music

It wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I realized the Chipmunks (which I had always known as cartoon characters from my childhood) were actually, as pop-cultural entities, much older — dating back to their eponymous novelty Christmas record in 1958 or, arguably, the “Witch Doctor” song all the way back in 1952. There was a short-lived cartoon in 1961, but the Saturday-morning cartoon that I and people of my generation are most familiar with didn’t come around until more than 20 years later (1982-1990).

The audio trick that creator Ross Bagdasarian used to create the sound of the Chipmunks’ voices was so simple, and the resulting songs so popular in the late 50s and early 60s, that I figured they must have spawned some knockoffs. Sure enough — enjoy the squeaky sounds of:

The Nutty Squirrels (singing “Uh Oh”)
The Grasshoppers (singing “Shortnin’ Bread”) (More info)
The Three Happy Crickets (“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”)
Woody Woodchuck’s Christmas Sing Song (info only)
Sing Along with the Busy Beavers (album download)
BONUS LINK: The Happy Hamsters sing “Ghostbustin'”, a few decades later. Full album here.

#991; The Chipmunks, and What Came After

— December 23rd, 2013

[ Tags: holidays, humanized animals, music, solutions ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/991/

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The Duck that Saved Hanukkah

In case you missed it last year, I wrote a comic in which a character posits the existence of the “Hanukkah duck,” (or here on Tumblr), who quacks you a puzzle, as a way of filling out the canon of Hanukkah traditions relative to Christmas.

I feel it is my civic duty to remind you that soon after that comic was posted, readers Keith Ammann and Cantor Yakov Hadash wrote and performed a Yiddish song about said Hanukkah Duck.

Die Katschke Chaneke / The Chanukah Duck

this is why my job is the best job

ALSO: Holiday cards are now on sale. Two new designs will be revealed later this week. 2014 Calendars will be announced later this week as well.

ALSO ALSO: I will be in Austin, Texas this coming weekend!