Dance of the Cucumber

Dance of the Cucumber
Written by	Mike Nawrocki, Lisa Nawrocki and Manuel Valencia
Music by	Kurt Heinecke
Released	1995
Genre	Spanish Argentinean
Runtime	3:18 (3 minutes and 18 seconds)

Dance of the Cucumber is the third Silly Song with Larry. It was featured as the "Silly Song" in the fourth episode, Rack, Shack & Benny.

While wearing a striped poncho and an oversized sombrero, Larry performs a popular Argentine melody in its original Spanish while Bob, wearing a fedora, translates. Bob becomes frustrated, however, when Larry begins to taunt him because the tomato cannot dance and sing. This gets to the point in which Bob eventually snaps and chases Larry off the set. Larry, meanwhile, hopes Bob does not catch him. The song has a cameo from Junior's family, when Junior requests for a picture with the cucumber dressed in "authentic Argentinean garb" while his mother is being chased by a group of dwarfs.

Lyrics

Announcer: And now it's time for "Silly Songs with Larry," the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song. Larry will be performing the traditional Argentinian ballad, "The Dance of the Cucumber", in its original Spanish. Bob the Tomato will translate.

Larry: Miren al pepino Vean cómo se mueve Como un león Tras un ratón.

Bob: "Watch the cucumber See how he moves Like a lion Chasing a mouse"

Miren al pepino Qué suaves movimientos Es como mantequilla En un chango pelón.

"Watch the cucumber Oh, how smooth his motion Like butter On a ... bald monkey."

Miren al pepino Los vegetales Envidian a su amigo Como él quieren bailar

"Watch the cucumber All the vegetables Envy their friend Wishing to dance as he"

Pepino bailarin, pepino bailarin Pepino bailarin, ¡baila, baila, ya!

"Dancing cucumber, dancing cucumber Dancing cucumber, dance, dance, yeah!"

Miren al tomate. ¿No es triste? Él no puede bailar. ¡Pobre tomate!

"Look at the tomato Isn't it sad? He can't dance Poor... tomato!"

Él desearia poder bailar Como el pepino. Libre y suavemente Pero él no puede danzar.

"He wishes he could dance Like the cucumber Free and smooth But he can't..."

Bob: Okay, stop the music! What do you mean I can't dance? I can dance! What about Uncle Louie's polka party? Didn't you see me dancing at Uncle Louie's polka party?

Larry: No comprendo.

Bob: "No comprendo"? I'll show you "no comprendo"!

Junior: Mom! Dad! Look over here! Get a picture of me next to the cucumber in authentic Argentinian garb!

Dad: Okay, Junior, but we'd better hurry. I think the dwarves have your mother confused with someone else.

(Junior's mom is chased by the dwarves)

Dad: Say "Peas!"

Larry and Junior: Peas!

Larry: Escuchen al pepino Oigan su voz fuerte Como un león Listo a devorar

Bob: "Listen to the cucumber Hear his strong voice Like a lion About to eat"

Escuchen al pepino Qué dulce es su canto Que sopla su garganta parece un trinar

"Listen to the cucumber How sweet his voice The breath from his throat is like a chorus of little birdies"

Escuchen al pepino los vegetales envidian a su amigo como él quieren cantar.

"Listen to the cucumber All the vegetables Envy their friend Wishing to sing as he."

Pepino cantador, pepino cantador Pepino cantador,¡canta, canta, ya!

"Singing cucumber, singing cucumber Singing cucumber, sing, sing, yeah!"

Escuchen al tomate. ¿No es triste? Él no puede cantar. ¡Pobre tomate!

"Listen to the tomato Isn't it sad? He can't sing Poor tomato"

Él desearia poder cantar Fuerte y ducle como el pepino. Pero él no puede... ¡Ni siquiera dar un silbido!

"He wishes he could sing Strong and sweet like the cucumber But he can't... Can't even... whistle."

Bob: Alright, that's it, señor! Come over here and let me sing you a song!

Larry: ¡Adios, amigos!

Announcer: This has been "Silly Songs With Larry". Tune in next time to hear Larry sing...

Larry: Bob is really angry. I hope he doesn't catch me. It's so hard to run with this sombrero on my head.

Releases

Audio

• VeggieTunes 2 (1998)
• And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry (2001)
• VeggieTales Greatest Hits (2008)
• 25 Favorite Very Veggie Tunes (2009)
• 25 Favorite Silly Songs (2011)
• 150 All-Time Favorite Songs (2012)
• And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry: The Complete Collection (2013)
• All the Songs: Volume One (2014)

Video

• "Rack, Shack and Benny" (1995)
• "Very Silly Songs!" (1997)
• "The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown" (2001)
• Veg-O-Rama Jukebox (2004)
• Sing-Alongs: Dance of the Cucumber (2006)
• VeggieTales Live! Sing Yourself Silly (2011)
• If I Sang a Silly Song... (2012)

Publications

• VeggieTunes (1995)
• VeggieTales Songbook (2001)
• And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry (2002)
• VeggieTales Greatest Hits (2013)
• 25 Favorite Silly Songs (2013)

Fun Facts

Trivia

• Mike Nawrocki came up with the idea for this song while listening to a Spanish song called "Los Americanos" while his Spanish-speaking wife, Lisa, translated the lyrics for him. As an American, Mike found it funny how the song was essentially making fun of the lives of Americans, and having his wife translating it for him made it seem like she was insulting him. This inspired the similar teasing Larry does to Bob in the song.
  • However, the melody and instrumental arrangement is heavily based on the Argentinian folk song "Reminiscencias" by Julio Jaramillo.
• It is revealed that Larry could English at the end, while it remains unclear if Bob can actually sing and dance.
• The background used in the song was inspired by a mural hanging Mike Nawrocki's house at the time.
• This Silly Song was animated entirely by Ron Smith.
• In the original Latin Spanish dub of Rack, Shack & Benny, all singing parts (except for the ending) are left undubbed, being acknowledged by the announcer claiming Bob translates the song into English.
  • In the same dub, "Bob is really angry. I hope he doesn't catch me. It's so hard to run with this sombrero on my head" was dubbed, but the person who voiced Larry in that part is unknown.
  • Oddly enough, this change made it into the Indonesian and Cantonese dubs as well.
• This is the first time when Mike and Lisa Asparagus appear on the countertop.
• This is the first Silly Song to not have "The" and "Song" in the title.
• This is one of the many Silly Songs that appears in the LarryBoy and the Bad Apple video game, available as an unlockable song. Like most of the Silly Songs, it cuts out the announcer's lines, save for explaining that Bob will translate what Larry says during the song.
• This song has been subsequently featured on the following video releases: Very Silly Songs!, The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown, Heroes of the Bible!: Stand Up, Stand Tall, Stand Strong!, Sing-Alongs: Dance of the Cucumber, Very Veggie Fun!, Happy Together!, and If I Sang A Silly Song.
• This was featured in the classroom edition of The Story of Flibber-o-loo, the Os Amigos Vegetais episode "Madame Blueberry (Episódio de Estreia)", and the Very Veggie Silly Stories episodes, Helping Others and Building Others Up.
  • This was also featured in the VeggieTales FitnessHof episode "Der argentinische Gurkentanz," albeit with some additional sound effects.

Goofs

• In the original Latin Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese dubs of Rack, Shack and Benny, an alternate Silly Song title card was used and at the end, after the first time Larry runs with Bob chasing him to the left of the screen and just before they come up the second time onscreen, Bob is running to the right of the screen before he shows up chasing Larry once again. This animation error has been infamously dubbed by fans both as "Bob's clone" and "Bob's Soul Escaping". Along with this, this error was never shown in other foreign dubs and/or American versions.
  • This is possibly that Bob may have run around the camera off-screen after running to the right the first time while looking around to catch Larry, though Big Idea considers it an animation error which is why it was cut from the regular American version.
    • Because of this, Bob and Larry go behind the Silly Song text, due to it being plastered on the scene, rather than edited in a way that would allow 3D models to go in front of it.
  • Also in the European Portuguese dub, after Larry says "¡Adiós, amigos!", the animation of Bob chasing him is slowed down (before the Silly Song title card appears). This could be due to the only textless version of the Silly Song title card having an animation error of two Bobs running to the right.
• The second Brazilian dub has Bob’s line "Dance, dance, yeah" untranslated.
  • In the Russian voiceover seen on Sing-Alongs: Dance of the Cucumber, Bob says "dance" three times instead of two when he says it, leaving out the "yeah" part.
• On the DVD releases of Rack, Shack & Benny, near the end of the Silly Song, Larry's line "Adios, amigos!" is oddly missing from the 5.1 surround audio.
• Despite the song being mentioned as an Argentinian Ballad, the pronunciation of Spanish is Neutral Latin American instead of Rioplatense like most speakers of Argentina use, especially true in Buenos Aires. Additionally, "chango" is a Mexican term for "monkey." However, in the Latin American Spanish dub, the Silly Song Announcer refers to the song simply as a Latin American ballad, rather than specifically from Argentina, making Larry’s Spanish speaking make a little more sense.
• In one scene, Larry’s body clips through the brim of Bob's hat.

Inside Reference

• On Junior's hat, an image of the coin from The Story of Flibber-o-loo is seen.
  • This image is oddly seen in only one shot, as all the other shots with him only show a solid color on his hat.
• It would appear Larry's lion friends from Daniel and the Lion's Den taught him a thing or two about dancing and singing.

Real-World References

• Junior and his parent vacation outfits, as well as their interaction with the dwarves, are allusions to the Disney Theme Parks. Junior's hat is directly based on the Mickey Mouse "ear hats" that can be found at all of the parks.

Gallery