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| ] based ] content distributor, Jamba!]] | |||
| '''Crazy Frog''' is the marketing title of a ] based on 'The Annoying Thing', a ] created by ]. Marketed by the ringtone provider ] (known as Jamster! in some markets), the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by ] while attempting to imitate the sound of a ] ] ]. The Crazy Frog spawned the worldwide hit single "]", which reached the number one spot in the ], ] and most of ]. The album '']'' and second single "]" continue to enjoy worldwide chart success. The Crazy Frog has also spawned a range of merchandise and toys which look to be very popular for Christmas 2005. Negotiations are also underway for a ] based on the character. The Crazy Frog is touring ] in December 2005, and is rumoured to be working on a duet with ]. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| In ], 17-year-old ] ] recorded himself impersonating the sounds produced by ] engines. He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish ] researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air. | |||
| After Daniel's television debut, recordings of his performance began appearing on ] file sharing networks and various websites under the filename "2TAKTARE.]" ("Tvåtaktare" | |||
| is ] for "]"). | |||
| ] | |||
| The sound effect was quickly included in other ]s that spread ] among Internet users. The most notable example was the '''Insanity test''', which required test subjects to keep a straight face while staring at a photograph of ] in a Ferrari ] car as the sound effect was played. | |||
| In 2003, Malmedahl's fellow Swede Erik Wernquist encountered the sound effect and was inspired to create the ] "'''The Annoying Thing'''" to accompany it. Erik used the ] | |||
| ] application to produce the animation and posted it on his website. The animation was a popular attraction at Erik's website, but the sound was credited to "Anonymous". Eventually, word reached Daniel that his impressions had been used in a now well-known animation. He contacted Erik, apparently giving an impromptu performance to confirm his claims. Erik was convinced, and gave due credit to Daniel for his creation. | |||
| ==Description== | |||
| The title character in ''The Annoying Thing'' is an ] ] that is quite ]-like in appearance. The character wears only a white ] ] with the chinstrap unfastened, a ], and ]. His toes are webbed, and the ] of one eye is significantly larger than the other. Also present is a set of ambiguous but controversial ]. | |||
| In the animation, the character imitates the hand movements required to ] the twistgrip controls of a ] while making the sound of an engine ]. As the imaginary engine starts, the character begins to ] as ] fumes are discharged from his body. The character then disappears into the distance at high speed. | |||
| == Ringtone == | |||
| In 2004, the ] based ] group (ultimately owned by ]) licensed the animation and sound for distribution as a ] ]. Jamba! (trading under names such as ''Jamster!'', ''RingtoneKing'', and others) accompanied the release of the ] with a barrage of ]. It soon became the most recognisable commercially available ] in the ]. | |||
| Jamba! have earned an estimated £14 million from the ringtone (), making it the most commercially successful ringtone of all time. Jamba! have also produced other succesful animated creature ringtones, including ] and ], and produced other ringtones featuring the Crazy Frog including Crazy DJ Frog. There is also a series of Crazy Frog World Tour tones featuring the Frog performing his usual vocalisations against backgrounds of various countries' musical styles. These include the ]-based "Crazy Frog ]", ]-flavoured "Crazy Frog ]" and ]-esque "Crazy Frog ]n Rock". Jamba! also have available "The Crazy Frog is Puking", "Crazy Frog and Its Girlfriend", in which he is apparently ], and "The Crazy Frog is ]", in which gasping and smacking skin can be heard. | |||
| === Lyrics === | |||
| :A ding ding ding ding dididing ding bing bing pscht, | |||
| :Dorhrm bom bom bedom bem bom bedom bom bum ba ba bom bom, | |||
| :Bouuuuum bom bom bedahm, Bom be barbedarm bedabedabedabeda | |||
| :Bbrrrrrimm bbrrrrramm bbbrrrrrrrrraammmmm ddddddraammm, | |||
| :Bah bah baah baah ba wheeeeeee-eeeee-eeeee! | |||
| === Controversy === | |||
| ==== Advertising ==== | |||
| In ], viewers submitted a number of complaints to the ]'s ] regarding ]'s advertising campaign, complaining that Crazy Frog appeared to have ]. Some parents complained that this made inappropriate viewing for ], claiming that the commercial had prompted embarrassing questions. There were also complaints regarding the frequency with which the advertisement appeared on television, reportedly up to twice an hour across most of the day, with some channels showing it more than once per commercial break. | |||
| The ASA did not uphold the complaints, pointing out that the advert was already classified as inappropriate for airing during children's television programmes as it contained a ], and furthermore added that it was the broadcasters' decision as to how often an advertisement should be shown. However, Jamba! voluntarily ] the character's genital area in later broadcasts of its advertisements. The is available online. Similar action occurred in Australia, with similar results. | |||
| In ], television viewers complained about misleading advertisements produced by Jamba!, trading as ] and RingtoneKing. Viewers felt that it was not made sufficiently clear that they were subscribing to a service, rather than paying a one-time fee for their ]. The complaints were upheld; the is available online. It costs £3 a week to subscribe to Jamster!'s service. | |||
| In ], viewers inundated the ASA with new complaints regarding the continuous airing of the latest Crazy Frog advertisements. The intensity of the advertising was unprecedented in British television history. According to '']'', Jamster bought 73,716 spots across all TV channels in May alone – an average of nearly 2,378 slots daily – at a cost of about £8 million, just under half of which was spent on ]. 87% of the population saw the Crazy Frog adverts an average of 26 times, 15% of the adverts appeared twice during the same advertising break and 66% were in consecutive ad breaks. An estimated 10% of the population saw the advert more than 60 times. (source: ''Media Guardian'', 20 June 2005) | |||
| As the authority had already adjudicated on the matter and confirmed the matter was not within its remit, the unusual step was taken of adding a notice to their online and telephone complaints system informing viewers that Jamster!-related complaints should be directed towards the broadcaster or the regulator, ]. | |||
| On ] ], the ASA ruled that the Crazy Frog, along with other Jamba ringtone advertisements, must be shown after 9pm . | |||
| ==== Computer virus ==== | |||
| In ], ] vendors discovered the <code>W32/Crog.worm</code> ] (a ] of Crazy Frog), which spreads through ] networks and ], exploiting the ''Crazy Frog'''s notoriety with a promise of an ] depicting his demise. | |||
| == Single releases == | |||
| === Crazy Frog - Axel F === | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Main article: ''']''''' | |||
| A German dance duo named ] made a dance single starring the Crazy Frog, mixed with ]'s "]". The single was released on ], ] and reached the number one spot in the ] (), outselling the nearest contender, ], by three or four copies to one. This is the official song endorsed by Jamster! and actually samples the original sound; subsequent songs created their own samples of the sound. An example of this is Robert Mackle's "Crazy Frog vs Coldplay", which parodied the chart drama between the two. | |||
| As of the summer of 2005, the song remained in the Top Ten in many European music charts and #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. | |||
| ==== Music video ==== | |||
| The ] commissioned Kaktus Film and Erik Wernquist, the original creator of the Crazy Frog, to produce a full-length ] ] to accompany the release of "Axel F" and featuring the Crazy Frog character. The ] is set in the ] and centers on the pursuit of the Crazy Frog by a ]. The bounty hunter receives notification of a ] reward for the capture of the Crazy Frog, who is only identified as "The most annoying thing in the world", a reference to Wernquist's original name for the creature. | |||
| Despite the song's popularity, the music video has received very little airplay in the UK. Both VH1 and TMF have also omitted it from their Number Ones marathons, despite the fact that other chart-topping "annoying" novelty singles such as ] and ] were included. | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ==== iTunes release ==== | |||
| ] reports that ] has the single with an illustration of an emasculated frog. | |||
| They also link to a site where you can batter the frog with a baseball bat. | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| === Crazy Frog - Popcorn === | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Main article: ''']''''' | |||
| The next official Crazy Frog single, "Popcorn", premiered on ] in the UK. It is a remix of ]'s "]" and was released on August 22nd 2005 in the ], reaching #12 on the ]. | |||
| === Crazy Frog - Jingle Bells/U Can't Touch This === | |||
| ''Main article: ''']''''' | |||
| The ] single release for the Crazy Frog is a cover of "]" and also a cover of the ] single "U Can't Touch This". It was released in Australia on November 28. | |||
| === Pondlife - Ring Ding Ding === | |||
| ] | |||
| On ], ], a group of producers naming themselves Pondlife announced that the Crazy Frog would be released as a single. The people behind this were radio DJs ], ] and ] along with studio-owner ]. | |||
| On ], ], Pondlife held ] to find a ] Crazy Frog to star in their accompanying ]. Clips of the ] frog can be found | |||
| The track is called "Ring Ding Ding," and was released on ] ]. It reached #11 on the ], two weeks after the Axel F version had charted. | |||
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| * | |||
| === Frog Must Die - Kill The Frog === | |||
| On ] ], a song called "Kill The Frog" by Frog Must Die was released in the UK. Since the song did not appear in the top 250 of the UK Singles Chart, it is unclear whether the single was postponed, or simply failed to sell enough copies. As the name suggests, this CD is about killing the Crazy Frog. | |||
| === L.O.C. - Ring Ding Ding (Frog) === | |||
| On ] ], a song called "Ring Ding Ding (Frog)" by ] was released in the UK. It reached number 58 in the UK Singles Chart. This song sampled the Crazy Frog sound. | |||
| * | |||
| === Het Feestteam - 50cc === | |||
| In the winter of 2004, ] ] act Het Feestteam released a single called "" containing the sound. A remix single was released in ]. | |||
| == Album releases == | |||
| ===Crazy Hits=== | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Main article: ''']''''' | |||
| An album entitled ''Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits'' was released on ], ]. . Samples from the song are available on the . It reached #5 on the ] and #19 on the US ] Albums Chart. | |||
| == Video Games == | |||
| ===Crazy Frog Racer=== | |||
| On ], ], UK-based ] ] announced that they had acquired the rights to the ] licence for the Crazy Frog. ''Crazy Frog Racer'', to be released in ], is a ] for the ], ] and ]. | |||
| ==Merchandise== | |||
| A recent string of Crazy Frog merchandise has been released in the UK , under the name "The Annoying Thing" due to copyright and licensing restrictions. These items are picked as big sellers for Christmas 2005, particularly the Annoying Thing Singing Plush which plays the ringtone when squeezed. Other products available include a ], a desktop nodder, ], ], lunchbox and ]. | |||
| ==TV series== | |||
| The German production company ] is in talks with broadcasters about a TV series based on Crazy Frog. | |||
| * | |||
| ==Tour== | |||
| On November 23, 2005, music news site Undercover announced that the Crazy Frog will be touring Australia, beginning in Perth on December 4 and continuing through other major capital cities. Venues and dates have been confirmed - the Frog will be playing shopping centres and major hospitals. | |||
| == See also == | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * The Crazy Frog has been ] on the British children's television programme, '']''. | |||
| * The Crazy Frog has also been parodied by the BBC Television Show '']'', where the frog was replaced with ]. | |||
| * ], a similar phenomenon. | |||
| == External links and references == | |||
| {{Wikinews|Mobile ringtone tops the UK singles chart}} | |||
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| * Includes an interview with the creator of the sound, Daniel Malmedahl. | |||
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| *The and a | |||
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