Columbus artist creates 600-pound pumpkin paying homage to Moo Deng; ‘SNL’ actor responds

A Columbus artist who went viral last year for her 400-pound pumpkin replica of Taylor Swift is in the spotlight again after painting a 611-pound gourd that pays homage to everyone’s favorite hippo, Moo Deng.

Jeanette Paras, known by many as Paras Pumpkins, has been creating celebrity pumpkin replicas for 36 years from her Dublin home and studio, and she revealed her newest creation last night: Bowen YangKin.

The over 600 pound pumpkin is painted to resemble “Saturday Night Live” actor Bowen Yang’s parody of Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo from the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha Thailand. The pumpkin was donated by Rita Waits of Galena, Ohio,

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“Moo Deng burst onto the Internet in videos and memes and seemed to own the algorithm. He was everywhere! And then the appearance by Bowen Yang on SNL’s Weekend Update put them both at the top of my list,” Paras said in a press release. “I don’t make the news, I pumpkinize it. Bowen YangKin is this year’s giant celebrity pumpkin, and he represents a nice break from the other news coming at us 24 hours a day.”

Less than an hour after Paras posted this year’s creation, Bowen Yang’s official Instagram account reposted it, and commented, “This is incredible!!!!!”

And to Paras was excited to see this is a bit of understatement, “I screamed so loud I gave myself a headache,” she told 614Now. “I love that he saw it.”

Paras is also using the new creation as a fundraising event, and all the money collected will be donated to the Stefanie Spielman Fund.

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