History Main / MusicalChores

* The first song in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' is all about cleaning the cottage.

* "A Spoonful of Sugar" from ''Film/MaryPoppins''.

* "Happy Workers", from ''Film/{{Toys}}''.

* "Scrubbing Day" from ''The New Adventures of Literature/PippiLongstocking''.

* The classic Creator/MorecambeAndWise [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q1bJHr8t1xA Breakfast Sketch]].

* Although not (yet) appearing in a musical or film, "Sweatshop" by Music/DeStaat is obviously some kind of send-up of this trope.

** "The Song of the Volga Boatman"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}}'' opens with the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TXc2JbCjmw Frozen Heart]]", which a band of ice merchants sing as they harvest ice blocks. The lyrics also provide a fair amount of {{Foreshadowing}}.

JustForPun and ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Doing work to the tune of music. [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney musicals]] love this one: "[[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Whistle While You Work]]" practically defines it. Could go all the way back to using drums to synchronize rowers in galleys, depending on your definition of music.

* In ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'', while tending to [[CoolHorse Mitternacht]] the day following her arrival to [[Disney/TheBlackCauldron the Horned King's]] castle, [[PluckyGirl Avalina]] sings a slightly altered version of [[http://music.sjtucker.com/track/ravens-in-the-library S.J. Tucker's "Ravens in the Library"]].

* "The Work Song" in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' is actually sung by the mice and not Cinderella herself, while the make her first party dress (the one that is later destroyed). Cinderella did sing a song while she worked ("Sing Sweet Nightingale") but it wasn't about work - she was just singing along while her ugly sisters got a music lesson upstairs and did a much better job of it whilst cleaning the floor. "The Work Song" had an earlier version which was to be sung by Cinderella but it was reworked into the mouse version.
* ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' features "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P75mur1xF7U The Song of the Roustabouts]]", sung by the circus workers as they (and the elephants) unpack Casey Jr. and raise the Big Top in the night.
* ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' opens with the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TXc2JbCjmw Frozen Heart]]", which a band of ice merchants sing as they harvest ice blocks. The lyrics also provide a fair amount of {{Foreshadowing}}.
* ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'': The Good Fairies do some chanting and singing while using their magic to set up for Briar Rose's birthday party. The whole sequence is set to (instrumental) music which is called "Three Good Fairies Sing a Smiling Song" on the soundtrack. On a different release of the soundtrack, this music is called "Magical House Cleaning - Blue or Pink."

* ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'':

* ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone'': Merlin sings "Higitus Figitus" while packing to move. The song is also a spell, which shrinks all his belongings so they will fit into a single suitcase. An instrumental reprise of the same tune plays when he enchants the castle dishes to wash themselves.
* Rapunzel's first song in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' is "When Will My Life Begin?" which shows Rapunzel going about her day-to-day chores and activities in the tower.

* The ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' ScreenToStageAdaptation and Special Extended Edition have the Enchanted Objects clean the castle during the added "Human Again" musical number.

* In the ''Literature/LlamaLlama'' book ''Llama Llama and Friends'', Llama Llama sings "''It's so much fun having errands to run!'" as he heads out on his scooter to run errands for Mama Llama.

* Given how musical ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' is, this isn't a great surprise. "Clean Up the House" is a full-on song number about Bear and the kids cleaning up the Big Blue House and was even included on one of the show's music albums. "Surprise!", in which Bear sings about cleaning the bathtub, is another example.

TruthInTelevision, though usually with lower production values. See also MickeyMousing.

* "A Spoonful of Sugar" from ''Film/MaryPoppins''
** Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' [[WholePlotReference "Sherry Bobbins"]] episode, with 'Cut Every Corner':
--->''If you cut every corner it is really not so bad;\\
Everybody does it, even Mum and Dad\\
If nobody sees it then nobody gets mad\\
It's the American Way!''
* ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'': The Good Fairies do some chanting and singing while using their magic to set up for Briar Rose's birthday party. The whole sequence is set to (instrumental) music which is called "Three Good Fairies Sing a Smiling Song" on the soundtrack.
** On a different release of the soundtrack, this music is called "Magical House Cleaning - Blue or Pink."
* ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone'': Merlin sings "Higitus Figitus" while packing to move. The song is also a spell, which shrinks all his belongings so they will fit into a single suitcase. An instrumental reprise of the same tune plays when he enchants the castle dishes to wash themselves.
* The first song in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' is all about cleaning the cottage. (Though it's not totally part of this trope since they're simply cleaning the cottage to Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti")

* "Happy Working Song" in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' is a parody of this kind of song.
* "Brazzle Dazzle Day" in ''Film/PetesDragon1977'' isn't about the chore of whitewashing the lighthouse, but that's what they're doing as they start singing, and the dance break of sorts is based around characters breathing on the windows so the other characters can clean them.
* The classic Creator/MorecambeAndWise [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q1bJHr8t1xA Breakfast Sketch]].
* "Whistle While You Work" from ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. Early in the film, Snow White sings "I'm Wishing" while drawing water from the well--what she is wishing for is a lover to take her away from her life of drudgery.

*** The first half of "Heigh Ho" is sung by the dwarves as they work in the mines.
* "Happy Workers", from ''Toys''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'', Alexa and Liana sing as they clean up the damage done to their garden during a storm.
* "The Bitch of Living" from ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' is an angry/angsty song that ''interrupts'' the students' working. "All That's Known" can also qualify.
* "It's the Hard-Knock Life" from ''Theatre/{{Annie}}'' is sung during the orphans' chores...and they are ''not'' happy about it.
* "Scrubbing Day" from ''The New Adventures of Literature/PippiLongstocking''.
* [[strike:"Laundry Day"]] "Freeze Ray" from ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' combines this with an IWantSong, as he encounters his crush, Penny at a laundromat.
* Although not (yet) appearing in a musical or film, "Sweatshop" by Music/DeStaat is obviously some kind of send-up of this trope.
-->I'm packing that meat meat\\
Workin' long hours on the count of the beat beat\\
I'm packin' that meat meat\\
Goin' long hours gonna grow a lotta wheat

* "The Well That Divides Life and Death" from Music/SoundHorizon's ''Märchen'' is based on the FairyTale of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hulda Mother Hulda]]'', and thus spends a good deal of time focusing on the hard-working girl's, well, work.

* The first song of the musical [[Theatre/LesMiserables Les Misérables]] is even called "The Work Song". The setting is Toulon prison, 1815, where the convicts are typically breaking rocks or rowing a galley.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' features a few examples.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp "Winter Wrap-Up"]] has the eponymous song, with an instrumental version of said song playing as the Ponyvillers finally get organized with Twilight Sparkle's help.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion "Apple Family Reunion"]] has the song "Raise This Barn", which Applejack and her family sing as they work together to rebuilt the wrecked barn at Sweet Apple Acres.
** While it's her profession and not housework, Rarity's song "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess Art of the Dress (Stitch by Stitch)]]" is very much as case of this, especially the reprise section as she isn't enjoying it at that point as the other ponies are so demanding, and have a much poorer sense of design.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' has a few examples, much like the main series:
** The number "Time To Come Together (Fix It Up)" has the Humane Six working together with their fellow students to fix up the gym after Sunset Shimmer and her gang tried to frame Twilight for trashing the Fall Formal.
** The Summertime Shorts cartoon "Get the Show On the Road" has the girls fixing up an old bus to use as the Rainboom's tour bus.
* Quite a few African-American spirituals started as work songs. On the white men's side, there are the sea shanties, which are often either inspired by African-American spirituals or songs from [[ValuesDissonance the highly popular blackface musicals of the time]].
** "The Song of the Volga Boatman"
** Pretty much every famous sea shanty ("Blow the Man Down", "Haul Away Joe", "Drunken Sailor", etc.) were sung by workers on old sailing ships as they performed various repetitive group labor, such as weighing the anchor. They were sung to keep everyone in rhythm as well as to liven up what would otherwise be a rather dull, monotonous task.
** Given an sf twist in ''Newton's Wake'' by Creator/KenMacLeod, where the folk duo Winter and Calder sing [[AsteroidMiner asteroid mining]] songs.
* In an episode of ''Series/KungFu'' Caine joins up with an extremely pacifist religous group (basically Mormons with the serial numbers filed off). They don't believe in music, so when Caine starts singing a song to keept the rhythm of some work he's doing they insist he stop.

* ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' opens with the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TXc2JbCjmw Frozen Heart]]", which a band of ice merchants sing as they harvest ice blocks. The lyrics also provide a fair amount of {{Foreshadowing}}.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart Gets an Elephant", which has Marge put on the radio and tell Bart to "work to the music" when doing chores. [[MockingMusic Every song the station plays is about how much work sucks]] (Starting with "Sixteen Tons" and continuing with "Take This Job and Shove It!").
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'': You can collect song-sheets in cities, and the crew of the [[CoolShip Jackdaw]] will sing shanties while you're sailing around. [[ShownTheirWork They are all real songs]], [[AnachronismStew but usually from about a century or so after the game is set]].
* Rapunzel's first song in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' is "When Will My Life Begin?" which shows Rapunzel going about her day-to-day chores and activities in the tower.

* In ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'', while tending to [[CoolHorse Mitternacht]] the day following her arrival to [[Disney/TheBlackCauldron the Horned King's]] castle, [[PluckyGirl Avalina]] sings a slightly altered version of [[http://music.sjtucker.com/track/ravens-in-the-library S.J. Tucker's "Ravens in the Library"]].
* Given how musical ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' is, this isn't a great surprise. "Clean Up the House" is a full-on song number about Bear and the kids cleaning up the Big Blue House and was even included on one of the show's music albums. "Surprise!", in which Bear sings about cleaning the bathtub, is another example.

* The ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' ScreenToStageAdaptation and Special Extended Edition have the Enchanted Objects clean the castle during the added "Human Again" musical number.
* ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' features "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P75mur1xF7U The Song of the Roustabouts]]", sung by the circus workers as they (and the elephants) unpack Casey Jr. and raise the Big Top in the night.
* In the ''Literature/LlamaLlama'' book ''Llama Llama and Friends'', Llama Llama sings "''It's so much fun having errands to run!'" as he heads out on his scooter to run errands for Mama Llama.

-->'''Mom Tiger''': ''Fill up your backpack with some of your favorite things!''
-->'''Daniel''': ''I can do that while I sing, la la la!'' Come on... what should I pack? ... Crayons! ... Tigey! ... Trolley! Ding ding! (''giggles'') Whee! Into my backpack! What about all these instruments? My saxophone, my drum? Nah, too big. And I can't forget my picture for Grandpere! Mom, I'm all packed!

-->''Clean up, pick up, put away / Clean up, every day!''
* Variation: ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'' was originally intended as a musical but had a MidDevelopmentGenreShift; even so, the melody of one of the {{Cut Song}}s, "Making Toys", appears as an instrumental as the elves work on the toys that Claus will deliver on his first Christmas journey as Santa. It would fit the trope perfectly if the lyrics were retained.
* In ''Film/TheMuppets'', when the Muppets start half-heartedly tidying the theatre, Walter has to remind them "You're the Muppets! You do this stuff to ''music''!" Cue "We Built This City".
* According to some of the supplementary material for ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/TheLastJedi'', the Lanai Caretakers on the island that Luke Skywalker has taken refuge on have an intrinsically musical culture. To keep rhythm during their repetitive chores, they perform Lanai-song with a mixture of whistles and guttural oscillations and often use their tools such as wash buckets as impromptu percussion instruments.
* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', Myla, the miner bug near the entrance to Crystal Peak, sings a song about burying various people and relatives, which becomes [[SanitySlippage increasingly deranged as she falls victim to]] TheCorruption. Even after being fully zombified, Dream Nailing her reveals that she's [[AndIMustScream still singing it in her head.]]

* "Racing With The Clock" in ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame''.

* ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame'': "Racing With The Clock" has the factory workers singing about how hard it is to keep up the pace of the production line. HilarityEnsues when they attempt a slow-down strike to the same tune slowed down greatly.

* In ''Tiger Family Trip'' from ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'', Daniel packs for the trip during the "A Tiger Family Trip" song.

* The Smurfs sing an unnamed working song in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfsAndtheMagicFlute'', when they are creating a second flute, by getting wood from cutting down a giant oak tree, which takes two days.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart Gets an Elephant", which has Marge put on the radio and tell Bart to "work to the music" when doing chores. [[YourTelevisionHatesYou Every song the station plays is about how much work sucks]] (Starting with "Sixteen Tons" and continuing with "Take This Job and Shove It!").

JustForPun and ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Doing work to the tune of music. Disney musicals love this one: "Whistle While You Work" practically defines it. Could go all the way back to using drums to synchronize rowers in galleys, depending on your definition of music.

* ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'' opens with the song "Frozen Heart", which a band of ice merchants sing as they harvest ice blocks. The lyrics also provide a fair amount of {{Foreshadowing}}.

* "The Well That Divides Life and Death" from SoundHorizon's ''Märchen'' is based on the FairyTale of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hulda Mother Hulda]]'', and thus spends a good deal of time focusing on the hard-working girl's, well, work.