Schnappi
Encyclopedia
Schnappi das kleine Krokodil (Snappy the Little Crocodile) is a German
children's cartoon character. The introductory song "Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil
" became an Internet hit before it reached № 1 on the German charts in January 2005, and was widely popular in other Europe
an countries as well, topping the singles charts in Belgium
, Austria
, the Netherlands
, Norway
, Sweden
and Switzerland
for several weeks.
(The Show With the Mouse). In the cartoon in which the character appeared, Schnappi is seen singing a song about life in Egypt
. That song, which is sung in German
, has a catchy tune
and simple lyrics
.
The song, which first appeared in the Sendung mit der Maus show in 2001, was written by Iris Gruttmann and performed by her then-six year old niece, Joy
.
A bootleg translation into English was recorded and released on the Internet on the 20 February 2005 by the Bronx artist DJ Damien. Despite being an unofficial cover, this version was made available on the official Schnappi website. The original recording artist was said to be very glad Schnappi made it to England, referring to the English version in an interview with The Guardian
newspaper. Other translations by collaborations involving DJ Damien include a French version "Crocky le Petit Crocodile", Lithuania
n "Šnapis mažas klokodilas" and a Japanese version "Togetogeshi, chiisai wani" (刺々し、小さい鰐).
Alternative versions of the song - varying from simple remixes of the basic vocal track, to a full cover version
by Belgian techno group Dynamite - were also at numbers seven and ten in Belgium, and at number two in the Netherlands.
The track was also sampled in a Benny Benassi song. http://joceluiz.imeem.com/music/1ITinLYD/benny_benassi_schnappi_whitelabel_rmx/
Swedish humor metal band Black Ingvars
also recorded a cover version in heavy metal style with Rammstein
-like vocals. The song was released on a compilation album in Sweden
.
A flash movie, Up Skit Creek Vol. 2 by Andrew Kepple, features an animutated
version of Steve Irwin
(The Crocodile Hunter
), stalking Schnappi and eventually trapping him in a strong grip- evidently too strong; Schnappi's neck "Schnapped". Steve Irwin referred to him as "the little German bugger who won't shut the hell up!" in layman terms.
In August 2005 Jamba!
released Schnappi in a number of downloadable formats.
Schnappi has been frequently referenced by Michael J. Nelson
, Bill Corbett
, and Kevin Murphy
in over a dozen different RiffTrax
commentaries, usually referring to a reptilian creature.
Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil is also a downloadable song for the Xbox 360
karaoke game Lips
.
, Switzerland
, Belgium
, the Netherlands
, Norway
and Sweden
, whilst reaching the top 10 in Australia
, New Zealand
, Denmark
and France
. The song was released in the UK on Monday 3 October 2005, but it only reached the bottom end of the UK Singles Chart
Top 40 and only reached #15 in Finland
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
children's cartoon character. The introductory song "Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil
Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil
"Das Kleine Krokodil", also known under the title "Schnappi", is the debut single by animated cartoon crocodile, Schnappi, from his first album Schnappi und Seine Freunde. It was released on December 16, 2004. The song is performed by Joy Gruttmann...
" became an Internet hit before it reached № 1 on the German charts in January 2005, and was widely popular in other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries as well, topping the singles charts in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
for several weeks.
Inception
Schnappi was a character in a popular animated German children's TV show called Die Sendung mit der MausDie Sendung mit der Maus
Die Sendung mit der Maus is a highly acclaimed children's series on German television that has been called "the school of the nation". The show first aired on March 10, 1971...
(The Show With the Mouse). In the cartoon in which the character appeared, Schnappi is seen singing a song about life in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. That song, which is sung in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, has a catchy tune
Tune
Tune may refer to:* A melody* A tune-family* A tune , a short piece of instrumental music, usually with repeating sections, and often played a number of times* British slang term, often said when referring to a piece of music that is enjoyed...
and simple lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
.
The song, which first appeared in the Sendung mit der Maus show in 2001, was written by Iris Gruttmann and performed by her then-six year old niece, Joy
Joy Gruttmann
Joy Gruttmann is a German child singer.Her aunt is the composer Iris Gruttmann. She has sung children's music for the ARD program Die Sendung mit der Maus since 1999. Her fifth song was "Schnappi", which she recorded in 2001 when she was five years old...
.
Success
In 2004 Schnappi became very popular on the Internet. It got more and more popular while playing on the Internetradio RauteMusik. The moderators and listeners often played that song before it got released on CD. In December of that year, the song Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil was released on CD. The single reached #1 on the German Pop-Charts on 3 January 2005.A bootleg translation into English was recorded and released on the Internet on the 20 February 2005 by the Bronx artist DJ Damien. Despite being an unofficial cover, this version was made available on the official Schnappi website. The original recording artist was said to be very glad Schnappi made it to England, referring to the English version in an interview with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper. Other translations by collaborations involving DJ Damien include a French version "Crocky le Petit Crocodile", Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n "Šnapis mažas klokodilas" and a Japanese version "Togetogeshi, chiisai wani" (刺々し、小さい鰐).
Alternative versions of the song - varying from simple remixes of the basic vocal track, to a full cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Belgian techno group Dynamite - were also at numbers seven and ten in Belgium, and at number two in the Netherlands.
The track was also sampled in a Benny Benassi song. http://joceluiz.imeem.com/music/1ITinLYD/benny_benassi_schnappi_whitelabel_rmx/
Swedish humor metal band Black Ingvars
Black Ingvars
Black Ingvars is a Swedish humorist heavy metal group. Black Ingvars is famous for cover versions of songs from other musical styles, like pop, children's song, "dansband" music, Christmas songs and gospel...
also recorded a cover version in heavy metal style with Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
-like vocals. The song was released on a compilation album in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
A flash movie, Up Skit Creek Vol. 2 by Andrew Kepple, features an animutated
Animutation
Animutation or fanimutation is a form of web-based computer animation, typically created in Adobe Flash and characterized by unpredictable montages of pop-culture images set to music, often in a language foreign to the intended viewers...
version of Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin
Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...
(The Crocodile Hunter
The Crocodile Hunter
The Crocodile Hunter was a wildlife documentary television series that was hosted by Steve Irwin and his wife Terri. The show became a popular franchise due to its unconventional approach and Irwin's approach to wildlife...
), stalking Schnappi and eventually trapping him in a strong grip- evidently too strong; Schnappi's neck "Schnapped". Steve Irwin referred to him as "the little German bugger who won't shut the hell up!" in layman terms.
In August 2005 Jamba!
Jamba!
Jamba! is a premium-rate monthly SMS mobile phone content provider, based in Berlin, Germany. In China and the company's English-speaking markets—currently Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States—the company operates under the name...
released Schnappi in a number of downloadable formats.
Schnappi has been frequently referenced by Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , for which he voiced the robot Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel and played the character...
, and Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...
in over a dozen different RiffTrax
RiffTrax
RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital...
commentaries, usually referring to a reptilian creature.
Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil is also a downloadable song for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
karaoke game Lips
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
.
Chart performance
The song reached number one in Germany, AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, whilst reaching the top 10 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The song was released in the UK on Monday 3 October 2005, but it only reached the bottom end of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
Top 40 and only reached #15 in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.