Dance of the Hours
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Dance of the Hours is a ballet from the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli.
This classical music staple has perhaps been more often lampooned than loved.
The original arrangement was used in the Walt Disney cartoon film Fantasia, albeit with ballet-dancing Hippos, Ostriches, and Elephants, complete with tutus.
The rendition by Spike Jones and His City Slickers included several segments of the melody, although presented out of order to suit the presentation of the record, a parody of the Indianapolis 500 that was effectively a sequel to their William Tell Overture.
The piece may best be recognized from one segment of it that formed the basis for the hit song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" and its sequel "Return to Camp Granada" by Allan Sherman. That same segment has also been used in television advertisements as recently as 2005.
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