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Crazy Frog is the marketing title of a ring tone based on 'The Annoying Thing', a computer animation created by Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba! (known as Jamster! in some markets), the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl while attempting to imitate the sound of a two-stroke moped engine. The Crazy Frog spawned a worldwide hit single with a remix of "Axel F", which reached the number one spot in the UK, Australia and most of Europe. The album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits and second single "Popcorn" 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 TV series based on the character. The Crazy Frog is touring Australia in December 2005, and is rumoured to be working on a duet with David Hasselhoff.
History
In 1997, 17-year-old Swede Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself impersonating the sounds produced by internal combustion engines. He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish television researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air.
After Daniel's television debut, recordings of his performance began appearing on peer to peer file sharing networks and various websites under the filename "2TAKTARE.MP3" ("Tvåtaktare" is Swedish for "Two stroker").
The sound effect was quickly included in other Flash animations that spread virally 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 Rubens Barrichello in a Ferrari Formula 1 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 3D animation "The Annoying Thing" to accompany it. Erik used the LightWave 3D modelling 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 anthropomorphic amphibian that is quite frog-like in appearance. The character wears only a white motorcycle helmet with the chinstrap unfastened, a leather jacket, and goggles. His toes are webbed, and the iris of one eye is significantly larger than the other. Also present is a set of ambiguous but controversial genitalia.
In the animation, the character imitates the hand movements required to rotate the twistgrip controls of a motorcycle while making the sound of an engine ignition. As the imaginary engine starts, the character begins to levitate as exhaust fumes are discharged from his body. The character then disappears into the distance at high speed.
Ringtone
In 2004, the Germany based Jamba! group (ultimately owned by VeriSign) licensed the animation and sound for distribution as a mobile phone ringtone. Jamba! (trading under names such as Jamster!, RingtoneKing, and others) accompanied the release of the ringtone with a barrage of advertising. It soon became the most recognisable commercially available ringtone in the United Kingdom.
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 Sweety the Chick and Nessie the Dragon, 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 sitar-based "Crazy Frog India", reggae-flavoured "Crazy Frog Jamaica" and Jimmy Barnes-esque "Crazy Frog Australian Rock". Jamba! also have available "The Crazy Frog is Puking", "Crazy Frog and Its Girlfriend", in which he is apparently making out, and "The Crazy Frog is F**king", 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 February 2005, viewers submitted a number of complaints to the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority regarding Jamba!'s advertising campaign, complaining that Crazy Frog appeared to have genitalia. Some parents complained that this made inappropriate viewing for children, 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 premium rate telephone number, and furthermore added that it was the broadcasters' decision as to how often an advertisement should be shown. However, Jamba! voluntarily censored the character's genital area in later broadcasts of its advertisements. The full adjudication (PDF) is available online. Similar action occurred in Australia, with similar results. complaints dismissed (PDF)
In April 2005, television viewers complained about misleading advertisements produced by Jamba!, trading as Jamster! 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 ringtone. The complaints were upheld; the full adjudication (PDF) is available online. It costs £3 a week to subscribe to Jamster!'s service.
In May 2005, 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 The Guardian, 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 ITV. 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, Ofcom.
On 21 September 2005, the ASA ruled that the Crazy Frog, along with other Jamba ringtone advertisements, must be shown after 9pm (pdf) .
Computer virus
In March 2005, anti-virus vendors discovered the W32/Crog.worm computer virus (a contraction of Crazy Frog), which spreads through file-sharing networks and MSN Messenger, exploiting the Crazy Frog's notoriety with a promise of an animation depicting his demise.
Single releases
Crazy Frog - Axel F
Main article: Axel F (Crazy Frog song)
A German dance duo named Bass Bumpers made a dance single starring the Crazy Frog, mixed with Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F". The single was released on May 23, 2005 and reached the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart (), outselling the nearest contender, Coldplay, 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 Ministry of Sound commissioned Kaktus Film and Erik Wernquist, the original creator of the Crazy Frog, to produce a full-length animated music video to accompany the release of "Axel F" and featuring the Crazy Frog character. The animation is set in the future and centers on the pursuit of the Crazy Frog by a bounty hunter. The bounty hunter receives notification of a $50,000 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 Mr. Blobby and Bob The Builder were included.
iTunes release
The Register reports that iTunes 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: Popcorn (Crazy Frog song)
The next official Crazy Frog single, "Popcorn", premiered on Top of the Pops in the UK. It is a remix of Hot Butter's "Popcorn" and was released on August 22nd 2005 in the UK, reaching #12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Crazy Frog - Jingle Bells/U Can't Touch This
Main article: Jingle Bells/U Can't Touch This
The Christmas single release for the Crazy Frog is a cover of "Jingle Bells" and also a cover of the MC Hammer single "U Can't Touch This". It was released in Australia on November 28.
Pondlife - Ring Ding Ding
On February 17, 2005, 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 Wes Butters, Trevor Jordan and Daryl Denham along with studio-owner Maurice Cheetham.
On March 19, 2005, Pondlife held open auditions to find a live action Crazy Frog to star in their accompanying music video. Clips of the live action frog can be found here
The track is called "Ring Ding Ding," and was released on 6 June 2005. It reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart, two weeks after the Axel F version had charted.
Frog Must Die - Kill The Frog
On June 20 2005, 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 June 27 2005, a song called "Ring Ding Ding (Frog)" by L.O.C. 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, Dutch skihut act Het Feestteam released a single called "50cc" containing the sound. A remix single was released in April 2005.
Album releases
Crazy Hits
Main article: Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits
An album entitled Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits was released on July 25, 2005. . Samples from the song are available on the Crazy Hits website. It reached #5 on the UK Albums Chart and #19 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart.
Video Games
Crazy Frog Racer
On July 1, 2005, UK-based publishers Digital Jesters announced that they had acquired the rights to the video game licence for the Crazy Frog. Crazy Frog Racer, to be released in November 2005, is a racing game for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and PC.
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 board game, a desktop nodder, keyring, backpack, lunchbox and air freshener.
TV series
The German production company The League of Good People 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
- Ringtone
- Mobile phone
- LightWave
- The Crazy Frog has been parodied on the British children's television programme, Ministry of Mayhem.
- The Crazy Frog has also been parodied by the BBC Television Show Dead Ringers, where the frog was replaced with David Frost.
- Schnappi, a similar phenomenon.
External links and references
- Official website of Crazy Frog's cds
- BBC article: Fourth week at top for Crazy Frog.
- BBC article: The Crazy Frog sound? That's my fault. Includes an interview with the creator of the sound, Daniel Malmedahl.
- The Times: Crazy Frog turns into a real prince.
- ASA: A Frog's Tale that spawned viewer outrage.
- Erik Wernquist interview
- The Annoying Thing Homepage
- German MTV tells Crazy Frog to hop it requires registration
- Naked insanity
- The Insanity test Flash animation and a later version