Disney Silly Symphonies - The Pied Piper

• The abduction of the children of Hamelin supposedly took place on June 26th, 1284.


• Hamelin is a real town in Germany.


• It is said that 130 children in all were abducted.


• Although it's very possible that the Pied Piper story is based on a true event, historians can't agree on what actually happened.


• Most versions of the Pied Piper story say that the Piper led the rats to a river, where they were all drowned. Disney decided that transporting the rats on a magical piece of cheese to another dimension would be more humane.


• Supposedly there is a street in Hamelin where singing, dancing, and playing music is forbidden out of respect for the victims spirited away that day.


• Most versions of the story say that the Pied Piper led the children to a cave, and none of them were ever heard from again.


• In the Disney retelling, a little lame boy is magically healed and joins the other children in a magical world. But in the original story, two children are left behind: The lame child who can't keep up, and the deaf child who only follows out of curiosity.


• The Pied Piper of Hamelin could be an allegory for the Black Death. However, the dates don't correspond. The Black Death wouldn't sweep through Europe until the mid 1300s.


• More sadistic and less traditional versions of the tale say that the children were drowned in a river just like the rats, or worse.


• It's possible that the children of Hamelin weren't children at all, but were in fact a young generation who were either seduced by a cult leader or who migrated from Hamelin to establish their own villages. One version of the legend claims that the children of Hamelin founded Transylvania.

You can learn more facts and trivia about the Pied Piper of Hamelin at Wikipedia.

Chorus/Townsfolk
In the town of Hamelin many years ago
The citizens were crying out a tearful tale of woe
Rats, rats, rats
They chased the dogs and killed the cats
Rats, rats, rats
They build their nests in our Sunday hats
The citizens of Hamelin were frantic with despair
They gnashed their teeth and stamped their feet and shouted to the mayor:
Rats, rats, rats
The people cried we gotta get rid of the rats
We gotta get rid of the rats in Hamelin town
Rats, rats, rats, rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats
We gotta get rid of the rats
Rats, rats, rats

Mayor
As mayor of this city
I declare that it's a pity
Our community is overrun with rats

Townsfolk
As mayor of the city
He declares it is a pity
Our community is overrun with rats
Rats, we gotta get rid of the rats
Rats

Mayor
I'll give this bag of gold
This bag of shining gold
To anyone who rid us of the rats

Townsfolk
Rats
Who rid us of the rats
Who rid us of the rats
Who rid us of the rats
Rats

Pied Piper
Stop!
I'll rid your town of rats
I'll take the bag of gold

Mayor
You rid the town of rats
You get this bag of gold

(Piper plays music and leads the rats away)

Pied Piper
I've done my work as I was told
Now I'll take my bag of gold

Mayor
A bag of gold? Ha
You crazy loon
Why all you did was pipe tune

Townsfolk
All you did was pipe a tune
All you did was pipe a tune
All you did was pipe a tune
All you did was pipe a tune

Pied Piper
You're dishonest and ungrateful
And it really is a shame
that the children of this city should grow up to be the same
I'll save the children from such a fate
I'll pipe 'em away before it's too late

Mayor
You're only bluffing; do your worst
Blow your pipe until you burst

Townsfolk
Blow your pipe until you burst
Blow your pipe until you burst

(Pied Piper plays music and leads the children away)

Chorus
Joy Land, Joy Land
Happy girl and boy land
Laughing and playing from year to year
Trouble and care never enter here
Singing, dancing, on the sunny side
Happy forever and ever
Each childhood never end