Just about anyone who's spent time online over the last decade or so has almost undoubtedly stumbled across a simple GIF of a blonde-haired, bearded man clad in leather standing in front of a snowy wooded bank, staring into the camera as it slowly zooms in on his face and he nods.

While many younger people have mistaken the person seen in this iconic meme for comedian Zach Galifianakis as it's spread online, the GIF actually features actor Robert Redford playing the titular role in the 1972 American Western film Jeremiah Johnson.

So, how did this scene from a movie made over 50 years ago wind up becoming such a prominent meme across the web? Now that legendary actor Robert Redford has passed, let's revisit the original scene and explain how it cemented itself in internet culture as the "Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval" meme so many years later.

Where Does The 'Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval' Meme And GIF Come From?

The brief clip used in the "Robert Redford Nodding" meme originally comes from the 1972 Western film Jeremiah Johnson, which is a drama about the famous mountain man John Jeremiah Johnson that first appeared in Raymond Thorp and Robert Bunker's book Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson and the 1965 novel Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher.

In the movie, directed by Sydney Pollack, actor Robert Redford (35 years old at the time) stars as Jeremiah Johnson, living out his life as a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains as a trapper.

At the time of its release, the film garnered positive reviews from critics, and since then, it's become a beloved classic by many, with a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Back to the scene used in the meme, the moment takes place in the movie after Redford (as Johnson) takes a child under his wing and is forced to marry a Native American chief's daughter, since his refusal of the gesture would mean death. Flash forward in the plot a bit, and he settles down with the two.

At one point, his new bride teaches him some Native American methods for gathering food, teaching him how to fish using a new method. Though it takes him some time to get it down, he eventually catches a fish using the skill she taught him. As he looks over at his wife and the boy, he then nods as the camera slowly zooms in on his face, creating the iconic scene.

The isolated clip of the nod was posted online way back in early 2013, when YouTube user pnightmare89 uploaded it under the title "Nod Of Approval from Jeremiah Johnson," accumulating over 430,000 views, 2,600 likes and 270 comments in 12 years.

How Did The 'Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval' Meme Spread Online?

Many decades after the movie's release and before the scene was clipped and uploaded to YouTube, the "Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval" meme began circulating online as early as 2012, typically being used to show agreement or approval of something.

The earliest known appearance of the meme comes from a post on the site FunnyJunk that featured the nodding GIF on April 3rd, 2012, with a second appearance two months later in June on Tumblr from user whatshouldwecallme, who used it to create a joke about people reacting to them chiming in during a work meeting.

The reaction GIF then gained further prominence online over the following year, eventually being featured in a Mashable article from August 2013 that identified the origins of several GIFs popular at the time.

As it continued spreading online, it also saw use as an exploitable meme beyond its use as a simple reaction GIF, with many users recreating it with different characters from pop culture or editing things into the original.

For instance, one of the earliest known exploitable edits was uploaded to Reddit's /r/reactiongifs subreddit in July 2013 when Redditor EditingandLayout depicted Redford holding a lightsaber.

Two years later, in April 2015, Tumblr user stupjam posted an animated version featuring the Inkling Girl from the video game Splatoon as the format continued to evolve.

More recently, the GIF also received mainstream recognition through its inclusion in popular media. In season 20, episode one of Family Guy, titled "Must Love Dogs" (aired October 10th, 2021), the series parodied the meme and the original scene.

In the episode, Stewie Griffin appears dressed as the "Oh My God" reaction GIF meme for Halloween, with a cutaway to Peter Griffin dressed as Redford's character nodding in agreement.

This Family Guy recreation inspired another wave of memes, with users applying the Peter Griffin version in the same context as the original. For instance, in May 2022, Redditor Background-Drive-984 posted an example to the /r/memes subreddit that garnered over 13,000 upvotes and 40 comments in three years.

Why Do People Mistake Robert Redford For Zach Galifianakis?

Amid its rise to prominence as an internet meme, many younger people, presumably those who've never seen Jeremiah Johnson given its age, have continually expressed shock over the years upon learning that the GIF does not depict comedian Zach Galifianakis.

Reddit posts from as far back as 2012 make note of this phenomenon, with many still appearing online even in the 2020s.

Back in July 2019, a viral article from Splinter by Nick Martin expressed surprise that the individual in the GIF was Robert Redford, prompting a wave of similar reactions across Twitter.

Comparing the well-known meme of the young Redford as Johnson to Galifianakis at a similar age, it's easy to see why many, especially those who are younger and more familiar with the latter, might mistake the two.

What Are Some More 'Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval' Memes?

The 'Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval' Meme Template / GIF

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For the full history of the "Jeremiah Johnson Nod of Approval" meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry here for even more information.