What is this Tiki Room lyric?

[Animaniac93-98]

This is the kind of question that would have been in the "Ask Dave" section of The Disney Magazine, if it still existed.

 

[celluloid]

This is how that word sounds...

That was my confusion too, then I got to thinking with the Wally Boag not afraid to offend anyone style that comedy used to have and accents/dialects, I am not discounting the possibility that Kamikaze makes a lot more sense to the joke.

A flyingf bird makes a lot more sense to the joke based on flight rather than just saying Macaw which indicates nothing.

 

[celluloid]

This is the kind of question that would have been in the "Ask Dave" section of The Disney Magazine, if it still existed.

Well, Dave is no longer with us, but 50 percent of the Sherman Brothers are. Their sheet music is preserved somewhere perhaps.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

I have always heard Kamikaze. I’m also more familiar with Disneyland’s version, which, sorry to say folks, has significantly better sound than Magic Kingom’s...I’m still scratching my head as to why the cleaned up tracks weren’t shared with Orlando.

That was my confusion too, then I got to thinking with the Wally Boag not afraid to offend anyone style that comedy used to have and accents/dialects, I am not discounting the possibility that Kamikaze makes a lot more sense to the joke.

A flyingf bird makes a lot more sense to the joke based on flight rather than just saying Macaw which indicates nothing deadly.

Exactly. Birds can dive during flight.

The Enchanted Tiki Room debuted in 1963 and was at the entrance to Adventureland...fondness for all things related to Hawaii were in vogue and were therefore emphasized in the land. And WWII would still be fresh enough in the minds of many Americans, but I suppose distanced in time enough for some to be comfortable to joke about kamikaze pilots.

 

[Phil12]

We need to see the sheet music to determine the official lyric. It could be true since we know that Walt repeatedly used offensive material in his movies.

 

[larryz]

Exactly. Birds can dive during flight.

And apparently macaws have been noted doing so in several instances published online. So it fits behaviorally, and the Disney writers/designers were known for doing background research on their subjects.

I can (if I push myself with that info) hear "kah-mi-kahz"...

But it's a stretch... and I've never heard, in decades of watching WWII movies and working in military circles, the term kamikaze without the "e" at the end.

 

[correcaminos]

They don't pronounce the e.

I wouldn't have guessed it either, but that's the only official source I could find.

Unless someone else finds another, that's what I assume to be correct.

Who doesn't pronounce the e?
No one I know does not pronounce the e. Thats not how the Japanese language works. It also makes zero sense. I just listened to 3 good DL recordings. All had a 3 syllable, not 4 word.

 

[correcaminos]

And apparently macaws have been noted doing so in several instances published online. So it fits behaviorally, and the Disney writers/designers were known for doing background research on their subjects.

I can (if I push myself with that info) hear "kah-mi-kahz"...

But it's a stretch... and I've never heard, in decades of watching WWII movies and working in military circles, the term kamikaze without the "e" at the end.

In my years of learning Japanese, it is never dropped like that either. They are a very easy language to speak because what you see is what you get with the letter e (much like Spanish). U can be dropped at the end but that has to do with writing in hiragana with the SU (す) character. There is no plain s and some do actually pronounce the u (not universal). Kah mee kah zay would be the more correct pronunciation. We often use the anglicized version you wrote out but the "zay" on the end

 

[larryz]

In my years of learning Japanese, it is never dropped like that either. They are a very easy language to speak because what you see is what you get with the letter e (much like Spanish). U can be dropped at the end but that has to do with writing in hiragana with the SU (す) character. There is no plain s and some do actually pronounce the u (not universal). Kah mee kah zay would be the more correct pronunciation. We often use the anglicized version you wrote out but the "zay" on the end

I let Google do the work for me in post #18.

 

[correcaminos]

I let Google do the work for me in post #18.

That was meant as an agreement, not argument. I learned from native Japanese and also a person who taught English to Japanese students for a while. I trust them even more than a google. Never in my life have I heard kamikaze pronounced with only 3 syllables.

As for it fitting, many birds are known for diving. Just not crazy suicide dives. I know Disney does research, but you'd think in their research they'd know how to pronounce it. That's why it makes little sense to me. Especially since it doesn't rhyme or have a thing to do with claws.

 

[Goofy213]

I always heard Macaws. Why? Because their Ma-Calls

 

[Magicart87]

Who doesn't pronounce the e?
No one I know does not pronounce the e. Thats not how the Japanese language works. It also makes zero sense. I just listened to 3 good DL recordings. All had a 3 syllable, not 4 word.

The E is pronounced just somewhat muffled by all of the backing music and additional voices.

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

www.vocaroo.com

It's Kamikaze. (click link to hear isolated audio) Ka-meh-kaw-zee

 

[correcaminos]

The E is pronounced just somewhat muffled by all of the backing music and additional voices.

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

www.vocaroo.com

It's Kamikaze. (click link to hear isolated audio) Ka-meh-kaw-zee

Interesting. The new version recordings do not have that. Where did you find that link though. Still weird to me honestly but I appreciate that more than a false argument that Japanese is ever spoken like that lol

 

[larryz]

The E is pronounced just somewhat muffled by all of the backing music and additional voices.

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

www.vocaroo.com

It's Kamikaze. (click link to hear isolated audio) Ka-meh-kaw-zee

What plays as the "ze" in the clip you posted is overlapped by the "be" in "because of their claws?".

But like I've said, I can buy it... if that's what it is...

 

[Phil12]

Larryz- that's why the Kamikaze seems wrong- too many syllables.

But there too, the Sherman brothers often made up words: heffalumps, Higitus Figitus, zumba magnificus (a real word, but not in English), trouncy, cher-ree, chim cher-oo....


Side note- supposedly United was the first sponsor of the Tiki Room, in order to promote their new flights to Hawaii! FL's was initially sponsored by the FL Citrus Commission; thus the Orange Bird mascot. Dole became the sponsor in 1976.

I think the fact that United Airlines was the first sponsor is an important clue. This attraction was owned personally by Walt and entrance to the Tiki Room was not part of the regular Disneyland ticket book. An E-ticket attraction at that time was worth $0.50. A special ticket had to be purchased for the Tiki Room costing $0.75.

As you correctly point out, the attraction was to encourage United Airlines flights to Hawaii. Therefore talk of Kamikaze behavior would be counter productive to the sponsor. And Walt was completely sponsor oriented since they paid the bills. While Walt would offend the public, he would never offend a paying sponsor.

 

[celluloid]

[/QUOTE]

I think the fact that United Airlines was the first sponsor is an important clue. This attraction was owned personally by Walt and entrance to the Tiki Room was not part of the regular Disneyland ticket book. An E-ticket attraction at that time was worth $0.50. A special ticket had to be purchased for the Tiki Room costing $0.75.

As you correctly point out, the attraction was to encourage United Airlines flights to Hawaii. Therefore talk of Kamikaze behavior would be counter productive to the sponsor. And Walt was completely sponsor oriented since they paid the bills. While Walt would offend the public, he would never offend a paying sponsor.

Commercial flight is not the same as someone with a sworn clause(hence the phonetic claws joke) to have a suicide bomber mission.

 

[larryz]

I think the fact that United Airlines was the first sponsor is an important clue. This attraction was owned personally by Walt and entrance to the Tiki Room was not part of the regular Disneyland ticket book. An E-ticket attraction at that time was worth $0.50. A special ticket had to be purchased for the Tiki Room costing $0.75.

As you correctly point out, the attraction was to encourage United Airlines flights to Hawaii. Therefore talk of Kamikaze behavior would be counter productive to the sponsor. And Walt was completely sponsor oriented since they paid the bills. While Walt would offend the public, he would never offend a paying sponsor.

Commercial flight is not the same as someone with a sworn clause(hence the phonetic claws joke) to have a suicide bomber mission.

Besides, people in the '50's were somewhat more rational than today -- there were no automatically offended groups that would raise a ruckus over a reference like that.

 

[celluloid]

Besides, people in the '50's were somewhat more rational than today -- there were no automatically offended groups that would raise a ruckus over a reference like that.

Sadly today, we could not even easily get the voice work in unless it was a successful film medium parodying cultures or celebs.

 

[Phil12]

Besides, people in the '50's were somewhat more rational than today -- there were no automatically offended groups that would raise a ruckus over a reference like that.

I repeat. "Therefore talk of Kamikaze behavior would be counter productive to the sponsor."

United Airlines had a rather bad reputation in the late 1950's for mid-air collisions to wit:

"In the late 1950s, three United planes were lost in mid-air collisions that killed everyone on both aircraft involved. On June 30, 1956, Flight 718 collided with a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over the Grand Canyon in what was then the world's deadliest commercial airline disaster. On April 21, 1958, Flight 736 crashed in southern Nevada after colliding with a USAF F-100 Super Sabre fighter jet. On December 16, 1960, Flight 826 hit another TWA Super Constellation over New York City. These accidents helped pave the way for modern Air Traffic Control."

History of United Airlines - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[91JLovesDisney]

I think it might be "The boys in the back are clawed macaws"
That would at least make sense for the rest of the lyrics.