"Pink Elephants on Parade" is a song and scene from the 1941 Disneyanimatedfeature filmDumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q. Mouse, having accidentally become intoxicated (through drinking water spiked with champagne), see pink elephants sing, dance, and play musical instruments during a hallucination sequence. After the sequence, Dumbo and Timothy wake up, hungover, in a tree. It is at this point that they realize that Dumbo can fly.
The song was written by Oliver Wallace (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics)[1] and sung by The Sportsmen. The segment was directed by Norman Ferguson, laid out by Ken O'Connor and animated by Hicks Lokey, Karl Van Leuven, and Howard Swift.[2]
The song is featured in the Disney live-action remake, directed by Tim Burton.[3] The Pink Elephants themselves appear as human-made bubble sculptures which also come to life.
InThe Big Snooze, Elmer Fudd's nightmare includes a parody of the sequence with "ziwwions and twiwwions of wabbits" marching on top of Fudd while Bugs Bunny is at an adding machine, literally multiplying them.
The Bob's Burgers episode "Art Crawl" parodies the sequence with animals marching backwards with pink circles on their anuses.
The Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Test Stress" includes a parody of the scene with a bunch of Albert Einsteins walking around and one of them uses an "E=mc" pump.
The South Park episode "Doubling Down" references this sequence in a brief segment in which Eric Cartman, while in a hallucinatory fit of rage, visualizes a group of pink Kyles marching out of a broken heart.
The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "One Trick Sponge" features a short musical sequence with an instrumental and visuals bearing resemblance to "Pink Elephants on Parade".
The Simpsons episode "D'oh-in' in the Wind" features a cameo of Pinky the Elephant who Barney summons by drinking a Duff beer after ingesting peyote-tainted juice that causes a monster to appear in his home.
InSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, there's a level named "Piranha Plants on Parade", in which Piranha Plants will sing and dance.
