We’re nearly a week away from ringing in the new year and all the craziness that 2015 is going to bring with it, but before we go into holiday hibernation mode, we wanted to take a look back at the most GIF-worthy events of 2014.
From Ellen’s hilarious Oscar selfie, to ‘the greatest catch ever’, 2014 was filled with incredible moments that captured the Internet’s fascination thanks to the glory of the GIFs.
Without further adieu, these were our favorite GIFs of 2014:
Joe Biden
President Obama may have had the podium at this year’s State of the Union address, but Vice President Joe Biden stole the show with his coy greeting to someone in the audience, complete with a grin and gun.
Suarez the Vampire
Luis Suárez is one of the most gifted soccer players walking the planet, but at this year’s World Cup, rather than cementing his legacy for finding the back of the net, Suárez deepened his legacy of having an odd biting habit.
The Subway push
A subway commuter got his leg wedged between his train and platform right as it was about to take off. Luckily, someone got the train operator and dozens of other riders to stop and push the train off the track to free him.
Ice Bucket challenges
The ALS Ice Bucket challenge meme took the world by storm this year with everyone from Tim Cook to Justin Bieber took the icy plunge this year, but our favorite was Bill Gate’s ultra-geeky submission.
Mejia moonwalk
Jenrry Mejia was relegated to relief pitcher status in 2014, but that didn’t hurt his swag on the mound after delivering this monstrous strikeout.
Queen Beyonce
Beyonce was the only female artist anyone could about during the first half of 2014 thanks to her surprise album, then she reminded us all why she’s the queen with her stellar VMA performance in August.
Fargo
FX’s new series Fargo was one of our favorite shows of 2014, and also one of the only ones that used excellent promotional GIFs.
Mad Men
Last year the team behind Mad Men gave us Ken Cosgrove’s brilliant tap dance number. For 2014 they took it up a notch with a fantasy Burt Cooper dance number as part of the final season.
Groot
Guardians of the Galaxy was the biggest surprise blockbuster of the year and no one was more lovable than the giant tree alien Groot. According to Google, he was the ninth most searched for GIF of 2014.
The Greatest Catch Ever
Odell Beckham Jr made the greatest catch ever during the Giants’ game verse the Cowboys this year. Judging by his past work though, it definitely wasn’t a fluke.
Ellen’s Oscar Selfie
Ellen Degeneres took the most retweeted selfie of all-time at the Oscars this year. Her pic packed more star power than the Andromeda galaxy and was one of the most popular moments of the year, even if it was taken on a Samsung.
Riot fail
Droning
Drones became the most trendy new photography tool of 2014. Amazon’s even looking into doing drone deliveries, but not everyone is excited about sharing the skies with us.
Sochi Rings
Russia poured more money than ever into the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi. Then when it was time for the host nation to greet the world, it fumbled the ring opening in its magnificent ceremony.
50 Cent pitch
50 Cent proved in 2014 that no matter how hard your rap game is, people will still laugh at you when you throw like a girl.
Frozen
Technically, Frozen came out in 2013, but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most popular GIFs of 2014 among then kids.
Ashley Wagner
Ashley Wagner was the USA’s best shot at scoring a gold medal in women’s ice skating in Sochi. She had to settle for bronze and obvs thought the judges’ scores were “baloney.”
Miguel Herrera
Miguel Herrera was the most entertaining person to watch at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and he wasn’t even wearing cleats. The Mexican soccer coach became a global sensation for his spirited cheering from the sidelines so an ex-Disney animator turned him into a super saiyan.
