Big Mouth Billy Bass - The Singing Sensation

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Scott, son of a Big Mouth Billy Bass owner: My dad had one in his camper. He thought it was the funniest thing around. I’m not sure where he got it, but knowing my dad, he probably bought it at Big Lots or at a yard sale. He passed in 2007, and even though it didn’t work anymore, it was still up in his motor home. I believe Billy Bass was thrown away when we cleaned up the motor home to sell it.

The invention earned Pellettieri a promotion to VP of product development. But in the novelty toy industry, where success is short-lived, he soon found himself fishing for another winner. The birth of Big Mouth Billy Big Mouth Billy Bass the Singing Sensation: The original singing fish released in 1998-1999 and popular in 2000. He sings "Take Me to the River" and "Don't Worry Be Happy" though earlier models only sing "Take Me to the River". Arduino and Echo Dot connected to the LM386 amplifier board and internal Billy Bass Speaker. Note the white signal cable from the amplifier speaker wire terminal running to the Analog input on the Arduino.As a new transplant in the product development world, Pellettieri hadn’t quite figured out the best way to find inspiration. Then, toward the end of ‘98, he took a fateful road trip with his wife, Barbara. Big Mouth Billy Bass Jr.: A smaller version of Billy Bass on an oval plaque released in 2004. This version was made to mark his 5th Anniversary, and was sold until 2006. This version sings a parody of "I Will Survive" and "Take Me to the River" (same recording as the original). Some models sing "Take Me to the River" and "Don't Worry Be Happy" just like the original. These models were sold mostly in the UK, Germany, and Australia. I want the Billy Bass red button (or a substitute) to toggle between a “speech” mode (more about mouth movement and the whole “talking fish” appeal, and a “music” mode that’s more about the fish flopping around in time to music. Big Mouth Billy Bass The Singing Sensation: The original singing fish released in 1998/1999 and popular in 2000. Sings "Take Me To The River" and "Don't Worry Be Happy" though earlier models only sing "Take Me To The River"

Pellettieri left Gemmy in 2010, and now serves as VP of product development at another Texas-based seasonal toy company, Occasions Limited, where he has been granted even more creative freedom (he’s currently working on Halloween of 2021).

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There is also an extremely rare 2005-2006 re-release version of the original 1999 model which has Big Mouth Billy Bass Jr’s skin design with "Irving, TX" removed and ON/OFF being replaced with ON/SENSOR. The Big Mouth Bass song has been featured prominently in many different media outlets. It can be heard in the movie Finding Nemo (2003), as well as television shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-present) and The Simpsons (1989-present). It has also been featured in various video games, including Super Mario Sunshine (2002) and Crash Bandicoot (1996). Additionally, it can be heard playing at theme parks across the globe. Classic Plaque Big Mouth Billy Bass (2021): Features classic plaque design and sings “Take Me to the River” and “Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Every Day”. Bensch: We here at the Strong Museum of Play have a Big Mouth Billy Bass. We got one in 2000 because it was one of the hot things from that year.

When you load this audio diagnostic sketch to your Arduino and open the Serial Monitor (9600 baud), you can see a log message indicating if music is playing or not. You can also watch the onboard LED for the Arduino which should be illuminated when music is playing, and off otherwise. The heyday of Big Mouth Billy Bass would only last about nine months or so before it began to wear out. The product was so big and had been gifted to so many people that a crash was inevitable, especially for a product whose main pull was its surprise factor. Its demise would only be aided by the countless other iterations and ripoffs, some made by Gemmy themselves to keep the momentum going, while others were made by competing companies trying to get in on the craze. By that fall, the product had already begun to be marked down, and by Christmas, it was in the discount bins, having already been gag-gifted to countless fishermen earlier in the year. When you ask Alexa a question, Billy turns to you, and then (with significant delay) lip-syncs Alexa's answers. The actual audio comes out of your Echo speaker, and it's in Alexa's feminine voice rather than Billy's growl. For third-party skills, Billy will lip-sync some, but not all, of the responses. Remember, Billy is not a speaker. We are interested in the two circuit boards. Be careful with the ribbon cable connecting the two PCBs. This came unplugged for me about 20 times, so you may want to attach this to the fish case immediately (see photos near the end of this post for how I attached mine).Sometimes, Billy Bass sings very slowly and his voice is pitched down to -14.5 semitones. Finding a Billy Bass with this feature is incredibly rare. Before long, Gemmy was selling a quartet of flowers movin’ and groovin’ to Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood,” and the company’s dancing and singing Living Garden Series was born. On first glance, Billy Bass might be considered mere kitsch, but dismissing this singing fish would ignore some critical linkages between culture and environment. To understand Billy’s unique cultural resonance, we need to dig deeper into the historical processes that enabled Billy’s flesh-and-blood counterparts to become the most popular sport fish in the United States. Lampen, Claire (November 11, 2022). "The Queen Loved Her Big Singing Bass". The Cut . Retrieved November 14, 2022.

Big Mouth Billy Bass Cupholder: A spinoff Billy Bass product made in 2000. The mouth is hollow so it can hold your drinking cup. It can be activated by squeezing the lower half of the head. It plays "Take Me To The River" and "Don't Worry Be Happy" just like the original. Future iterations of the project will also include sound, and we’re already wondering what use we might have for our own singing and dancing Big Mouth Billy Bass at Pi Towers.

Once your Alexa device is set up, you can begin adding voice commands to control the fish tank. For example, you can ask Alexa to start feeding your fish or turn on the lights in the tank. You can also set timers for when you want certain activities to occur in the tank, such as when the lights will turn on or when it’s time to feed the fish. To hook Billy’s electronics up to a Raspberry Pi Pico W, Kevin removed the original wiring and controller board, replacing them with two H-Bridges to control Billy’s three motors.