The search is still on.
For those who are new to the blog, my son LOVES the movie Cars. He eats it, breathes it, hell, he wears the shirt and pajamas! The first words out of his raspy little throat each morning is, “Cars?” It’s also the last thing he says before he drifts off to sleep. He even says it in his dreams.
I have seen Cars so many times, I AM starting to dream about it!
So began my search for a movie to distract my son from Cars.
I thought I’d found something in the Elmo in Grouchland movie. My son enjoys the first 10 minutes or so, especially where Elmo sings with his blanket. After that, the movie spirals into an acid trip featuring a freaky Mandy Pantinkin and a cast of characters out of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
It makes the Teletubbies look normal.
To say the Elmo movie is painful to watch it putting it mildly. I wouldn’t doubt if it’s being used in secret torture camps.
So last week, I borrowed the animated movie, Madagascar from the library. The movie has animals, which E likes. It’s got pin-pins (penguins) which daddy and E like. And while it might not be perfect for endless viewing, it can’t be worse than Elmo in Grouchland.
At least that’s what I thought until today when the end credits rolled.
Anyone who has kids under the age of 10 is surely familiar with the end credits of this movie, which features cartoon animals dancing to the song, “You’ve got to move it, move it” – this decade’s answer to “Who let the dogs out?”
“I like to move it, move it”
E bolted off the couch and started a routine which I’m pretty certain he spent hours rehearsing. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he ripped off breakaway pants to reveal he was wearing a dance outfit underneath.
“I like to move it, move it”
He picked up his feet, bouncing side to side, while pumping one hand above his head.
“I like to move it, move it”
To my knowledge, this is the first time he’s ever heard the song. Yet, it drew him instantly to the dance floor which is our toy-littered living room.
“I like to move it, move it.”
Well, I need to back up a bit. He has heard the song before. Occasionally, when he is too cranky for a diaper change, I distract him by singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” which almost always works. However, sometimes he is too cranky to sit still for nursery rhymes.
One day, out of sheer desperation to calm him down, I altered my voice and sang the “move it move it” lyrics in the voice of Sacha Baron Cohen (who sings it in the movie).
“I like to move it, move it.”
E’s eyes lit up at the funny voice and he seemed to enjoy the song, even my weak rendition of a few lines of it. He must have remembered the song because when the credits were done rolling today, he pointed to the TV and said,
“Mank-mank (move it)?”
He wanted to watch it again.
“I like to move it, move it.”
And for the next hour today, I entered a hell worse than any which Grouchland served up – nearly an hour of “mank-mank” played on a loop as E danced his bootie off.
Somehow, we got him distracted long enough to forget the song for a while. Until bedtime, when his usual refrain of “Cars?” was replaced with “mank-mank?”
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That song caused ructions in this house also, not least because my son would dance to it bending over, wiggling his bum in the air and smacking it to the rhythm.
Not. Right. Especially not in public.
Taras last blog post..Is one-armed CBeebies presenter scaring your children?
Oh and forgot to say, loving the new design. x
Taras last blog post..Is one-armed CBeebies presenter scaring your children?
One day, out of sheer desperation to calm him down, I altered my voice and sang the “move it move it” lyrics in the voice of Sacha Baron Cohen (who sings it in the movie).
Who are you trying to kid? Be honest! You got all dressed up in your lycra one piece, your snazzy leg warmers and got all Liza Minelli. Didn’t you?!!
HAHA! It’s every parent’s cross to bear. You are living solidly within the phase that manifested itself in our household by creating within me the psycho-stalker who wanted to kill Barney and destroy any evidence that he had walked the planet.
Betsy Wuebkers last blog post..A NEW WAY TO PLAY FOR LITTLE DAISY
There’s a song scene in the middle of Piglet’s Big Movie that I have to play over and over and over and over for my daughter and nieces so they can dance to it. Why do those songs always seem to be the ones that get stuck in your head?
Nicki at Domestic Centss last blog post..Sensible Review: 1800contacts.com
Dude, just cross your heart that E isn’t asking for the bore torture of Thomas or the beat it into your head with the subtlety of a nail gun with the Wiggles. At least Mank Mank shares some DNA with Bohrat. I’m SO with you on Elmo in Grouchland though. That movie tanks as soon as they leave the laundromat. Although it is kind of fun to point and laugh at Vanessa Williams.
Writer Dads last blog post..Questions are the New Answers
The joys of animation repeatedly assailing you from the TV. No matter how hard you try you can only replace one hell with another.
Otter Thomass last blog post..Where Can I Find Dad Training?
Heheheheh…
I used to look after a little girl who was obsessed with all things Land Before Time. She had all nine-thousand videos and demanded we watch them one after the other, until my brain turned to goo and dribbled down behind the couch cushions where it got all tangled up in Legos, ossified Cheerios, toenail clippings, and an infinite number of sticky, crumbly, fuzzy, hairy things that were a vast improvement to seeing one of those movies one more time. When they weren’t playing, she would wander about saying “Saurs? Saurs? Wan’ Saurs?” until I relented.
The Evil Genius loves Cars, The Land Before Time, Madagascar, Ice Age, Surf’s Up, Happy Feet, and TV programs like Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, Dr. G (he love the autopsy shows…should I be worried?) and…South Park. Yeah, that last one wasn’t my idea. Luckily he can take or leave most of them, so I’m (mostly) spared the repetition.
Good luck and godspeed with your search…meanwhile, shall I mail you some ear plugs??
Shade and Sweetwater,
K (blah, blah, blah…)
Kyddryns last blog post..Gone, Gone, Gone…
Tara – Thanks for the design compliment. As for your son’s dance moves – LOL! Has he been watching mommy dance?
Ivor – LOL. Shhh, don’t tell anybody. Liza? Nah, I’m old school Judy Garland all the way.
Betsy – LOL! I think you could start a large mob of moms who Barney has brought out bloodlust in.
Nicki – Those songs are designed by clever and EVIL marketing geniuses!
Writer Dad – My wife will not allow Thomas to pull into this station. As for The Wiggles, I think my son has a bit more taste than that. (I hope).
Otter – LOL. That is soooooo true.
Kyddryn – That sounds like one scary couch! Evil Genius likes autopsy shows? You might wanna sleep with your door locked is all I’m saying. I’d say yes to the ear plugs but I might miss when E starts chasing the cats with a bat or something.
We had no TV or video or DVDs when my kids were little – music cassettes were big…One Sesame Street Tape was 22 songs long and we listened to it all the way through daily. We all sang and danced along….I read the Huff and Puff Express book 122 times when my second child had an ear infection which started her anxiety attacks at age 11 months….The dancing, singing, rolling down the hill, and all those things were so fun and kept my brain being creative…it was nap time and all night up ill nights that really wore me out…oh and one wind up train toy that whistled and sang across the floor – I had to hide it
So then reach the every two weeks something new stage…
This too shall pass I miss my dance partners
Patricias last blog post..What’s for dinner?
This is why the kids now have a portable DVD player in their bedroom. They can watch their DVD’s with the door firmly closed and my sanity intact. lol
It’s time to broaden your Pixar experience. There are LOTS of movies that create that same joy for parents. At least it’s not Bob the Builder or Dora the Explorer.
Rebecca Laffar-Smiths last blog post..Book Review: George Singleton’s Pep Talks, Warnings & Screeds
Great my kids love Bob The Builder, especially the way he renovates and builds houses
Thanks Bob!