How to Make the Hula Dance AI Video From One Pet Photo
The Hula Dance trend copies the Cute Animals Dancing Short, where a squirrel in a flower crown and grass skirt does a hula dance (about 590,000 views on YouTube). Here is how to make your own version with your dog or cat: the one-click way, and the do-it-yourself way with the exact prompt we use.
What you need
- One clear, well-lit photo of one pet, whole body visible, no people in the picture.
- A few minutes while the video renders.
- TikTok, Instagram Reels or CapCut, to add the trending sound.
The one-click way (free)
- Open the AI Hula Dance template.
- Upload your pet photo and press Make my free video. No sign-up, no prompt to write.
- Watch your 5-second preview a few minutes later. Download it for $2.99, or get a 10-second 720p HD video from $4.99.
The do-it-yourself way
You need a video model that takes a photo and a reference video together. We use Seedance 2.0. The photo decides who is in the video; the reference video only decides how it moves.
- Cut a 5 to 10 second clip from the original viral video. This is the motion reference. Make it vertical (9:16) and not too small: around 640 × 640 pixels in total or more, or the model rejects it.
- Give the model your pet photo as Image 1 and the clip as Video 1.
- Paste the prompt below and ask for a 10-second vertical video.
The main character is the pet from Image 1. Video 1 is ONLY a motion reference: copy its dance moves, but the squirrel, its nuts and its playground must not appear anywhere.
10-second vertical video, static camera, the pet's full body always in frame. Keep the pet's species, breed, face, eye color, fur color and markings exactly as in Image 1. The pet wears a white daisy flower crown and a green leaf hula skirt. Copy the hula dance from Video 1 beat by beat: the pet stands on its hind legs, sways its hips side to side, waves its front paws in hula motions, turns around once, and ends facing the camera. Setting: a sunny tropical beach with palm trees. Exactly one animal, and it is the pet from Image 1. No people, no human hands, no text, no captions, no logo, no watermark.Two lines do most of the work. The first says Video 1 is only a motion reference, so the animal from the original does not end up in your video. The last keeps it to one animal, with no people, text or watermark.
Cost tip: with Seedance the reference clip is billed too, at your output resolution. Shrinking it saves nothing; cutting it shorter does.
Tips from making our Hula Dance example
- Say that the original animal must not appear. On our first try the model copied the squirrel from the reference instead of using the pet photo.
- Describe the outfit (flower crown, leaf skirt) in the prompt; the model does not always pick it up from the reference alone.
- A beach background reads better than the playground in the original.
Add the sound
Our videos come without audio. Before you post, add the original sound from the Cute Animals Dancing Short from the TikTok or Instagram sound library. The in-app sound is easier than editing music in, and the app takes care of the music license.