Created by Tobias Gärd Nickname(s) TorMor Baby | Gender unspecified | |
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Schnappi das kleine krokodil
Schnappi das kleine Krokodil (Snappy the Little Crocodile) is a German children's cartoon character. The introductory song, "Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil" became an Internet hit before it reached № 1 on the German charts in January 2005, and was widely popular in other European countries as well, (Popularized by Jamba!) topping the singles charts in Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland for several weeks.
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Schnappi das kleine krokodil
Inception
Schnappi was a character in a popular animated German children's TV show called Die Sendung mit der Maus (The Show With the Mouse). In the cartoon in which the character appeared, Schnappi is seen singing a song about life in Egypt. That song, which is sung in German, has a very catchy tune and simple lyrics.
The song, which first appeared in the Sendung mit der Maus show in 2001, was written by Iris Gruttmann and performed by her then six-year-old niece, Joy.
Success
In 2004 Schnappi became very popular on the Internet. Radio station Internetradio RauteMusik began playing Schnappi which lead to a single release of "Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil" December 2004. The single reached #1 on the GfK Entertainment Charts on 3 January 2005.
The song was released around the world and peaked at number one in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The song was translated into a French version "Crocky le Petit Crocodile", Lithuanian "Šnapis mažas klokodilas" and a Japanese version "Togetogeshi, chiisai wani" (刺々し、小さい鰐). Alternative versions of the song - varying from simple remixes of the basic vocal track, to a full cover version by Belgian techno group Dynamite - were also at numbers seven and ten in Belgium, and at number two in the Netherlands.
A studio album, Schnappi und Seine Freunde was released on Polydor Records in February 2005. It peaked at number 2 in Germany and number 1 in Austria. A second single "Ein Lama in Yokohama" was released in April 2005 and became another top ten single in Austria, Germany and Norway.
In November 2005, "Jing! Jingeling! Der Weihnachtsschnappi!" was released and peaked at number 3 in Norway. The second and final studio album, Schnappi's Winterfest was released in December 2005