"Never Smile at a Crocodile" is a comic song with music by

Frank Churchill Frank Edwin Churchill (October 20, 1901 – May 14, 1942) was an American film composer and songwriter. He wrote most of the music for films produced by Walt Disney, such as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', '' Dumbo'', ''Bambi'', '' The Ad ...

and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. The music, without the lyrics, was first heard in the

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

film ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

''.

History

Churchill, who had composed most of the soundtrack for Disney's 1937 ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'', composed "Never Smile at a Crocodile" in 1939 when ''Peter Pan'' was already in the planning stage. However, work on four other Disney feature-length cartoons led the studio to shelve the ''Peter Pan'' project until 1949. Churchill committed suicide in 1942 and the song was to be his only contribution to the ''Peter Pan'' soundtrack. The sung version with Jack Lawrence's lyrics was eliminated from the final print of the film when it was released in 1953. The final soundtrack contains only the instrumental version which is used as a

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

whenever the crocodile appears. However, the full version with vocals by Stuart Foster and Judy Valentine was released that same year on an

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

LP of songs from the film. "Never Smile at a Crocodile" with its original lyrics has been subsequently recorded by several singers including

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

and

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

.Hanson, Bruce K. (2011)
''Peter Pan on Stage and Screen, 1904-2010'', 2d ed.
pp. 202; 209; 331. McFarland. The 1953 Jerry Lewis version became one of the top-10 best-selling children's records that year. An early Disney demo of the vocal version sung by Henry Calvin was added as a bonus track on later releases of the ''Peter Pan'' soundtrack including the 1997 CD release. The song also appears on a 1965 recording by Billy Cotton and his band with vocals by Rita Williams and on the soundtrack of the 2007 film '' Rogue'' sung by The Paulette Sisters and Larry Clinton and His Orchestra .Shelley, Peter (2012)
''Australian Horror Films, 1973-2010''
p. 223. McFarland. This version is briefly featured in the 1998 film ''

You've Got Mail ''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan alongside Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, and Greg Kinnear. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian ...

'' (during the scene where Joe first meets Kathleen) although it is not on the official soundtrack album.

References

External links

"Never Smile at a Crocodile"
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

*Hicken, Jackie (6 April 2014)
"15 Disney songs that were cut before they ever made it onto the big screen"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'' (contains an audio clip of the song performed by The Paulette Sisters) {{authority control 1953 songs Comedy songs Disney songs Peter Pan (franchise) Songs about reptiles Songs with lyrics by Jack Lawrence Songs with music by Frank Churchill