Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little Bunny Foo Foo is a children's poem, involving a rabbit harassing a population of field mice. The rabbit is scolded and eventually punished by a fairy. Like many traditional folk songs, there are multiple versions with differing variations. It is also known under the alternative name Little Rabbit Foo Foo; "Foo Foo" is sometimes spelled as "Fu Fu". The poem is sung to the tune of "Down by the Station" (1948), and melodically similar to the popular French Canadian children's song "Alouette" (1879).

The rhyme is usually sung by an older person to a younger child, using a repetitive tune that reinforces the meter, accompanied by hand gestures. In this mode of transmission, it is a form of tickle play that teaches and reinforces motor skills, often passed as childlore.

One of the more popular versions of the song is as follows:

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 3 chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And 'bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 2 more chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

I'll give you 1 more chance,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

And the next day...

Little bunny Foo Foo

Went hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said

"Little bunny Foo Foo

I don't wanna to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

I gave you three chances and you didn't behave so....POOF. She turned him into a Goon.

An alternate version is

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Hopping through the forest

Scoopin' up the field mice

Bopping 'em on the head!

Then the Good Fairy came and said:

"Little Bunny Foo Foo

I don't want see you

Scoopin' up the field mice

Bashing 'em on the head!

I'll give you 3 chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

Some versions were similar, but different:

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

Running through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head!

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said:

"Little Rabbit Foo Foo

I don't wanna see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bashing them on the head!

I will give you three chances,

And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a Goon!"

One other version goes

Little Bunny Foo Foo

hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bashing them on the head!

Down came the Good Fairy, and she said:

"Little Bunny Foo Foo

I don't wanna see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bashing them on the head!

I will give you three chances,

Then POOF you're a Goon."

In some versions the Good Fairy turns Little Bunny Foo Foo into a goose or a Goon.^[1] Also, in other versions, Little Bunny Foo Foo reforms and is rewarded by the fairy by not being transmogrified. Also, in some versions the Angel Gabriel is used instead of the Good Fairy, in others the Green Fairy. Some versions replace "I don't wanna see you" with "I don't like your attitude" or "What am I gonna do with you". "Hopping through the forest" is also often replaced by "riding in the forest" and goon is often written as goonie. Sometimes a final verse is added:

Little goonie Foo-Foo

Swimming through the water

Scooping up the tadpoles

And bopping them on the head!

One common ending has Little Bunny Foo Foo turned into a Goon, with a pun ending "And the moral of the story is: Hare today, goon tomorrow." This form of story telling with a pun ending is also known as a feghoot.

The story is also retold in the book Lenore, The Cute Dead Girl: Noogies where Lenore plays as Little Bunny Foo Foo and gets told to stop bopping field mice on the head by the Good Fairy. She continues bopping other animals instead, and so the Good Fairy reappears and reprimands her by saying: "No bopping ANY animals on the head!" Lenore responds by bopping the fairy. The moral of the story was: "Be more specific".

The rhyme is retold in illustrated children's books.^[2]

A version of this rhyme is sung by Butters Stotch in an episode of South Park called "Something You Can Do with Your Finger", which aired in season 4.

In Brazil the song was translated into Portuguese by the Brazilian singer Xuxa for the album Xuxa Só Para Baixinhos 3 ("Xuxa Only for Little Ones"), with the name Coelhinho Fufu. In it, instead of bopping the field mice on the mead, he sharply kisses them and (though not said in the song lyrics) drops them, and the Good Fairy (known literally as the Fairy Godmother) gives him a long lecture, and the penalty for using up his three chances by disobeying is being turned into a duckling.

In an eerie book found in shopping malls in the United States, a female Little Bunny Foo Foo is portrayed making small cakes. However, rats would constantly come and steal her desserts. This irritates her so much that she chases and pounds the rats in their heads. The fairy, who is unaware of the rats' thievery, however, blames Little Bunny Foo Foo for the pounding, and tells her to stop. The bunny tries to be peaceful but the way the rats still try to steal her delicacies make her want to go physical on them. After three warnings ignored, the fairy morphs Little Bunny Foo Foo into a giant vicious gerbil. The giant gerbil gets revenge by chasing and finally devouring the fairy. The gerbil returns home to enjoy her cakes. The attendees at her party don't seem to mind her appearance.^[3]

References

1. Inside the classroom (and out), Kenneth L. Untiedt, p. 36.
2. Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen illustrated by Harold Robins, Walker Books Ltd, 2003, ISBN 978-0-7445-9800-1 and Little Bunny Foo Foo: Told and Sung by the Good Fairy by Paul Brett Johnson, Scholastic Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-439-37301-2
3. amandajlepper (April 14, 2014). "Books for the Easter Basket". GOING ON A BOOK HUNT. Retrieved 2016-03-03.