The 2009 Thon pep rally gave dancers a chance to revisit their childhoods.

Co-hosted by former Nittany Lion James Sheep, the pep rally featured performances by selected athletic teams. The theme of the show was "Rewind to the Themes that Make Childhood Dreams," and required each team to pick a favorite childhood movie or show. It then created a dance routine to the music featured in its selection.

Dancers were then given two chances to vote. They could give both votes to one team or split their votes between two teams.

Some of the crowd's favorite performances included the mens' gymnastics team, who dressed as pirates in reference to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. During the performance, each gymnast performed a standing back flip and a few took the center of the stage to break dance.

Members of the football team arrived near the end of the pep rally to an enormous roar of excitement from the crowd. They recreated songs and cheers from Remember the Titans.

Football player Derek Day said Blue Sapphire P. J. Maierhofer helped to choreograph their dance. They worked extremely hard to perfect the routine, he said.

"I'd do this every year for the kids," Day said.

The winning performance came from the Icers with their rendition of Happy Feet. The entire team waddled on stage dressed in full penguin suits and sunglasses.

One spectator yelled, "They won. Anything you do in a penguin suit is funny."

She was not alone in her opinion.

O'Shannon Burns (senior-geography) said she gave one of her votes to the mens' gymnastics team and the other to the Icers.

"I loved how their little bellies came up and said 'FTK,'" she said.