"Mickey Mouse Built A House" Verses In "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision - January 5, 2024

This pancocojams post presents some online examples of the recreational rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that include lines from "Mickey Mouse Built A House" rhymes. 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Especially note the last example that is given in Source #1 below which replaces the name Donald Duke with Donald Trump.
 
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/part-i-of-some-examples-of-down-by_22.html for the pancocojams series entitled "Part I of Some Examples Of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes With Geographic Locations (A - J)". The link for Part II is included in that post.

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General Information About Mickey Mouse & Mickey Mouse Television Series
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#:~:text=Mickey%20Mouse%20is%20an%20American,yellow%20shoes%2C%20and%20white%20gloves.
"Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves."...

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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mickey_Mouse_Club
"The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. [The series was] Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions"...

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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse_Clubhouse
"Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is an American interactive computer-animated preschool television series which was the first Mickey Mouse and computer-animated program for preschoolers. It aired from May 5, 2006, to November 6, 2016 on the Disney Channel.[1] ….

Premise

Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto interact with the viewer to stimulate problem solving during a self contained story.[3]

Once the problem of the episode has been explained, Mickey invites the viewers to join him at the Mousekedoer, a giant Mickey-head-shaped computer whose main function is to distribute the day's Mouseketools, a collection of tools needed to solve the day's problem, to Mickey."...

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My Analysis Of The Children's Recreational Rhyme Mickey Mouse Built A House"
"Mickey Mouse Built A House" is an English language children's recreational rhyme that appears to have initially been used as a counting out/choosing it rhyme.

Based on the number of examples of this rhyme that I've found online, it appears that "Mickey Mouse Built A House" is a rather widely known English language children's rhyme in the United States, if not elsewhere.

A sub-plot of Mickey Mouse cartoons/television skits is that Donald Duck is jealous of Mickey Mouse having the spotlight. Therefore, out of spite, Donald Duck is often depicted as messing up Mickey's plans, and in the case of most of the versions of this rhyme that I've read, he messes up Mickey's house. 

The "Mickey Mouse Built A House" rhymes were chanted by children in their neighborhoods before the "Mickey Mouse Club House" American television series began airing in 2006. (The 1980s is the earliest date that I've found for these rhymes. Read that example below.) However, it's likely that the "Mickey Mouse Club House" series helped popularize these rhymes.

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Types of Recreational Rhymes
"Mickey Mouse Built A House" can be chanted as a stand alone "counting out" rhyme or chanted in combination with lines/verses of one other (and usually more than one other)  recreational rhyme/s. 

"Mickey Mouse Built A House" lines or verses without the counting out portion are particularly found in some long versions of the hand clap/hand slap rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

When "Mickey Mouse Built A House" verses are combined with another recreational rhyme it  isn't a counting out rhyme, but serves the same purpose as those combination rhymes (i.e. "partner hand clap" routine or "group hand slap" game.) 

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Earliest Online Example That I've Found (as of April 26, 2023) 
I haven't found any information about where or when "Mickey Mouse Built A House" was first chanted.

It's likely that it was composed and first chanted in the United States since the United States is the "birthplace" of the fictional characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and the rest of the characters that join them in their episodes.

The 1980s is the earliest online date that I've found for this rhyme.

Here's that example:
"Mickey Mouse built a house and made it out of glass. Daffy Duck messed it up and made me kiss his a**" - http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml
-snip-
This is the way this rhyme was written on that page except that all the words were given in upper case letters.

The person who is pointed to when the last letter of the word "ass" is spoken is out of the game (or, alternatively is "it". The person who has to count in a game of hide & go seek" or other functions that are assigned to the person who is designated "it".

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse television series first aired on the Disney Channel in the United States from May 2, 2006 to Nov 6, 2016. Yet, as the 1980s date of that rhyme documents, there existed rhymes that referred to Mickey Mouse building a house. Those rhymes might have referred to any building where Mickey Mouse planned to live or those rhymes may have referred to "The Mickey Mouse Club", a television series that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. In any event, the Mickey Mouse Built A House rhymes probably became more widely chanted as a result of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse television series, and those rhymes may also have changed their form as a result of that later series. 

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Rhyme Structure
I've found these three "standard" forms of "Mickey Mouse Built A House" online:

Form #1 focuses on what Mickey Mouse used to build his house (i.e. bricks, or nails, or glass).

[The person who is pointed to on the last letter is out or is "it".]

The 1980s example that is quoted above is an example of form #1 of that rhyme

My guess is that Form #1 is the earliest form of "Mickey Mouse Built A House". 

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Form #2 
"Micky Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consequences, mouse or duck"

[The person who is pointed to chooses either the word "mouse" or "duck". The chosen word is then spelled out and the person who is pointed to on the last letter of that word is out or is "it".]

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Form #3 
"Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consequences" (or "who will pay the consequences and responsibilities)
Y.O.U.

[The person who is pointed to on the last letter is out or is "it".]

Based on my admittedly unscientific online search, Form #3 appears to be the most widely chanted version of "Mickey Mouse Built A House" in the United States. And my guess is that Form #3 is the newest version of that rhyme.   
 
There are also other rhymes about "Mickey Mouse" that aren't in the "Mickey Mouse Built A House" rhyme family.
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse for information about the animated Walt Disney cartoon character "Mickey Mouse" and click 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse_universe for information about the animated Walt Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. 

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SOME EXAMPLES OF "MICKEY MOUSE BUILT A HOUSE" RHYMES IN "DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE HANKY PANKY" RHYMES

The online sources for these selected examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

The "Mickey Mouse Built A House" portion of the rhyme is given in italics to showcase those lines. 

Source #1: Mudcat :Origins: Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky (multi-page folk music discussion thread)

This source includes multiple pages of this "Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky"
discussion thread.

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&page=2 Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST, Date: 21 Jun 07 - 05:17 PM
...."i learned this from chole,elizibeth1,elizibeth2,abby at loyola academy day camp

Down by banks of hankey-panky were the bullfrogs jumps from bank to bank sayin' eeps iips ohp sacadillain - kerplunk!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 mickey mouse had a house dohnald duck messed it up who shall pay the caonceacuences mouse or duck (or duck or mouse)1 person said duck or mouse and if it ends up on you you pull your hand away so the other person is out then but if they hit your hand your out"

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&page=4
From: GUEST,Anonymous.
Date: 21 May 08 - 05:24 PM
"Now when I was in elementary school, we had one with similar words but it was different.

It went:

Down on the farm said Hanky Panky
Said bulldog, bulldog Hanky Panky
Said Fee-Fii-Foo-Fum
Pass it to the bulldog
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consquences
And the ..

 

But I forget how it ends.

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&page=5
From: GUEST,SOUR Skittles #1
Date: 27 Feb 09 - 09:59 PM
"i learned this at my friends birthday party

it was sooo fun!!

down by the bank of the hanky pank where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank sayin
fe
fi
fo
foam
mi sa mi sa ding dang dong
i pledge alligance 2 the flag that micheal jackson is my dad pepsi cola burnt him up now were talking 7 up
7 up has no caffine now were talkin billy jean
billy jean went out of sight now were talkin dynomite
dynomite blew up the school now were talkin really cool
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 mickey mouse built a house donald duck messed it up who will pay the consequinces Y-O-U spells you!!

cool huh??"

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&messages=452&page=7
1. From: GUEST,HHA222
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 12:56 AM
"This is how we played in sumemr camp

Down on the farm said Hanky Panky
Said bulldog, bulldog Hanky Panky
Said Fee-Fii-Foo-Fum
Pass it to the bulldog
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the consquences
Or Responsibilities
Y O U spells you
are
out"

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2. From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 04:51 AM
"I was wondering if anybody's heard the mickey mouse version...

down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky with a fe fi fo fum know here comes another one, mickey mouse built a house, donald duck knocked it down, who will pay the consiquenses, y-o-u are out"

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3. From: GUEST,wyah
Date: 28 Apr 10 - 12:07 PM
"In my grade school we had a different version from any of these.

It went:

Down by the banks of the hanky pank'
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
fee, fi, fo, fum
your momma smells like King Kong
daddy smells like Donkey Kong
east side, west side, ding, dang, dong
Mickey Mouse built a house
Donald Duck messed it up
who will pay the consequences
and responsibilities
Y-O-U spells you!

And whoever got their hand slapped on "you" was out."

Spent so many mornings playing this and "Shame, Shame, Shame" when I was a little kid."
-snip-
"Shame. Shame, Shame" is probably the rhyme that is also known as "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico".

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4. From: GUEST
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 10:10 PM
"Stay down
Stay down
Stay down, down, down.
Donal duck say hanky pank
Say bull dog, bull dog hanky pank
Say fe fi fo thumb
listen to the bull dog
mickey mouse build house
Donald duck mess up
who will pay the con-se-quen-ces?
and re-spons-ibil-ities?
y-o-u and
you
are
out!"

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&page=8
1. From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 11 - 06:13 PM
"down by the banks of the hanky banks where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank eeps opps moose macidillion mickey mouse built a house donald duck mess it up who shall pay the consequences mouse or duck?

how to play: you say all the words together and at the end whoevers hand is at the others picks mouse or duck. then you spell the work at the last letter of the word you try to slap the others hand and the others hand moves their hand away"

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2. From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 06 May 11 - 12:40 PM
"in Rochester, NY it goes like this

down by the bank of the hanky pank;
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank;
saying E-I-O-U;
yo momma stank and so do you;
so ping pong donkey kong;
martin luther king jr;
mickey mouse bought a house;
donald duck messed it up;
he couldn't pay the rent;
so he got kicked out;
O-U-T;
out"

we would do process of elimination by eliminating whoever got to the letter -T they we would start over the song until we got to the last person

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3. From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 11 - 09:10 PM
"Down by the river front, hanky pank
Bullfrog, bullfrog jumped the bank
Say, fee fi fo fum,
pass it to the next one.

Mickey Mouse built a house,
Donald Duck messed it up,
who will pay the consequences
Y - O - U!"

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&page=9
From: GUEST,Misty
1. Date: 08 Dec 18 - 10:43 AM
"Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank,
Saying eeps, ipes, opes, ops,
Crockadilly and kerrrplop!
Mickey Mouse build a house,
Donald Duck messed it up.
Who will pay the consequences?
Y-o-U!"

When you get to the U if you slap your own hand you are out or if you slap the person's next to you they are out.

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2. From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 03:53 AM
"My friends and I put all this together in fourth grade:

Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky saying fee fi fo fum. i pledge allegiance to the flag that Micheal Jackson is my dad. Coca Cola burned him up. Now we're drinking seven up. Seven up has no caffeine. Now we're talking jelllybeans. Jellybeans are out of sight. Now we're talking dynamite. Dynamite blew up the school. Now we're talking really cool. Mickey mouse built a house. Donald duck messed it up. Who will pay for all the damage? Y O U spells you. Tarzan the monkey man swinging from a rubber band. Fell down broke his crown. What color was his blood?"

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3. From: GUEST,Columbus, Ohio
Date: 29 Apr 21 - 10:07 AM
"Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
Where the bullfrogs leap from bank to banky
With a, fee fi fo fum,
pass it to the next one.

Mickey Mouse built a house,
Donald Duck messed it up,
who will pay the consequences
Y - O - U!"

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4. From: GUEST,A southern girl
Date: 14 May 21 - 04:55 AM
"I grew up in Memphis and this is how I personally heard the song for the game goes:

Down by the river of hanky Panky
Bullfrog jumps from bank to bank he
Says "ooh! Ah! Skittle skat! Big fat dirty rat!"

I pledge allegiance to the flag, Michael Jackson is so bad
Coca-cola burnin' up, now it's time for seven up
Seven up has no caffeine, now it's time for billy Jean
Billy Jean went out of town riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his head and called it macaroni

Mickey Mouse had a house
Donald Duck messed it up
Who will pay the con-se-quenc-es
Y-O-U

And the person who's hand gets hit on the last U is the "loser" and is removed from the circle and we keep going with the game"
-snip-
This is an example of directions for a "hand slap" game in contrast with a (usually) partner hand clap game/routine.  

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5. From: GUEST,yui
Date: 16 May 21 - 08:54 AM
"I heard at camp

Down by the bank with a hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
say E I O U
Listen to the words song (probably misheard)
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Michael Jackson is my dad
Pepsi cola burned him up
now he's drinking gasoline
gasoline is meant for cars
Now he's shootin up to mars
there's a place on Mars
where the women smoke cigars
and the men wear bikinis
and the babies drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
you put mustard in its eyes
when the mustard dries
It is 1948
Mickey mouse builds a house
Donald trump messes up
Mirror mirror on the wall
Who the fairest of them all
Y O U"

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Source #2
From https://www.menewsha.com/forum/community-center/general-discussion/83486-chants-clapping-games-jump-rope-rhymes.html
Somercy,  01-16-2008, 08:23 PM
"one two three four five six seven eight nine ten; Micky Mouse built a house, Donald Duck messed it up; who will pay the consequences, mouse or duck (that player then chooses one, and the word mouse or duck is spelled out. Last person's hand slapped is out)"

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Source #3
From https://just-hopeless-enough.tumblr.com/post/66727430588/my-childhood
"my childhood

down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
say fee fi fo fum pass it to the last one
mickey mouse built a house
donald duck messed it up
who will pay the consequences
y-o-u spells YOU ARE OUT

# ALL THE KIDS WOULD PLAY THIS AT RECESS # IT WAS THE BOMB
-snip-
Hi im Kelsey. Chicago suburbs. I like bands and sleeping. Fall Out Boy is my heart and soul. Ya. [no publishing date given.]

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Source #4
From https://schoolyardplay.net/down-by-the-banks-of-the-hanky-panky/ Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky
SCHOOLYARDPLAY AUGUST 9, 2010; submitted by Cas from Rockville, MD
"Down by the banks of the hanky-panky,
where the bullfrogs jumped from plank to plank,
sayin eeps ipes ohps ops,
listen to the ker-plop
I pledge allegiance to the flag,
Micheal Jackson sings so bad,
Pepsi cola burns his butt,
now he’s drinking Seven Up,
seven up has no caffeine,
now he’s drinking gasoline,
gasoline is made for cars,
now he’s shooting up to mars,
there’s a place on mars
where the boys wear bikinis
and the girls drink martinis,
every step you take,
it’s enough to kill a snake,
when the snake is dead
you put mustard on his head,
when the mustard dries
you put rubies in his eyes,
when the rubies break in 1948, FREEZE,
Mirror mirror on the wall,
who’s the fairest of them all,
Mickey Mouse built a house,
Donald Duck messed it up,
who will pay the consequences?
Y-O-U"

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Source #5
From http://www.inthe00s.com/archive/inthe80s/smf/1109960765.shtml
Subject: Re: Those clapping songs
Written By: the11yearoldknowz on 07/17/09 at 4:28 pm
"nowadyz the song goes.. down in the valley hanky panky bullfrong jump frog hanky panky ooh ah skit skat big fat dirty rat

i pledge alliegance to the flag michael jackson is a fag(r.i.p.)coca cola burned him up now its time for seven up mickey mouse had a house donald duck messed it up who will pay the consequences y-o-U!(whoever you is is out)"

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Source #6
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-NKrzvqz_I&t=3s
1. Fish Legs, 2021
"We do “down by the banks with the hanky pankys, where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank saying fe fi fo fum, Mickey Mouse had a house, Donald Duck blew it up, who shall pay the consequences, Y-O-U”

And on the “U” you would have to pull away and if u did it fast enough you were still in the game. The last two people left in the game makes it confusing so I won’t explain how we do that but we did this game today at our recess"
-snip-
This is another example of directions for a group "hand slap game"

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2. sierra johnson, 2021
"we had “ sit down sit down sit down down down down down bulldog bulldog hanky pank say bulldog bulldog hanky pank say fe fi fo fum listen to the bulldog mickey mouse built a house donald duck messed it up , who will pay the consequences Y O U spells you are out of this entire game “ ours was fast & im from chicago😭 ."

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Source #7
From http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/down-by-banks-of-hanky-panky-video.html [comment] hpuppiesz636, October 29, 2018 at 7:56 AM
"This is how I learned it:

Down by the river of the hanky banks
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
sayin' fee, fi, foe, fum,
Miso miso ding dang dong
I pledge allegiance to the flag ,
Micheal Jackson is my dad
cokacola burns his butt,
now were talkin 7 up
7 up has no caffeine
now were talkin billy jean
billy jean is out of sight,
now were talkin dynamite,
downright blew up the school,
now were talkin really cool
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Micky mouse built a house, donold duck messed it up,
Who will pay the consequences?
Y-O-U spells you"

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Update: October 27, 2023
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034&messages=467
[This is another link to the mudcat post on "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that is given earlier in this post.]

Subject: RE: Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 23

all of you are wrong.the right version is
down by the banks of the hanky panky
where the bull frog jumps from bank to bank
with n eeps ops soda pop hey
smackadoodle and he went kerplop
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Justin Beiber makes me mad
pepsi cola burnt his butt
now he's drinking 7-up
7-up has no caffine
now he's drinking gasoline
gasoline is made for cars
now he's shooting up to mars
there's a place on mars where babies smoke cigars
mean wear bakinies and women drink martinis
every step you take is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead you put mustard on his head
when the mustard dries you put diamonds in his eyes
when diamonds break it is 1968
mirror mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all
mickey mouse build a house
donald duck broke it down
who will face the consequences?
Y-O-U 

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UPDATE January 5, 2024

https://www.eightieskids.com/10-playground-rhymes-probably-used-school/ "10 Naughty Playground Rhymes You Probably Used In School"

Mickey Mouse, in his house, pulling down his trousers,
Quick Mum, smack his bum, O. U. T. spells OUT!

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