Sunday, December 22, 2013

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

Jingle bells
Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg...

The Batmobile lost it's wheel...
And the Joker got away!

The first time I had ever heard this parody of the lyrics to Jingle Bells was when Bart Simpson sang it in The Simpsons Christmas Special, back in 1989. There is no official "full" version of this song parody and the origins of it have a big Riddler-worthy question mark stamped on it; we only know that it emerged in the public consciousness in the mid-1960s, rather conveniently close to the premiere of the live-action Batman TV series starring Adam West. I suppose it could have been a product of the massive and aggressive campaign to promote the show before & during its first season - the so-called "Batmania"  that made the series a pop culture fad for its first two seasons. It wasn't until the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series episode "Christmas with The Joker", that it became official camp shorthand "Bat-speak" by having The Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) sing it on the show, albeit as a missed opportunity; why didn't they create a definitive full version of the song right there? Oh well.

If anyone knows the truth about where this spoof came from, feel free to drop in with your comments. In the meantime,  I found some fun stuff to share, including three memes I made myself, appearing here for the first time. Enjoy!

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