On the Good Ship Lollipop

"On the Good Ship Lollipop"
Song by Shirley Temple
Published1934
Composer(s)Richard A. Whiting
Lyricist(s)Sidney Clare

"On the Good Ship Lollipop" is a song composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Sidney Clare. It was the signature song of child actress Shirley Temple.[1][2] Temple first sang it in the 1934 film, Bright Eyes.[3]

In the song, the "Good Ship Lollipop" travels to a candy land. The "ship" referred to in the song is an aircraft; the scene in Bright Eyes where the song appears takes place on a taxiing American Airlines Douglas DC-2.[4][5]

400,000 copies of the sheet music, published by Sam Fox Publishing Company, were sold,[5] and one recording by Mae Questel (the cartoon voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl) reputedly sold more than two million copies.[6] It finished at #69 in the survey AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs of top tunes in cinema in the United States in June 2004.

  1. ^ "Shirley Temple Black, child star who became diplomat, dies at 85". Reuters. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. ^ Scott, Mike (11 February 2014). "Remembering Shirley Temple in song, from 'Good Ship Lollipop' to 'Animal Crackers in My Soup'". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  3. ^ "5 films in which Shirley Temple shined - Washington Times". The Washington Times. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  4. ^ Curiously, in the film the floor of the airplane appears to be level, even though the DC-2 is a taildragger, and in real life it would be quite difficult to walk up and down the steeply sloped aisle while the plane is parked or taxiing.
  5. ^ a b Boyes, Laura. "Bright Eyes (1934)". Moviediva. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  6. ^ Lyman, Rick (8 January 1998). "Mae Questel, 89, Behind Betty Boop and Olive Oyl". The New York Times. p. 9. Retrieved 3 March 2014.