Editing I'm a Little Teapot

{{Infobox song
| name     = I'm a Little Teapot
| cover    = Teapot_song_sheet_music_cover.jpg
| alt      = The Teapot Song sheet music cover
| caption  = Sheet music cover
| type     =
| artist   = George Harry Sanders and Clarence Kelley
| album    =
| released = 1939
| recorded =
| studio   =
| venue    =
| genre    = [[Children's music]]
| length   =
| label    = Kelman Music Corporation
| writer   = George Harry Sanders and Clarence Kelley
| producer = 
}}

"'''I'm a Little Teapot'''" is an American novelty song describing the heating and pouring of a [[teapot]] or a [[Whistling kettle|whistling tea kettle]]. The song was originally written by George Harry Sanders and Clarence Z. Kelley and published in 1939.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Ronald |title= Reflections on a Teapot, the Personal History of a Time |publisher= Harper & Row, New York |date=January 1972 |isbn=978-0-06-013754-0}}</ref> By 1941, a ''[[Newsweek]]'' article referred to the song as "the next inane novelty song to sweep the country".<ref>''[[Newsweek]]'' (1941), Vol. 18, p. 10.</ref>

== Creation ==
Kelley and his wife ran a [[dance school]] for children, which taught the "Waltz Clog", a popular and easy-to-learn [[tap dance]] routine. This routine, however, proved too difficult for the younger students to master. To solve this problem, George Sanders wrote "The Teapot Song", which required minimal skill and encouraged natural [[pantomime]]. Both the song and its accompanying dance, the "Teapot Tip", became enormously popular in America and overseas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark|first=Garth |title= The Artful Teapot |publisher= Watson-Guptill |date=October 2001 |isbn=0-8230-0319-1}}</ref>

The song was recorded and made famous by Art Kassel and His Kassels in the Air orchestra with featured vocalist Marion Holmes singing the tune. It was published in 1941 by Bluebird Records.<ref>[http://www.defore.net/Teapot.jpg view Bluebird Record label]</ref> (Marion Holmes soon after married Broadway, film, and TV star [[Don DeFore]].)

The lyrics begin "I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." and go on to further describe the appearance and actions of the singer-as-teapot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lyricstranslate.com/en/George-Harry-Sanders-Teapot-Song-Im-Little-Teapot-lyrics.html|title = George Harry Sanders - the Teapot Song (I'm a Little Teapot) lyrics}}</ref> The song may be accompanied with actions: extending one arm in a curve like the spout, placing the other arm like the handle, and bending sideways to pour.
[[File:I'm a Little Teapot audio.mp3|thumb|right|A piano recording of "I'm a Little Teapot", in which the vocals are played by the higher melody]]

==Recordings==
"I'm a Little Teapot" has been recorded by a number of artists, particularly on children's albums.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/search/?sort=score%2Cdesc&q=i%27m+a+little+teapot&type=all&page=1 |title=Exploring i'm a little teapot |work=Discogs |accessdate=August 26, 2021}}</ref> It's been released as a single by various artists besides Kassel, including [[Horace Heidt]] (1941),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.45worlds.com/78rpm/artist/horace-heidt-and-his-musical-knights |title=Horace Heidt And His Musical Knights - 78 RPM - Discography |work=45 Worlds |accessdate=August 26, 2021}}</ref> [[Lawrence Duchow]]'s Red Raven Orchestra (1956),<ref>{{Discogs release|id=14624293|name=I'm A Little Teapot / Hey, Diddle Diddle|type=single}}</ref> [[Judy Valentine]],<ref>{{cite AV media |people= |last= |first= |date= |title=I'm A Little Teapot |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/23571764-Judy-Valentine-Im-A-Little-Tea-Pot-Humpty-Dumptys-Holiday/image/SW1hZ2U6Nzk0Njk4NTg= |format=<!--JPEG--> |type=<!--JPEG image--> |language=English |publisher=Discogs |access-date=April 8, 2025}}</ref> and [[Two Ton Baker]] (1947).<ref>{{Discogs release|id=18178243|name=I Wuv A Wabbit / I'm A Little Teapot|type=single}}</ref>  It's included on [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s 1973 album ''Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf plus 10 More Great Children's Favorites''.<ref>{{Discogs release|id=7555143|name=Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf plus 10 More Great Children's Favorites|type=album}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The song is played extensively in the 1999 [[horror film]] [[miniseries]] ''[[Storm of the Century]]''.<ref name="IMDb 2024 r960">{{cite web | title=Storm of the Century (TV Mini Series 1999) | website=IMDb | date=2024-03-13 | url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0135659/movieconnections/ | access-date=2024-03-13}}</ref>

In the episode "Pavlov's Mice" of ''[[Pinky and the Brain]]'', Brain sings the song itself.

==See also==
*[[American tea culture]]
*[[Tea for Two (song)]], an earlier North American song referring to tea, from 1925
*[[Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol]]

==External links==
*[http://www.defore.net/teapot.mp3 Art Kassel's version] (audio)

*[https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/application-card/CC19381945EP_77200-78999.0492 1939 US Copyright Application]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:American children's songs]]
[[Category:1939 songs]]
[[Category:Fictional objects]]
[[Category:Teapots]]
[[Category:Novelty songs]]