The content of ones character reveals the heart. Characters from the 'Five Little Monkeys' actually seem to be loosely based on an old Soviet cartoon about five mischievous young monkeys living in a zoo with other anthropomorphic animals, and the trouble they cause to their ever-exhausted but ingenious mum and everyone else. And you're welcome.As a grandmother of a two year old, I've also experienced what you wrote about racist depictions of Black people occurring in long series of nursery rhymes and other children's songs. Thanks for your comment, Motunrayo.I've already shared my opinion about that particular Dave and Ava cartoon and I understand that the animators have improved their depictions of certain characters. Instead of “Monkeys,” “Five Little Monkeys” (also known as “Ten Little Monkeys” originally used the “n word” or “darkies” as a reference to Black people. If enough people who watched Dave and Ava cartoons stop watching that series because of the offensive way that they drew those monkeys and if enough people who would watch Dave and Ava cartoons boycott Dave and Ava cartoons because of that depiction, then maybe the producers of those cartoons will get a clue and draw monkeys so that they don't look like stereotypical Black people. strange that some people get offended with this cartoon. However, the cartoon is available in English because it was produced for English speaking audience. The whole show is just creepy. The children will giggle when they hear the strange versions of the song you have chosen, and they will laugh at each new set of words. (For instance, the little girl in the "Wheels On The Bus" segment had her hair in a pony tail and not the multiple braids sticking out of her hair like the previous drawing of the girl monkey had. she appears to be the kids mom. My 19 month old daughter pointed to a group of African Americans and yelled "Monkeys!" "Five Little Monkeys" is an English language folk song and fingerplay. I've sung this song with my kids and had no clue of its roots, well needless to say, now I won't be singing this anymore. So I'm not the only one who thought this, un?And I liked watching a few other episodes of that cartoon with my pre-school granddaughter- until I began to watch that one with her and saw the way they depicted Black people . That Dave and Eva video is pure subliminal racist message to kids. I wasn't sure what to do, as my son loves the song and likes to sing it, etc. It really has a white supremacist undertone and any intelligent person will realize this. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [1][2][3], Eileen Christelow has written a series of books titled "Five Little Monkeys ..". I think this is no accident at all. When did monkeys stat having two legs and braiding their hair? I am sure the creators found their product very unexpectedly popular outside of their own country (where it was marketed as series for early years English acquisition) and were mortified by how the global community read the message behind the characters. The Wheels on the Bus one actually bothered me the most, as a white bus rider who's used to being the only white person on a bus in a major US city. It is an incredible success not just for Ukrainian 3D animation but for all Ukrainian cinematography.Animation 'Dave and Ava' is 100% Ukrainian product: idea, plot, direction, team of 3D animators, composers, voice actors and financing. Anonymous, thanks very much for sharing information about the 1935 book "Southern Cook Book of Fine Old Recipes".I didn't know about that book before you alerted me to it.Here's the song fragment from that book that mentions "shortnin' bread":Two little ni&&ers lyin in bed, One of 'em sick an' de odder mos' dead.Call for de doctor, an' de doctor said, "Feed dem darkies on short'nin bread. Each successive verse sequentially counts down from the starting number. -Andrew. Im sorry but I dont find any trance of racist subliminal, in fact there was a baby African American doll being held by the caucasian baby girl. Listen. "No more jumping on the bed!" I plan to publish a pancocojams post that highlights all of the song fragments that are included in that 1935 book and will add the link to that post in this pancocojams comment section.Thanks again, Anonymous! Parents are the real issue reading too much into a simple cartoon. I was mortified and couldn't understand why she was so adamant. It's people like this who keep the hate alive. 5 little monkeys Remix tiktok (with an animated video of that rhyme & comments about reciting rhymes that have racist histories) ", http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/07/versions-of-shortnin-bread-1900-1950.html, http://www.kidsongs.com/lyrics/five-little-monkeys.html, http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_The_Five_Little_Monkeys, http://forums.adoption.com/transracial-adoption/380564-5-little-monkeys-racist.html, http://babyandblog.com/2014/04/5-childrens-songs-with-racist-histories/#, http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_The_Five_Little_Monkeys, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Little_Monkeys, http://folkloreforum.net/2009/05/01/%E2%80%9Cten-little-niggers%E2%80%9D-the-making-of-a-black-man%E2%80%99s-consciousness/, https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/09/5-little-monkeys-remix-tiktok-with.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auQh6DCh4qM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWO9uP_VJV8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx1NcLZBZ1k, http://ukrainegoodnews.com/dave_and_ava_breaks_records_in_usa.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0FiMc7BOT0&t=869s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25WIA-7LZFg&feature=youtu.be, https://ia802607.us.archive.org/25/items/southerncookbook00lustrich/southerncookbook00lustrich.pdf. Mother called the doctor and the doctor said, Thank you so much for posting this and sharing it with the world! As a non white parent I have been quite appalled by the more recent depictions of the so-called 5 little monkeys being made very much in the image of black people. The author of this page http://ukrainegoodnews.com/dave_and_ava_breaks_records_in_usa.html, written in May 2015, indicates that "For one month and a half 15 000 000 Americans have watched 'Dave and Ava' cartoon. My daughter loves them. "-snip-It appears that that comment was published without the specific link for this post. . "Source: Southern Cook Book Of Fine Old Recipes, compiled & edited by Lillie S. Lnstig, S. Claire Sondheii, Sarah Rensel [with] decorations [illustrations] by H. Charles Kellui; published by Culinary Arts Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1935) ; republished on https://ia802607.us.archive.org/25/items/southerncookbook00lustrich/southerncookbook00lustrich.pdf[page 34]The "n word" is fully spelled out in this song fragment and in other song fragments in that book.-snip-Most of the song fragments that are included in that 1935 cookbook are from Black American secular songs. I really do not want him to inadvertently offend people by singing it in public, but teaching him about this kind of social complexity right now is challenging. That's a bit rich, especially accusing creators of being racist and immediately making generalizations about their nation as a whole.The absolute majority of Ukrainians have never seen a black person in real life, the country has no history of slavery and racial tensions to the extent that the US and certain European countries do, and there is therefore no inherent evil monkey stereotypes. It has become a childs song. I hadn't watched Dave and Ava's "Apples and Bananas" animation until you mentioned it in your comment.You are right. It has been my experience that these utterly racist depictions normally occur near the middle of the longer (say 50 minute) runs of nursery rhymes and they are easy to miss unless you are sitting with the child and looking at the screen with them. Four little jumping on the bed, What a shame on these perpetrators of evil.. Dave and ava have since added an actual black character who is not a stereotype. (see for instance, the Dave and Ava "Five Little Monkeys" and the Dave and Ava "Apples And Bananas" cartoons. It's a cartoon. They should remove that particular monkey family song to show that they have changed. Main characters have bright blue and green eyes subliminally representing the perceived racial class of Caucasians. You may ask your children why this monkey fell off the bed, and you may find many creative ways why this happened. You have covered a number of concepts in this song, and you will have a new crop of kids to share this song with every year when they enter your classroom. I feel that black and non-white parents as a whole should really monitor the usage of these so-called youtube nursery rhymes paying particular attention to the imagery being used (e.g. I thank the author of this blog for pointing out the origins of some of these seemingly harmless songs. And thank you very much to the artists and other production staff of this Dave & Ava cartoon! Hopefully more people can be made aware so that we can guard against some of the stereotypical programming that seems to perpetuate itself across generations. No you're not alone! Mother called the doctor and the doctor said, Opinions may come and go. Thanks for that information, Andrew.I watched the Dave & Ava Apples and bananas part 2 video that you referred me to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0FiMc7BOT0&t=869s. I added a reply with the title of this blog post. It is quite a lot of fun to imagine the monkeys in the tree, and you will find that they are interested in drawing the monkeys in the tree and singing about this particular version of the song. )And it is not just Black Americans who have noted this and are letting others know about it. Depictions of black people as criminals, monkeys, wolves etc). Dave and Ava's animators should be aware of the racist connotations in their cartoons and change those drawings, for all of our children's sake. "No more jumping on the bed!" Five Little Monkeys. I mentioned it to my mother who put it together...I now bypass all those nursery rhymes. I found the artists' depiction of Black people to be very much improved from the five little monkey video that I had critiqued and mentioned in this pancocojams post.You (or another anonymous commenter) wrote that the Black woman with the curly hair and glasses "appears to be the kids mom". And all monkeys should listen to their mama and their doctor because doctor knows best and so does mama! The main characters always look way better than the rest of the characters, usually represented as non-Caucasians in every video, as if non-Caucasians can never look as good.Initially, I did not think much of it, but as I watched more along with my son it stared to hit me that it was in fact racist, very much so.