Editing Happy Fun Ball

{{Short description|Parody advertisement}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2018}}
[[Image:Happy fun ball.jpg|right|300px|thumb|One of Happy Fun Ball's numerous warnings]] "'''Happy Fun Ball'''" is a [[List of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies|parody advertisement]] that first aired on February 16, 1991, on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. Described as a "classic that can sit right up there with [[Dan Aykroyd]]'s Bass-o-Matic",<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SaLA2b5A0ZcC&pg=92 ''The Totally Sweet 90s: From Clear Cola to Furby, and Grunge to "Whatever", the Toys, Tastes, and Trends That Defined a Decade''], Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Brian Bellmont. Penguin, Jun 4, 2013</ref> The topic of the sketch is a toy rubber ball, the advertisement for which is accompanied by a long series of bizarre disclaimers and increasingly ominous warnings, including "Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball." It was brought back for several "Best of Saturday Night Live" specials.

== Concept ==
Written by [[Jack Handey]] and voiced by [[Phil Hartman]],<ref>Podcast: Jack Handey, Author, TV Writer and Creator of "Deep Thoughts" Posted Fri, 05/30/2008 by Jesse Thorn
[http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2008/05/podcast-jack-handey-author-tv-writer.html Maximumfun.org]</ref> the ad featured three "kids" portrayed by [[Dana Carvey]], [[Jan Hooks]], and [[Mike Myers (actor)|Mike Myers]]. The brief commercial declares Happy Fun Ball (produced by Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited), just $14.95, was "the toy sensation sweeping the nation!" However, this positive message about the innocuous-seeming toy was undercut by a lengthier number of bizarre [[disclaimer]]s and warnings, including "may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds" and "If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, seek [[Blast shelter|shelter]] and cover head." Ingredients include "an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from [[outer space]]"; said ingredients are not to be "touched, inhaled, or looked at" if exposed due to rupture. Viewers were also warned, "Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball." The sketch ends with a slogan for Happy Fun Ball: "Accept no substitutes!"

The parody lampooned advertisers, pharmaceutical companies, [[toy]] manufacturers, chemical companies, absurdly long [[legal]] disclaimers, [[Extraterrestrial life|alien]] [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracies]], and mentions the 1991 [[Gulf War]] (stating Happy Fun Ball was dropped by U.S. warplanes on [[Iraq]]).

Happy Fun Ball was presented as one of the sponsors of the first "[[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]]" sketch (aired November 23, 1991), with the claim Happy Fun Ball was "Still legal in 16 states. It's happy. It's fun. It's Happy Fun Ball."

== See also ==
*[[Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches|Recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' characters and sketches]]
*[[SuperHappyDevHouse]]
*[[Super Ball]]
*[[Engrish]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmqeZl8OI2M Happy Fun Ball sketch on YouTube]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027091601/http://geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/7945/ Fan site containing .WAV samples of the sketch]
*[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90mhappyfunball.phtml Transcript of the SNL sketch]

{{Saturday Night Live}}

[[Category:Saturday Night Live sketches]]
[[Category:Saturday Night Live in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Fictional balls]]
[[Category:1991 in American television]]
[[Category:Fictional elements introduced in 1991]]