Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (also called "The Magic Song")^[1] is a novelty song, written in 1949 by Al Hoffman, Mack David, and Jerry Livingston. It was introduced in the 1950 film Cinderella, performed by actress Verna Felton.

Ilene Woods and The Woodsmen with Harold Mooney and His Orchestra recorded it in Hollywood on October 26, 1949. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 31-00138B and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog numbers B 9970, SG 2371, HM 3755 and JM 2678.

A recording by Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters was the most popular. It was recorded on November 7, 1949 and released by RCA Victor Records as a 78 rpm single (catalog number 20-3607-B) and as a 45rpm single (catalog number 47-3113-B). The flip side was "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes". The recording reached number 14 on the Billboard chart.^[2] The same single was released in the United Kingdom by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as a 78rpm single (catalog number B 9961). It was also released with catalogue numbers HN 2730, X 7279, SAB 8 and IP 615.

Another recording, by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 782. The record first reached the Billboard charts on December 16, 1949 and lasted 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 19. It was backed with "Echoes" on the flip side.^[2]

On the Cash Box Best-Selling Record charts, where all versions were combined, the song reached number 7.

Dinah Shore also recorded this song on September 9, 1949. It is currently in the compilation of 1992 Sony Music (Legacy label) album "Zip A Dee Doo Dah".

This song was used in a Gatorade commercial starring Sergio Ramos, Leo Messi, David Luiz and Landon Donovan promoting the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The first line of the lyric was used as a mantra by Nellie McKay in a Guy Noir skit during episode 1482, January 24, 2015, of A Prairie Home Companion.

Disney used the song once again in their 2015 blockbuster movie release of Cinderella which starred Lily James in the leading role. The song was performed by Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Fairy Godmother in the release, and it was the final song of the movie, playing with the ending credits. Her version can also be found as the 30th song on the original movie soundtrack. ^[3]

Lyrics

The lyrics of the song, as with the title, are composed nearly entirely of nonsense. The Cinderella LP insert lists the lyrics as follows:

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put 'em together and what have you got?
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
It'll do magic believe it or not
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

Salagadoolaree means mechicka boolaroo
But the thingmabob that does the job is
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put 'em together and what have you got?
Bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

The 1949 recording, however, has several extra English lines that were not used in the 1950 Disney version, including: "If your mind is in a dither, and your heart is in a haze, I'll haze your dither, and dither your haze, with a magic phrase", and "if you're chased around by trouble, and followed by a jinx, I'll jinx your trouble, and trouble your jinx, in less than forty winks." The tempo of the various recordings also differs widely.

Parodies and puns

Akira Toriyama named three characters in his Dragon Ball series after this song: the evil wizard Bibidi, his son Babidi, and Bibidi's powerful creation Majin Buu.^[4]

The song is parodied on the Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain episode "Narfily Ever After", a parody of Cinderella.

A parody version recorded by Mickey Katz is entitled "The Baby, the Bubbe, and You".

The lyrics of the song are algebraically analyzed in a math lesson by Mr. Garrison in the South Park episode "Royal Pudding".

The title of the song is sung several times in Buck-Tick's song "Django!!! -Genwaku no Django-" from their album Razzle Dazzle.

This phrase is often referenced in other Disney stories - mostly when magic is being used. For example, in The Return of Jafar, and also in the Hercules TV series, in the 'one Saturday morning episodes,' Episode 12: "Hercules and the Gorgon."

The popular radio show "My Favorite Husband" episode which aired on July 27, 1950 makes fun of the nonsense words of this song. The title of the episode is "Liz Writes A Song".

Shrek 2 features a parody of the song, sung by Fiona's fairy godmother.

Origins

It has been suggested that the phrase, “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo,” can be traced to a short story by the Russian writer Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev. This is not, however, the case.^[5]

The song's melody resembles "Hello! Ma Baby," a Tin Pan Alley song from 1899. Five years after Cinderella, Hello! Ma Baby was popularized in animation by One Froggy Evening, with Warner Bros. having acquired its rights in 1929.

Covers

In 1955, Jack Pleis recorded it for his album, Music from Disneyland.

In the Disney/Square Enix crossover game Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep: the song has been reorchestrated by Yoko Shimomura as the theme tune for the Cinderella world Castle Of Dreams.

On the 2012 album Disney - Koe no Oujisama, which features various Japanese voice actors covering Disney songs, this song was covered by Jun Fukuyama.

On SpongeBob SquarePants, Squidward plays a piece on the clarinet that incorporates the tune of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo as seen on the episode, "Squid Wood".

On House of Mouse, Jafar and Iago help Mickey and friends bring the clubhouse back after Daisy accidentally made it disappear as seen from the Halloween special, "Mickey's House of Villains".

Helena Bonham Carter, who plays the Fairy Godmother in the 2015 film adaptation, recorded the song for the film's soundtrack.

See also

• Non-lexical vocables in music

References

1. Cinderella: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack (CD Liner booklet). Various Artists. Walt Disney Records. 2012. p. 4. D001825700.
2. Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research.
3. http://oncepodcast.com/cinderella-movie-review-once-upon-a-time-podcast-184/
4. Theron, Martin (2008-06-16). "Dragon Ball Z Season 8 DVD Set - Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
5. The writer and editor Marvin Kaye adapted a Turgenev short story, and his adaptation, copyrighted 1975, appeared in English as “Bubnoff and the Devil.” Kaye’s adaptation was reprinted in Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1985, Marvin Kaye and Saralee Kaye, eds., at 24-30. In Kaye's adaptation, the character of the Devil’s granddaughter is called “Bibbidibobbidibu.” But Kaye borrowed that name from the song. In Russian, the character’s name is simply “Babebibobu” (in Cyrillic characters, Бабебибобу). A Russian version of the story is available online at http://rvb.ru/turgenev/01text/vol_01/04unpublished/0100.htm. And in an English translation of the story that predates the Disney movie and the song, the character’s name is “Babebibobu.” See “The Adventure of Second Lieutenant Bubnov,” in The Evening Standard Second Book of Strange Stories, Hutchinson, London, 1937, at 375.