Laura Shigihara’s Animal Crossing Parody Song Taps Into That Nook Miles Struggle

People’s love of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has caused an influx of media inspired by experiences. For example, we see plenty of fan art online and there’s a Nookazon website for trading items, recipes and villagers. Now, a famous video game developer, composer, and performer has used that love for an Animal Crossing parody song. Laura Shigihara has combined the “2pm” music from the Animal Crossing Switch game and Blood, Sweet, & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel” to create “Hamster Wheel.”

Shigihara unveiled the “Hamster Wheel” Animal Crossing parody song on Twitter on May 15, 2020. She talked about the inspirations for the tune and video there, noting that the struggle to perform small tasks to earn more Nook Miles “can feel like a Hamster Wheel.” She also noted the musical similarity between “2pm” and “Spinning Wheel,” which led to the parody’s mash-up.

Here’s Shigihara’s “Hamster Wheel.”

To compare, here is the actual “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat, & Tears.

As for Shigihara, she has been involved in multiple elements of the video game industry. Her most recent game is Rakuen, an adventure about a hospitalized little boy helping people around him in the hopes the Guardian of the Forest will grant his wish. She’s also known for her work on game soundtracks, for example composing music and singing songs for Deltarune, Minecraft, Plants vs. Zombies, Super Meat Boy, and To the Moon.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on the Nintendo Switch.