The Monkey Song, Belafonte version with Animaniacs video

[TackyRackyComixNEO]

Just wanna say, you have the most diverse (yet still extremely dedicated) YouTube channel I've ever seen.

[ctube001]

This show was pure genius.

[c0mf0rta61ynum6]

Great, now I'm wondering what Scratchansniff would be like in the show if he was Jamaican.

[crazyfooInc]

I knew I heard the original before, I just had no idea who originally sang it, thanks for the clearing up :-D. I think I prefer Rob Paulsen with Scratchansniff's accent more though ^_^

[Milkman26789Z]

"When I go down, monkey go down too!"

"G'night everybody! :D"

[Keeper1st]

@Milkman26789Z I wondered if anyone would notice why I put "G'night everybody!" on the video at that line...

[ErikHiner]

@Milkman26789Z

Perfect! This video is perfect.....thank you so much!!!!!!!!!

[back2s0ul]

For years I was wondering where that song came from.

[xolovemexhatemexo]

Woahhhh! I never realized that! That's so awesome. Those guys over at Warner's are clever ones. :P

[thenewageriseth]

Cool, it's a Belafonte song! xD

[juffan]

so...... they're monkeys?



[Keeper1st]

@juffan No. As they sing in the Animaniacs version of the song, "We're not monkeys; we're just cuckoo! Don't know what to say the Warners won't do!" They are animated inkblots. They are not meant to be any specific animal.

[cwongchung]

@Keeper1st yeah, they look like those 1920's cartoon characters..

[kissxthexdancer]

"When i go *kiss*, monkey go *kiss*, too"

ahh, my favorite part! ♥

[c0mf0rta61ynum6]

"I don't know what to say the monkeys will do,

for a nickel I'll give you a clue!

[MasterCharlie1992]

nice ha ha ha

[sidirom]

Thanks!

[bjr43]

Wow, didn't know that song was that classic.

[DaVince21]

Me neither. It's nice to know though.

Also hearing "I'm in zee stew, oh poo" in my mind even though that's not in the original version. :P

[50Dashes]

Good video. I was aware that many Animaniacs songs use the same melody as different songs, but I was unable to track down what song they were using for this. Thanks to you, I now know.

[lbrown21494]

Hey thanks I knew I heard the song somewhere before I just didn't know where.

[swimboi86]

I remember when I used to listen to this song with dad on his record player

[norvegianu]

from what i heard,the song belongs to george michael

[DavidBIGdArruda]

Now I'm in ze stew... Ah poo...

[MasterCharlie1992]

call my lawyer i'm really to sue

[kakureru]

nice! Thanks allot. This one is tough to find.

[originalnoodle]

I love this song. Just heard it for the first time and thought the lyrics were a hoot. Thanks for posting it.

[Kolibri2005]

I guess this version is hard to come by and extremely expensive, though, so that kind of puts a damper on buying it cheaply from itunes. Oh well, at least I can come here and listen to it. Thanks Keeper1st! :-)

[Kolibri2005]

In reading the info for the video, I see the person who posted this said that this song had existed a long time--and they were discouraged no one noticed. To encourage the person who posted this I make mention that I only recently heard this for the first time and I have been trying to find out what the original song was, because I thought I recognized it from somewhere. Glad to finally have the answer, thank you! :-) It's interesting though--the animaniacs were quite true to the original.

[TxTFamGuy1]

My boss was on the phone with his wife and i put in one of my Trojan reggae cd's in. Derrick harriott's version of monkey song came on, my boss looked at me and his jaw hit the floor. He got off the phone and started freaking out saying that he heard this song on the animaniacs when he was a kid. Ive heard a lot of mento, ska and reggae covers of this song but this is the first time ive listen to it in calypso. great job man

[TinyToonAnimaniacs]

hahaha i love Animaniacs and this song this is great i hope you make more

[toribooo]

Most anamainac songs use melodies from different songs or are puns of other songs, so even watching it as a small child, I didn't think it was from the show.

That being said, I'm glad you put a video with the Harry Belafonte version of the song; I <3 his voice.

[Keeper1st]

Yep. Some of the songs are from pretty obscure tunes too, like "Old Dan Tucker" used for "Here Comes Attila".

[blossomblizzard]

Oh thank you so much! I had no idea it was based on a real song. ♥

[Sk8rToon]

Ditto! Thanks for educating us, Keeper!

[thenewageriseth]

@blossomblizzard I didn't know it was a real song either! xD

I wrote my own parody of the Animaniacs version in 8th grade LOL

[lesinistre]

Wow. I heard this song years ago at a friend's while we were horsed on gin. It's impossible to find on CD but I managed to get a copy of the vinyl album. Only problem is that I don't have a record player!

Maybe itunes will get round to selling it one day.

Thanks for posting this.

[princesskanu]

oh gosh!... in spanish is so much original.... is increible!

[prvtdncr36]

Where did you get this song? I can't seem to find it anywhere?

[prvtdncr36]

Remove that question mark and replace it with this ".".

[Keeper1st]

Enter "Jump Up Calypso" in Google and you'll find some sites that sell the album now on CD.

[prvtdncr36]

Found it, but I'm not paying $186 for the album, and nobody sells the song by itself. Oh well, unless you're willing to email it too me I'm S.O.L. Thanks anyway though the vid is awesome.

[Keeper1st]

Ooh wow... looking at it now, it seems these days the original vinyl LP is the only really affordable option.

[KingYakko]

Sorry I meant "There IS A Tavern In Town" :p

[KingYakko]

I never knew that....but I did find something myself..The song "There Was A Tavern In The Town" sounds ALOT like the ANIMANIACS THEME. check it out and tell me what you think.

Search here on youtube "There Was A Tavern in The Town"

[Keeper1st]

Oh yes. For a while I've been wanting to do a video where I play the two tunes for comparison. Also the Tiny Toons theme versus Wooden Soldiers on Parade (or something like that; I don't remember the exact name off the top of my head).

[annamcnarin]

This was pretty neat to see, I knew the people behind A! pulled inspiration and parodies from just about everything, but very rarely do you get to see it put to animation. Thanks. :)

[BaboonLover]

i remember this.... good times.....

[bigmig12345]

lol HAHA XD

[JoedamovieGUY]

pantie shot at 1:55 hehe.

[toddw420]

HaHa Perv.

[lukecoolest]

lmao you perv

[HentaiSweetie]

Lol! Omg I had no idea that song was a parody!! XD I first heard that song from the Animaniacs when I was little but I never heard the origanal version (didn't even know there was one). 5/5 for inlightening me.

[PinkieOfDoom]

I remember as a kid that the Animaniacs version was not the original, and when I saw it recently I tried finding this version, but couldn't find it. Thanks for posting this...

[mightyfilm]

After doing research I knew the song wasn't original (outside of the lyrics), but this was the first time I ever heard it (And I like Harry Belefonte). But then again, the Animaniacs staff always managed to do something witty and even esoteric that went over kids heads for years. In the same way the old Bullwinkle show did. And jokes you get later on in life are much more satisfying, I feel.

[Kauaimon]

If almost everything they do is a parady, then what about the song I'm Mad?

[Keeper1st]

"I'm Mad" was an original. There were a great number of original songs thanks in large part to Randy Rogel. The AMLF ("Animaniacs Mega Lyrics File") credits will give you an idea of when something was a parody of something else or was written by a staff member.

[Keeper1st]

For that matter, one should read the CRGA ("Cultural References Guide for Animaniacs") for a more comprehensive list of all the obscure references in the series.

[johnffrey]

I knew it was a parody of a song very few of their songs are completely original.

[JMein13074]

Well, this is one of my theories proven right.

Now, I just need to find proof that "You can't keep a good dog down" from ADGTH was an arranged version of another song from that era.

[Keeper1st]

Probably "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" from 1920.

[JMein13074]

May I see link to said song?

[Keeper1st]

I can't find the sheet music (there are so many more recent songs with the same title), but did find the famous recording by Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds, on Rhapsody. It may or may not be the same song. Her blues singing really plays with the rhythm. The chord structure is similar, perhaps, but only because the style of music is the same, probably. Maybe Perry Bradford's original score is closer to what you hear in the movie (which I actually haven't seen yet!). Likely it's just an homage.

[Nerketur]

Oh wow. Never knew about this! So everything IS a partody.. I assumed they had made it up xD This is awesome!

[Kauaimon]

I assumed this was a parady. But I didn't know for sure =3.

[toonyswedegirl2]

Haha thanks for sharing! I tried looking for this version earlier but I never found it.

[takineko]

Haha, I didn't know. But I assumed it was a real song-- after a while I didn't even think about it.

[mistystargazer]

Huh, that *is* interesting. I never knew- thanks for posting this! :)