Big Mouth Billy Bass

Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The fish is made of rubber stretched over a mechanical frame; at first glance it appears to be a mounted game fish. Designed by Gemmy Industries, it turns its head outwards and then wiggles on its trophy plaque and sings kitschy cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (the music was taken from the original Bobby McFerrin recording), and "Take Me To The River" by Al Green (the recording was arranged and produced for Gemmy Industries by Al Thomas of Designer Music). The singing mechanism was originally activated by a motion sensor and was originally intended to startle a passerby. Eventually a button was added to activate it. Other versions produced included a Christmas one and a standing fish with a microphone. There have also been several copycat toys based on it, featuring various animals such as rainbow trout, catfish, lobsters, Sally Seasnake, fish bones and even the great white shark, often featuring the voice of soul singer Shirley Ellis instead of Al Green. Some of these were created by Gemmy Industries for example "Travis the Singing Trout" but many were created by other companies. The concept was also adapted into a large mounted deer head and a mounted bear head.