Wheels on the Bus

Join the teddy bears on a bus ride in this classic song.

One of 6 in a series of teddy films from Little Woolly Vision, keep an eye out for the panda family from “Goldilocks and the Three Families of Bears”, The little bear from “Ten in the Bed” the baby bear from “Round and Round the Garden” and the driver who also drives a sleigh in “Jingle Bells” as well as the "Big Red Bus"

There is also a version with the big red london routemaster bus:

Origin:
The music is a variation on the traditional British tune best known as ‘Here We go Round the Mulberry Bush’ which originated as a tune from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch.
The first bus lyrics came from America and were written by Verna Hills in 1937 but did not make any reference to the melody.

The original version was:

The wheels of the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round;
The wheels of the bus go round and round,
Over the city streets.

The horn of the bus goes “Too-to-too,
“Too-to-too, too-to-too,”
the horn of the bus goes “Too-to-too”
At the other busses it meets.

The people in the bus go up and down,
Up and down,
up and down;
The people in the bus go up and down,
Bouncing off their seats.

There have been many variations and everyone knows a slightly different version but for this animation I chose the lines that have accompanying actions:

For the wheels you tumble your hands
mime beeping the horn
swish your arms to make wipers
pump your arm to ring the bell (this is always more fun when you pretend it’s an old bus with a cord like the teddies bus)
clap your hands to shut the doors
rub near your eyes to cry like a baby
quack your hand by your mouth to natter
wag your finger like a grumpy bus driver
children jump or can be lifted up and down
shimmy like a jellyfish

The jellyfish was invented specially for my daughter who has since added other silly animals to amuse her little sister.

Lyrics
The wheels on the bus go round and round
round and round
round and round
the wheels on the bus go round and round
all day long

The horn on the bus goes beep beep beeb
beep beep beeb
beep beep beeb
the horn on the bus goes beep beep beeb
all day long

The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish
swish swish swish
swish swish swish
the wipers on the bus go swish swish swish
all day long

The bell on the bus goes ding ding ding
ding ding ding
ding ding ding
the bell on the bus goes ding ding ding
all day long

The doors go open and shut
open and shut
open and shut
the doors go open and shut
all day long

The babies on the bus go waa waa waa
waa waa waa
waa waa waa
the babies on the bus go waa waa waa
all day long

The mummies on the bus go natter natter natter
natter natter natter
natter natter natter
the mummies on the bus go natter natter natter
all day long

The driver on the bus says stop that noise
stop that noise
stop that noise
the driver on the bus says stop that noise
all day long

The children on the bus go up and down
up and down
up and down
the children on the bus go up and down
all day long

The jellyfish on the bus goes jiggle jiggle jiggle
jiggle jiggle jiggle
jiggle jiggle jiggle
the jellyfish on the bus goes jiggle jiggle jiggle
all day long

The wheels on the bus go round and round
round and round
round and round
the wheels on the bus go round and round
all day long

Video Credits:
Produced by Sarah Simi & Ed Hartwell (Woolly Vision)
Animation and Direction: Ed Hartwell
Art Direction: Sarah Simi
Teddy bear and jellyfish puppets by Caroline Bletsis
Bus by Laura Gardener (Little Egg Designs)
Background by Leeanne Bell
Set elements by Sarah Simi and Leeanne Bell
Music recorded and performed by Steve Pretty