Mah Na Mah Na



"Mahna Mahna", originally titled "Mah-Na Mah-Na," was written by Italian composer Piero Umiliani for a Swedish documentary called Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). It is a nonsense song that achieved widespread fame when the Muppets performed it.

The Classic Sketches
The Muppets' rendition of "Mahna Mahna" debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969, performed by Mahna Mahna and his back-up singers, the Snowths. This version of the skit was restaged for episode 101 of The Muppet Show.

A slightly different version of the skit was performed on Sesame Street that same year by Bip Bippadotta, backed up by two Anything Muppet girls. Whereas the Snowths sing "doo doo doo doo doo" on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Muppet Show, the back-up singers on the Sesame Street version sing "ba tee pa tee pee".

The Modern Sketches
The "Mahna Mahna" sketch was parodied in "The Psychiatrist's Office" sketch on episode 107 of Muppets Tonight, in which the Snowths would appear and sing "doo doo doo doo doo" every time Kermit said that the word "phenomena."

"Mahna Mahna" opened The Muppet Show Live at Muppetfest in 2001. Bill Barretta performed Mahna Mahna to a pre-recorded track of Jim Henson's vocals. New video footage of Mahna Mahna riding in a limo was also taped and shown on a video monitor at the event.

An advertisement featuring "Mahna Mahna" was filmed for a New Zealand cancer charity called CanTeen in 2005. In the ad, Mahna Mahna was both puppeteered and voiced by Bill Barretta, and the lyrics were changed from "Mahna Mahna" to "Bandanana" to promote CanTeen's "Bandanna Week".

The Muppet Show version

 * The Muppet Show (LP)
 * Favorite Songs From Jim Henson's Muppets
 * Muppet Hits
 * The Muppet Show: Music, Mayhem and More!
 * The Best of The Muppets

Sesame Street version

 * Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration
 * Platinum Too
 * Songs from the Street