Little Bunny Foo Foo

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Little Bunny Foo Foo is a children's rhyme, involving a rabbit harassing a population of field mice. The rabbit is scolded and eventually punished by a fairy.

One of the more popular versions of the song is as follows:

Little bunny, Foo Foo

Hopping through the forest

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head

Down came the Good Fairy and she said,

"Little bunny, Foo Foo

I don't want to see you

Scooping up the field mice

And bopping them on the head."

Another version is

"Little Bunny Foo Foo

Hopping through the forest

Scoopin' up the field mice

Bop 'em on the head!

Then the Good Fairy came and said:

'Little Bunny Foo Foo

I don't wanna see you

Scoopin' up the field mice

Bop 'em on the head!

I'll give you 3 chances,

And if you don't behave, I'll turn you into a goon."

Then, the song continues, with field gnomes, field dogs, and field lice, as well as 2 more chances, 1 more chance, and "I am going to turn you into a goon."

The moral to this version is often told as "Hare today, goon tomorrow."

The rhyme is retold in a number of illustrated children's books^[1]

The tune is the same as "Down by the Railroad." Its melody resembles the middle of the Lachrymosa movement of Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem, when the alto voices begin the "huic ergo" section, but in major, without the anacrusis, and in a triple meter. [1 1- 1 2- 3. 3 3- 2 1- 2 3- 1. 5. 1 1- 1 2- 3. 3 3- 2- 2- 1- 2 3- 1. 1=do, - is an eighth-note flagged, and the period is the dot to a quarter note, default-mode]

This rhyme could appear to have been inspired by Bad Sir Brian Botany by A. A. Milne.^[2] The line "he went among the villagers and blipped them on the head" is an obscure similarity, the rhythm is substantially shared, and both Sir Brian and Bunny Foo Foo get their comeuppance. Bad Sir Brian Botany can be interpreted as a satire of feudalism.^{[citation needed]}

Regional variants lyrics include: Blue Fairy, Fairy Princess, Mother Nature, or Little Angel (as opposed to "Good Fairy") "I don't like your attitude!" (as opposed to "I don't wanna see you!") and/or spelling Little Bunny's name as "Frou Frou" or "Lil' bunnai fu fu". An additional ending, "Little Goon Foo Foo kept hoppin' through the forest..." for a last chorus signifies the opposite of the story's moral intention.

Some variations include calling the bunny a rabbit or substituting "bashing" for "bopping." Some variants also substitute "kissing" for "bopping," as some parents or care givers consider the word bopping too violent for young children. This, however, contradicts one potential moral of the song, which might be to not be mean to animals.

Another potential moral is that one should not take advantage of others, lest one be taken advantage of themselves. This would be a variation on the common golden rule.

A further version has him turned into a field mouse at the end and then another bunny hops through the forest and gives FooFoo a taste of his own medicine.

[edit] Song in popular culture

This song was recorded by the band The Moldy Peaches on their eponymous debut album. Only the first verse is sung, followed by shouts of "Little Bunny Foo Foo"!

In South Park, Butters Stotch auditions for a boy band with the song.

An issue of Roman Dirge's comic Lenore contains a version of the story, in which Lenore is dressed in a bunny suit, attacking small animals.

Little Bunny Foo Foo has also appeared as a character in the comic strip Funny Bunnies, where she lives out the role sung in the popular children's rhyme.

In an episode of Boy Meets World Eric sings it to cheer Rachel up.

Frank Caliendo references the song when he impersonates John Madden in a sketch

This song was recorded by Cabbage in 1995. It ends with a whirlpool like guitar and references to the Wizard of Oz (auntie Em! It's a Twister!)

The song was recorded by NeverEndingWonder in late 2007. It was the most-requested song of December 2007 on several leading Internet Radio stations.

Trout Fishing in America, a popular children's music duo, reference Bunny Foo Foo in the live version of their song, "The Window," wondering why no-one in the audience requested the bunny for a verse of their song (which inevitably ends with the call to "throw 'em out the window.") This is rectified by the audience putting up their fingers for Bunny Foo Foo ears and singing the song along with the "throw 'em out the window" chorus.

On 21 April 2008, syndicated newspaper cartoonist Steve Boreman's daily comic strip Little Dog Lost began a storyline featuring Little Bunny Foo Foo.

[edit] References