"Me Ol' Bamboo" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers for the motion picture '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. It was originally written to be choreographed as a

morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

(although the dance has much more in common with the Căluşari ) for the film by

Marc Breaux Marc Breaux (November 3, 1924 – November 19, 2013) was an American choreographer and occasional film director best known for his work on musical films of the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his well-known work was in collaboration with Dee Dee Wood to ...

and

Dee Dee Wood Dee Dee Wood (born Audrey Donella on June 7, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American choreographer. She is best known for her work on musical films of the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Most of her well-known work was in collaboration with Marc ...

(''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'', ''

The Happiest Millionaire ''The Happiest Millionaire'' is a 1967 American musical film starring Fred MacMurray, based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle. The film, featuring music by the Sherman Brothers, was nominated for an Academy A ...

'', ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'') and adapted for the stage by choreographer

Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...

who also created the choreography for '' Cats'' and ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

''. The song and dance are performed by Dick Van Dyke and about fifteen other men. On ''Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke'', Van Dyke says that "Me Ol' Bamboo" was the most difficult dancing act he ever undertook. In the film, Caractacus Potts does the dance to escape an angry victim of his malfunctioning hair-cutting machine. The dance involves the use of bamboo sticks as props. At the end of the dance, Potts collects enough money to buy Chitty. The song is a light-spirited song about different men and their various usages of cane-like apparatuses. Songwriter/lyricist

Robert B. Sherman Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any ...

was inspired to write the song by his own use of a bamboo walking stick, which he used after a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

knee injury. It is very similar to the song " Step in Time" from ''

'', also written by the Sherman brothers, with a dance choreographed by Breaux and Wood, and performed by Van Dyke. Both songs are also loosely based on the popular British music hall (vaudeville) repetitive action song "

Knees Up Mother Brown "Knees Up Mother Brown" is a pub song, believed to date back as early as the 1800s, but first published in 1938, and with origins in the East End of London. With its origins in public houses of East London, it was associated with Cockney culture. ...

In popular culture

* In the 1975 film ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

'', the Young American Miss Pageant contestants, while doing a routine with bamboo sticks, sing the song off-key while

Michael Kidd Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, stron ...

tries to choreograph the routine. * The tune was used in the '' Family Guy'' episode "

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) *420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 ** California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

" for the song "A Bag o' Weed". * In '' Big Brother 10 (UK)'' contestants had to memorize and perform the dance routine from this song in order to earn a luxury shopping budget during the third week. * The song was featured in a medley

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

to Dick Van Dyke during a 1998 episode of ''

The Rosie O'Donnell Show ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on May 22, 2002. This talk sh ...

''.Archived a
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Wayback Machine

External links

* Sherman, Robert B. '' Walt's Time: from before to beyond''. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.

References

{{authority control 1968 songs Dick Van Dyke songs Songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Songs written by the Sherman Brothers Action songs