Woman Creates Moo Deng Halloween Costume, Transforms Into Viral Baby Pygmy Hippo

A woman paid tribute to one of the year’s most delightful pop culture moments by transforming herself into Moo Deng for Halloween.

Kirbie Johnson, who co-hosts the beauty podcast Gloss Angeles, dressed as the viral baby pygmy hippopotamus for her annual Halloween party, dubbed KIRBOWEEN. With help from special effects makeup artist Ally McGillicuddy, she fashioned the animal’s head using a prosthetic, pairing it with gray skin to match.

“I knew the world’s most beloved pygmy hippo had to be my costume this year,” Johnson tells PEOPLE of the inspiration for her Halloween look.

She said she and McGillicuddy had to get creative, as there were no ready-made Moo Deng costumes available. “It came together in a week — and it proved difficult because there are no Moo Deng costumes out there or baby hippo prosthetics, so we got as close as we could,” she explains, adding, “Ally is a genius and spent four hours on this transformation.”

In an Instagram Reel showing off her incredible Halloween look, Johnson explained more about the process of “becoming Moo Deng” — and some of the logistical challenges she experienced in the costume at her party.

“I brought a Stanley cup straw from my own home in order to have a cocktail. I could not eat all night. I finally shoved some charcuterie down my snout at the end of the night,” she said of the cumbersome face prosthetic, joking that she took a Waymo [self-driving car] “so there was no driver to harass” her over her unusual appearance.

She said she was able to talk, but her voice sounded “muffled” as a result of her hippo mouth, which she explained was “a two-piece prosthetic.”

“I had it rush-shipped from Canada. I paid a small fortune, but it was great,” Johnson shared in her video. “You can see I have a piece around my jawline and my chin and then there’s a piece that goes over my nose and around my eyes. I was having to breathe out of my mouth the whole night.”

Johnson said McGillicuddy used paints that “are typically water-activated and mixed them with alcohol or some kind of non-movable paint so it wouldn’t rub off.”

The makeup artist then “went in with an airbrush” and added touches of pink to mimic Moo Deng’s unique coloring and a special spray to give the hippo head a glossy look.

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Johnson joked that while she loves how her costume turned out, it may not have been the best choice for her “official ‘I’m single’ announcement.”

“Watching this back, I really am like, ‘What is wrong with you, girl? You’re single and this is how you’re dressing up for Halloween,’ ” she said.

But for Johnson, it’s all part of the fun, as she likes to go all out for the holiday. “I love Halloween and I always opt for a huge transformation every year,” she tells PEOPLE. “My parents have fun dressing up, so they instilled a love of the holiday in me. I aspire to get to Heidi Klum-level one day!”

Moo Deng, who lives in Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, took the internet by storm when she made her debut on Instagram on Sept. 6, weeks after her July 10 birth. Almost immediately, the zoo saw its daily visitor numbers more than double as people clamored to see the baby animal in person. A 24/7 live stream was later launched, allowing fans to tune in and see what Moo Deng is up to at any hour of the day or night.

Zookeeper Atthapon Nundee told the Associated Press that Moo Deng’s global popularity has been “beyond expectation.”