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ENTITY reports on leap day williamPhoto via Instagram/maddisraj

Leap Day William is the brain child of “30 Rock” writers. He’s a mythical Leap Day figure who resides in the Mariana Trench, rises every Leap Day to trade candy for children’s tears and pokes you if you’re not wearing blue and yellow. He also has gills because, obviously, he lives in the Mariana Trench.

He’s also the greatest thing to come out of the “30 Rock” Leap Day episode. It’s been five years since the episode aired, but the Leap Day William myth still lives on.

But if you’re not a “30 Rock” fan and you’re wondering why people keep talking about Leap Day William, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about the mythical figure.

Leap Day William’s character

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In the episode, Leap Day William is played by Jack McBrayer’s character, Kenneth Parcel, Jim Carrey and John Cullum. He even has his own song and movie.

At the beginning of the episode, Kenneth dresses as Leap Day William and sings “Leap Day William, Leap Day William, bursting from the sea. Will he bring his bucket of sweets for mom and pop and me?” Cute, right?

The Leap Day William movie portrays Carrey as a man who slowly turns into Leap Day William after neglecting his family for work. It’s a parody of the Santa Clause movies.

The character also reminds Tracy Jordan to remember where he comes from and teaches the rest of us to “live every day as if it’s Leap Day, and every Leap Day as if it’s your last.”

He’s a figure who believes that the true meaning of Leap Day is to take chances.

Leap Day William basically just spreads positivity and love.

The origins of Leap Day William

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“30 Rock” co-creator Robert Carlock talked to Atlas Obscura about the creation of the mythical figure.

Despite being an integral part of the Leap Day episode, Leap Day William wasn’t created until they started filming.

“We had been talking about leap day and this whole mythology arrived, which we loved instantly. Like Woollie, a whole other world opens up to you. You have all the short hand, the millennia of traditions, with so many holidays,” Carlock said. “It was as if we had a completely untouched new Christmas.”

With the use of Leap Day William,  the”30 Rock” writers turned Leap Day into a real holiday. They were given a blank canvas with the day, and they painted it blue and yellow.

And thanks to the addition of the movie, the episode took a spin on the classic holiday film. Parts of the film pop up in the background of different scenes to teach lessons relevant to the scene. Even Carrey was excited to be in the movie. Andie MacDowell even plays Carrey’s wife in the film.

“I don’t know how we got them,” Carlock said about Carrey and Macdowell. “But they both said yes right away. We met with Jim who was bubbling over with ideas. Tina had to say, ‘We’re shooting this tomorrow, Jim, I don’t think we can go to the Empire State building.'”

Carrey did, however, get his chance to implement his own ideas into the episode. The end of the movie was completely improvised by him. Carrey ran down the street screaming, “I saved Leap Day and connected with my son and I solved a big case from earlier!” as he ripped his own shirt off.

Or maybe they actually had no choice. “Leap Day William threatened us,” Carlock said. “He made us do it.”

Leap Day Williams’ gills

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But the fact that the Santa Clause-type character lives in the Mariana Trench still doesn’t make any sense. Carlock explained that the character’s gills are a historical mystery.

“When the world changed, some of the old gods – the Vikings and the Romans and the Assyrians – some of them hid,” Carlock said. “A bubbly god of chaos has taken on the form of Leap Day William. I don’t know if he had gills before he hid from the new order, or if he’s real.”

Who knows?

Leap Day William is the Santa Clause for adults. While Santa Clause teaches kids to be nice, Leap Day William teaches adults to live life like every day is their last because “real life is for March.”

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