The Monkey Song, Belafonte version with Animaniacs video

Yesterday, looking at the comments of a video of the Animaniacs version of the Monkey song, I was disheartened to see that in nearly a year since the video was posted, not a single person had pointed out that the song existed for more than 30 years before the cartoon was made.

It seems most Animaniacs fans think this song came from Animaniacs. So, I set out to demonstrate the truth.

In so doing, I discovered a few things besides the lyrics that are similar, e.g., where Harry Belafonte says "On de corner" right as Dr Scratchansniff rounds a corner, and, moments later, "up!" as Scratchansniff climbs a fire escape. Very clever stuff from the artists at Warner Bros.

The tempo of the two versions is slightly different, but the animation still seems to stay very close to the related action from the original song, though I did have to cut out two extended sequences -- at the beginning and in the middle (you'll see crossfades at the two cut points).

This recording dates from 1961. The album is called "Jump Up Calypso". It was re-released on CD in 1997.

This is neither a high-quality video capture nor a high-quality audio recording. Buy the DVDs for the video and the LP or CD for the music if you want them in better quality.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Belafonte
• Warners
• WB
• Animaniacs
• Yakko
• Wakko
• Dot
• Pinky
• Brain
• Buttons
• Mindy
• Flavio
• Marita
• Skippy
• cartoon

[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...

[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.

[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. ♥

[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.

[ErikHiner]

@Milkman26789Z

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

[cwongchung]

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

[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 ^_^

[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