie Wong
- Alex Wong
- John Wusab
- Drew Wyman
- Malcolm Xavier
- Francesco Yates
- Maritza Lerman Yoes
- Gina Young
- Katherina Zabe
- Katrin Zales
- Adisa Ziric
- Isabella Zubor
- Jill Zwarensteyn
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