"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" is a novelty song

Novelty song

A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

, written in 1948 by Al Hoffman

Al Hoffman

Al Hoffman , a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1984, was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number one hits through each decade, many of which are still sung and recorded today...

, Mack David

Mack David

Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...

, and Jerry Livingston

Jerry Livingston

Jerry Livingston was an American songwriter, and dance orchestra pianist.-Biography:...

. It was introduced in the 1950 film Cinderella

Cinderella (1950 film)

Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...

, performed by actress Verna Felton

Verna Felton

Verna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...

.

Ilene Woods

Ilene Woods

Jacqueline Ruth "Ilene" Woods was an American singer and actress who voiced Cinderella in the 1950 Disney classic film, which is what she is best known for.-Early life:...

 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

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 on the His Master's Voice label as catalog numbers B 9970, SG 2371, HM 3755 and JM 2678.

A recording by Perry Como

Perry Como

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

 and The Fontane Sisters

The Fontane Sisters

The Fontane Sisters were a trio from New Milford, New Jersey.-Early years:Their mother, Louise Rosse, was both a soloist and the leader of the St. Joseph's Church choir in New Milford. Bea and Marge started out singing for local functions, doing so well, they were urged to audition in New York City...

 was the most popular. It was recorded on November 7, 1949 and released by RCA Victor Records as a 78 rpm single (catalog number

Catalog numbering systems for single records

This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...

 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

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

"A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is a song written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston for the Walt Disney film Cinderella . In the song Cinderella encourages her animal friends to never stop dreaming, and that theme continues throughout the entire story.The theme of...

". The recording reached #14 on the Billboard chart.
The same single was released in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 by EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 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

Jo Stafford

Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...

 and Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...

, was released by Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 as catalog number 782. The record first reached the Billboard charts on December 16, 1949 and lasted 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at #19. It was backed with "Echoes

Echoes (1950 song)

"Echoes" is a popular song.It was written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1950.It was popularized in 1950 by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae. The Stafford/MacRae recording, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 782, was backed with "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo " on the flip...

" on the flip side.

On the Cash Box

Cash Box magazine

Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...

Best-Selling Record charts, where all versions were combined, the song reached #7.

Lyrics

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

Salagagoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put 'em together and what have you got
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

Salagagoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
It'll do magic believe it or not
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

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

Salagagoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put 'em together and what have you got
bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

The 1948 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

Akira Toriyama

is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...

, creator of the popular anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 franchise Dragon Ball has stated that he is a fan of Disney films. As a result of his fanaticism, Toriyama has created three characters in his Dragon Ball series named after this song. The characters names were an evil wizard named Bibidi, his son Babidi, and the powerful demon they created, Buu. Most Japanese merchandise spells Buu's name in the proper "Boo", just like the song.

The song is also parodied on the Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is the retooling of the American animated television series Pinky and the Brain , with the title characters being joined by Elmyra Duff from their other show Tiny Toon Adventures...

episode "Narfily Ever After", a parody of Cinderella.

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

The lyrics of the song are algebraically analysed in a math lesson by Mr Garrison in South Park

South Park

South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

episode "Royal Pudding

Royal Pudding

"Royal Pudding" is the third episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 212th episode of the series overall. "Royal Pudding" premiered in the United States on Comedy Central on May 11, 2011...

".