"Johny Johny Yes Papa" is a song and/or nursery rhyme of sorts that has been circling the internet for awhile now, first starting out as a shitty and unsettling animation that people would show others and freak them out with, and morphing into another category of kid's content on YouTube. It has also became a meme since the release of the video "Johny Johny Yes Papa" by YouTuber FUNtastic Playhouse and the video which has apparently been removed off of the face of YouTube, "Johny Johny Dance With Papa" or something along the lines of that title.
This song seems to be harmless, mainly used for the purpose of meme-ing and entertaining children. However, Johny Johny Yes Papa means more than just a child learning not to lie and eat too much sugar. And today, I'm going to tell you exactly why.
We're going to be doing a thorough analysis on the video "Johny Johny Yes Papa Nursery Rhymes - 3D Animation Rhyme & Songs For Children." I was originally planning to just do an analysis on the original video, but that video is too short and this version of the nursery rhyme goes more into depth about this song's storyline, so it will give me more to work with.
Now, let's begin.
In the beginning, the dad, who we will refer to as Papa, is doing stretches or some form of exercise, directly outside of the child, who we will refer to as Johny's, bedroom. This obviously is Papa preparing for when his son wakes up so he can abuse him and get him ready for the day.
Papa walks into the room and sees Johny asleep next to an ice cream cone with eyes, a mouth, arms, and legs. However, Papa does not see the ice cream cone thing, and we'll get into that later. Papa makes an angry expression and screams at Johny to get up quickly. Johny, scared out of his mind, obeys and gets up quickly, not without waking up his ice cream friend first. He only does this once Papa leaves though, for Papa would probably hit Johny if he was seen speaking to nothing again.
After Johny wakes up the ice cream, he goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Instead of brushing his teeth, he eats a bit of toothpaste because he did not get dinner during the previous night. His mother, who we will refer to as Mama, opens the door and scolds him, asking him if he ate any toothpaste. Johny, afraid of Mama telling Papa he ate anything at all, replies with no, an obviously very afraid expression on his face. Mama asks if he's telling lies, just like the original song goes, and he of course says no. Mama leaves and has confirmed Johny has not eaten anything, then Johny turns to the camera and winks with a thumbs up. This is even worse, because it adds on to the theory that Johny might be schizophrenic and very mentally crazed to the point where he believes that there IS an audience there that CAN help him escape Papa's clutches.
Next, Johny is seen playing with soap in the bathroom. The soap falls out of his hands and into a bucket of water. Then, we hear Mama offscreen calling his name again. Mama asks him if he is clean yet (what she says is inaudible, but I assume that's what she was asking). She also says this very quietly I assume, because she's making sure Johny is kept clean and has good hygiene, opposite of what Papa wants. Johny keeps on replying with "okay Mama." She tells him it's time for breakfast, but she does this quietly. She also says hurry up Johny with a furrowed brow, finishing off her requests. Mama says this loudly to fool Papa into thinking she is yelling at Johny and being a mean parent. Johny takes a bucket of water and splashes it on himself, quickly drying himself off.
In the next scene, he puts on some sort of cream on his face and dresses himself, which he learned to do at such a young age because of his parents refusing to assist him. Johny probably taught himself a lot of things actually. Today however, Mama tries to help him and asks him if he's dressing. She says many things quietly so Papa won't hear, so I'll leave what she says loudly, and quietly up to you because it's tiring having to continuously declare it. Johny refuses, wanting to save his poor mom the trouble. She then sternly says for him to hurry, and Johny says okay.
In the next scene, Johny arrives at the table and Mama and the ice cream are waiting. Johny, dressed appropriately for the day, waves and says hello. The ice cream waves back and says hello to him, which even if Mama probably cannot see the ice cream, she still goes along with it in care for her son. He eats the sandwich he has for breakfast due to the fact that's all Mama could prepare for breakfast. Mama slowly pushes the glass of milk closer to him in hope he'll drink.
Now, this scene? This really says a lot about the Johny Johny Yes Papa cinematic universe. Johny is peacefully eating his breakfast when Papa comes in and yells. He loudly gasps, scared for his life and hides the barely finished sandwich behind his back. Papa asks Johny if he's eating breakfast, demanding for an answer coldly. Johny nervously shakes his head, still in surprise, saying no. Papa asks if he's telling lies and Johny shakes his head again. Papa then asks for Johny to open his mouth. Johny opens his mouth and it's clear of food. Papa was clearly aware Johny and Mama were sneaking food, and had to check. Johny looked so genuinely terrified in that one moment that I jumped myself. I couldn't imagine what being in his place felt like.
Next, Johny is dressed for school, but barefoot. Johny has his backpack on his back and Johny sees Papa waiting outside, happily drinking his coffee and excited to see Johny go off to school for the day so he's rid of him. Johny puts on shoes and Papa demands for him to get on the school bus. Johny leaves his house and his one friend, the ice cream cone behind.
Johny is seen talking to a student in school being a bad student likely because his parents never taught him anything about manners or listening. The teacher scolds him and Johny is frightened again. Johny obeys the teacher and listens in class. The student he was talking to is bald, which means Johny's friend probably has cancer, which is very dark in of itself. Then, he is seen coming home off of his bus.
Johny is inside his house longingly looking out the window. He sees two children playing together. Johny is obviously sad and wishes he could go out and be with them. Mama walks over and calls Johny. Johny turns and replies with yes. She asks him if he wants to go and play with the others. He happily replies with yes and Mama lets him be free. I assume Papa may be at work so Mama let Johny out to play like he always wants to. These days must be very special to Johny.
The final scene is Johny in bed with his ice cream cone friend, eating lollipops. Papa walks by Johny's bedroom, but then comes back around and yells for him. Johny, afraid of getting caught, hides the candy and replies with yes. Papa walks in and asks if he's eating a lollipop. Johny replies with no. Papa asks if he's telling lies, he replies with no. Papa then walks in and says goodnight.
After Papa left, Johny takes out the lollipop and starts eating it again, winking at the camera again and basically telling the audience that he's alright. For now.
So, what did we learn?
Johny is a small child living in an abusive household with his abusive father, Papa, aiming to starve his son and not feed him any food, and his mother, Mama, who tries to help him get through the day. Johny has his friend, the ice cream cone, which is his imaginary friend who helps him get through the day along with Mama. The ice cream cone is a manifestation of the food and the sweets he wishes he could have, and the ice cream cone has become extra emotional support to when both of his parents block him out, abuse him, or ignore him. He wishes to eat and when he eats, he hides it from both of his parents. He taught himself how to get to school, get dressed, take a bath, and brush his teeth. Johny is good at hiding things from his family and hasn't been taught any good values at all through out his life, so he must be doing terrible in school. All in all, the world of Johny Johny Yes Papa is very, very dark and should not just be treated as an innocent nursery rhyme or song. And I rest my case.
