Pocahontas Meets Little Mermaid
Weeki Wachee, Florida
The 1997 Weeki Wachee theme show, Pocahontas Meets Little Mermaid, delivered the kind of underwater orchestration one would expect from an institution as well-versed as Weeki Wachee. Children were particularly mesmerized, with greasy little hands and faces pressed against the theater glass. Our fascination centered on the amount of singing dialog the mermaids had to lipsynch, while performing underwater ballet and gulping from air hoses.
First, some cartoon comedics from the Famous Frog of Weeki Wachee:
FROG: Like my Aunt Phibian used to say "That's a lot of bull....FROG!"
CHORUS: He's the Frog of Weeki Wachee!
FROG: I won't dance on your Hibachi!
CHORUS: The Frog of Weeki Wachee!
FROG: You were expecting Liberace?
CHORUS: The Frog of Weeki Wacheeeee Springs!Without giving away the entire story, here's an excerpt of the lyrics to our favorite song:
- INDIAN CHORUS:
- PO-CA-HONTAS NOW... TEACHING LIT-TULL MERMAID,
SHE WILL SHOW HER HOW...TO BE AN IN-DEE-UN!
- POCAHONTAS:
- If you're an Indian you have to try
- To make it rain from clear blue sky!
- So put yourself in an Indian trance,
- And your moccasins will make a little Indian dance!
- EVERYONE: Yi Yi Yi! Yi Yi Yi!
- CHORUS:
- The tribe is your family, your house is a tee-pee,
- You send smoke signals that your friends far away can see!
- You wear a skin and some feathers in your hair,
- And of course you have a horse, or you never get nowhere!
- POCAHONTAS:
- Practice hard, have lots of fun
- That's what it takes to be an In-dee-unn!
- Pocahontas will see you through,
- If you teach her how to be a mermaid too.
- INDIAN CHORUS:
- LIT-TULL MERMAID NOW... TEACHING PO-CA-HONTAS!
SHE WILL SHOW HER HOW... TO BE A MERMAID TOO!
- LITTLE MERMAID:
- If you want to be a mermaid too
Listen close to what I say to you.- From the little fish you can take your cue,
- That's how you can be a Mermaid too!
- POCAHONTAS:
- Take my cue?
- LITTLE MERMAID:
- Like fishies do!
- POCAHONTAS:
- Shed my skins?
- LITTLE MERMAID:
- Get some fins!
- Trade your legs for a fishy tail
- Move it up and down just like a whale.
- Arms to steer and most certainly,
- You'll be singing like a mermaid in the deep blue sea!
And so on, for a total of 30 minutes. The show ended with the entire cast gyrating to the Weeki Wachee theme song, "We've Got the World by the Tail."
Lyrics copyright 1997 Weeki Wachee Spring