Build a LEGO Model of Viral Baby Pygmy Hippo Moo Deng

LEGO Builder Shows How To Make Your Own LEGO Moo Deng the Baby Pygmy Hippo

By Shiori Chen on October 8, 2024

Anyone who’s been on social media recently has seen Moo Deng, the adorable baby pygmy hippopotamus who has taken the internet by storm with her feisty personality and chunky cuteness. Her name, which means “bouncy pork” in Thai, is inspired by her love for bouncing around and energetically ramming into things. Now, the lovably sassy hippo has a LEGO build in her likeness.

The custom LEGO model is created by Cornbuilder, a LEGO enthusiast based in Nebraska. The model features her signature roundness, standing on short, stubby legs with a mouth that can open, allowing her to “scream” at anyone and everyone.

The real-life Moo Deng, who lives with her family at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in the Chonburi Province of Thailand, has led to an incredible increase in visitors to the zoo since her debut on social media. In the nearly three months since her birth, Moo Deng’s viral fame has led to everything from an impersonation skit on Saturday Night Live with Bowen Yang to an entire makeup trend. Artists, especially popular digital creators on Instagram, have been inspired by her popularity and are producing additional content for fans craving more than just the regular posts from the zoo. Cornbuilder's creation is just the latest in this trend of paying homage to Moo Deng.

The initial post featuring the adorably accurate LEGO model on Instagram has since received over 200,000 likes, with hundreds of users flooding the comments asking for instructions to build their own miniature Moo Deng. Due to the sheer amount of requests, Cornbuilder released a LEGO Moo Deng build and breakdown.

Last week, Cornbuilder posted a link on his page to the instructions, which are entirely free to access and formatted like a genuine LEGO set manual. For fun, he also shared some blurry photos of his Moo Deng build, just like the blurry posts of the actual hippo that initially sparked her virality.

Now, many are also requesting a model of Pesto the baby penguin, another animal sensation who has recently skyrocketed to fame due to his distinctive size and fluffiness. Cornbuilder typically creates his own original LEGO creations, including Bionicles, models of cars, and impressive creatures. Whether a custom build of Pesto the Penguin will follow is yet to be seen, but you can check out more of his LEGO builds on Cornbuilder's Instagram.