The original animation (first known as "Pop Tart Cat") was posted on April 2, 2011 , by artist Christopher Torres , known online as prguitarman . The pixel art GIF features a cat with a Pop-Tart for a body flying through space, leaving a rainbow trail in its wake. The Creation Story
: The character was based on Torres’ own Russian Blue cat, Marty , who sadly passed away in November 2012. Nyan Cat [original]
The character was born during a Red Cross charity drawing event on a livestream when two different viewers suggested Torres draw a "Pop-Tart" and a "cat". He merged the ideas into a single doodle and later animated it into the iconic GIF. The original animation (first known as "Pop Tart