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Big Mouth Billy Bass
Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented by Gemmy Industries on December 16, 1998; sold beginning January 1, 1999; and popular in the early 2000s.
Gemmy Industries (/ˈdʒɛmi/) is an American novelty manufacturing company, best known for its animatronic and inflatable characters. It is currently headquartered in Coppell, Texas. Founded in 1984, the company originally began producing ballpoint pens. Gemmy eventually ventured into novelty manufacturing, and in 2000, it achieved success with the Big Mouth Billy Bass. Following that success, the company began predominantly making animatronic figures focused on the Christmas and Halloween seasons. The company distributes products internationally, especially to the United Kingdom and Japan.[citation needed]
The fish is made of a soft polyvinyl chloride with an internal plastic mechanical skeleton. At first glance, the product appears to be a mounted game fish. The item was conceived by a Gemmy Industries product development vice president following his visit to a Bass Pro Shop. The mounted fish turns its head, wiggles its tail on the trophy plaque, and sings cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (1988) by Bobby McFerrin; and "Take Me to the River" (1974) by Al Green. Teenie Hodges, who co-wrote "Take Me to the River" with Green, said in a 2013 interview that he received more royalties from Big Mouth Billy Bass sales than from any other recordings of the song.
On the original prototype, the unit activated by a motion sensor, designed to startle a passerby. In production, an additional button was added.
There have been many variants of Big Mouth Billy Bass produced by Gemmy. These use different types of game fish and aquatic animals. Variants include Big Mouth Billy Bones (a skeleton fish that sings "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers), Travis the Singing Trout (a rainbow trout that sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich; and "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation), Cool Catfish (a catfish that sings "Bad to the Bone"), Rocky the Singing Lobster (a lobster that sings "Sea Cruise" by Frankie Ford and "Rock the Boat"), Lucky the Lobster (a lobster that sings "Doh Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Rock the Boat"), and Frankie the Fish (a blue cod fish from a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish commercial that sings an original song called "Give Me Back That Filet-O-Fish" plus a remix).[citation needed]
The concept was later adapted into a large mounted deer head, known as Buck – the Animated Trophy (voiced by Clint Ford) as well as a medium-sized mounted bear head.
On December 7, 1999, a special holiday version of the Big Mouth Billy Bass was released. The fish had a Santa hat on his head and a ribbon with a sleigh bell on his tail. An anniversary edition followed in 2014.[better source needed]
A version from 2000 features a great white shark which plays John Williams's theme from Jaws and a cover of Bobby Darin's version of "Mack the Knife".
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Big Mouth Billy Bass AI simulator
(@Big Mouth Billy Bass_simulator)
Big Mouth Billy Bass
Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented by Gemmy Industries on December 16, 1998; sold beginning January 1, 1999; and popular in the early 2000s.
Gemmy Industries (/ˈdʒɛmi/) is an American novelty manufacturing company, best known for its animatronic and inflatable characters. It is currently headquartered in Coppell, Texas. Founded in 1984, the company originally began producing ballpoint pens. Gemmy eventually ventured into novelty manufacturing, and in 2000, it achieved success with the Big Mouth Billy Bass. Following that success, the company began predominantly making animatronic figures focused on the Christmas and Halloween seasons. The company distributes products internationally, especially to the United Kingdom and Japan.[citation needed]
The fish is made of a soft polyvinyl chloride with an internal plastic mechanical skeleton. At first glance, the product appears to be a mounted game fish. The item was conceived by a Gemmy Industries product development vice president following his visit to a Bass Pro Shop. The mounted fish turns its head, wiggles its tail on the trophy plaque, and sings cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (1988) by Bobby McFerrin; and "Take Me to the River" (1974) by Al Green. Teenie Hodges, who co-wrote "Take Me to the River" with Green, said in a 2013 interview that he received more royalties from Big Mouth Billy Bass sales than from any other recordings of the song.
On the original prototype, the unit activated by a motion sensor, designed to startle a passerby. In production, an additional button was added.
There have been many variants of Big Mouth Billy Bass produced by Gemmy. These use different types of game fish and aquatic animals. Variants include Big Mouth Billy Bones (a skeleton fish that sings "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers), Travis the Singing Trout (a rainbow trout that sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich; and "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation), Cool Catfish (a catfish that sings "Bad to the Bone"), Rocky the Singing Lobster (a lobster that sings "Sea Cruise" by Frankie Ford and "Rock the Boat"), Lucky the Lobster (a lobster that sings "Doh Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Rock the Boat"), and Frankie the Fish (a blue cod fish from a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish commercial that sings an original song called "Give Me Back That Filet-O-Fish" plus a remix).[citation needed]
The concept was later adapted into a large mounted deer head, known as Buck – the Animated Trophy (voiced by Clint Ford) as well as a medium-sized mounted bear head.
On December 7, 1999, a special holiday version of the Big Mouth Billy Bass was released. The fish had a Santa hat on his head and a ribbon with a sleigh bell on his tail. An anniversary edition followed in 2014.[better source needed]
A version from 2000 features a great white shark which plays John Williams's theme from Jaws and a cover of Bobby Darin's version of "Mack the Knife".