Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo facts for kids

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (also known as "The Magic Song") is a famous song written in 1948 by Al Hoffman, Mack David, and Jerry Livingston. It was first heard in the 1950 Cinderella movie. In the film, the Fairy Godmother sings it while she uses her magic. She turns a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage, mice into horses, a horse into a coachman, and a dog into a footman!

The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1951. This award is for the best song written for a movie. However, it didn't win; "Mona Lisa" won that year.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" was used again in the 2015 live-action remake of Cinderella. In this movie, Helena Bonham Carter plays the Fairy Godmother and sings the song. Her version is also on the movie's soundtrack.

Recording the Magic Song

Many artists have recorded "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" over the years.

Ilene Woods, who was the voice of Cinderella in the 1950 movie, recorded the song on October 26, 1949. Her version was released by RCA Victor Records.

The most popular recording was by Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters. They recorded it on November 7, 1949. This version became very popular, reaching number 14 on the Billboard chart. The Billboard chart lists the most popular songs in the country. The other side of their record had the song "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes".

Another recording was made by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae. Their version reached number 19 on the Billboard charts.

Even famous singer Bing Crosby recorded the song on January 3, 1950. Dinah Shore also recorded it in 1949.

This magical song has also appeared in other places! It was used in a Gatorade commercial that featured famous soccer players like Sergio Ramos, Leo Messi, David Luiz, and Landon Donovan. This commercial promoted the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

What Do the Lyrics Mean?

The lyrics of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" are mostly made up of fun, nonsense words. These words sound like magic spells! The original record insert for the Cinderella movie lists the lyrics like this:

Some older recordings from 1949 had a few extra English lines that weren't used in the 1950 Disney movie. These lines talked about getting rid of worries with magic.

Other Versions of the Song

Many artists and shows have created their own versions of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

In the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, the song was changed into a cool orchestral theme. It's used for the "Castle of Dreams" world, which is based on Cinderella's story.

On the cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants, a tune that sounds a lot like "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" is sometimes heard. For example, Squidward played a similar tune on his clarinet in the episode "Squid Wood."

In the cartoon House of Mouse, Jafar and Iago even helped Mickey Mouse and his friends by doing a rap version of "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"! This happened in the episode "House of Magic" when they needed to bring the clubhouse back.

As mentioned earlier, Helena Bonham Carter sang the song for the 2015 Disney film remake soundtrack.