Line #64 Main/OrganGrinder


1	[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/SherlockHolmesVersusJackTheRipper https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/organ_grinder17.jpg]]]]
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3	A specific type of StreetPerformer, the Organ Grinder is a StreetMusician who would make a living turning the crank on a small, self-performing UsefulNotes/PipeOrgan (sometimes mistakenly called a hurdy-gurdy), usually with a trained monkey on a leash dancing around--alternatively, the monkey is the one turning the organ, and the human is just there to hold the leash. The monkey will often be a capuchin monkey, as they are easy to train and have been historically associated with organ grinders.
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5	The organ grinder plays a small pneumatic organ by cranking a handle. The organs are typically wheeled. The organ grinder may rent the instrument by the day or week. In the US, there were allegations that the Mafia was involved in renting the instruments. The fairground calliope or circus organ, which is often mounted in merry-go-round rides, is a related type of instrument, as it is also a mechanical pneumatic organ. However, the fairground organ is larger and is typically mounted permanently on a ride, and uses steam or an electric motor.
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7	More or less a DeadHorseTrope these days, but expect them to pop up in PeriodPiece stories set in the 19th and early 20th century. Fictional depictions may show the organ grinder being a lookout or they may even have a weapon hidden in the instrument.
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9	During their heyday in the 1800s, they were not well-liked by authorities, who viewed organ grinders as lower-class, disreputable types. They were banned in some cities, because of complaints about the excessive noise they make, concerns about sidewalk congestion, and regulations against street performers requesting tips (some UK ordinances considered it a form of begging and a public nuisance). As well, music publishers sought to deal with organ grinders' copyright violations, as some of the musicians performed popular songs without paying royalties to the music publisher.
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11	See also OneManBand. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] MeatgrinderSurgery or anything of the sort.
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13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
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18	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19	* Drocell Keinz in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/BlackButler'' was first introduced carrying an organ grinder which played [[IronicNurseryRhyme My Fair Lady]].
20	* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' gave us Edel. Her organ grinder was also a portable jewelry display case since she sold the trinkets.
21	[[/folder]]
22
23	[[folder:Film]]
24	* Creator/BusterKeaton films:
25	** In ''Film/TheCameraman'', Buster is in hot pursuit of a story to film when he crashes right into an organ grinder and his monkey. The monkey appears to be dead, so Buster has to pay the organ grinder. The monkey is only stunned, however, and soon wakes up to make more complications for Buster.
26	** ''Film/GoWest'' has an amazingly racist gag in which Buster encounters an organ grinder playing, not for a monkey, but for a black man who is dancing in the street.
27	* In ''Film/{{M}}'', an organ player is among the beggars tasked with keeping their eyes out for the murderer.
28	* The first shot of ''Film/ScarletStreet'' shows an organ grinder and his monkey performing on a sidewalk. This is either {{Foreshadowing}} of or symbolism for how the milquetoast protagonist is controlled and manipulated by his FemmeFatale lover.
29	* In ''Film/{{Scarface\|1932}}'', there's one outside that amuses Cesca.
30	* In Soviet propaganda film ''Film/{{Strike}}'', an organ grinder with a dancing bear appears. He is actually a spy sent by management to spy on the striking workers.
31	* In ''Film/ThePoorLittleRichGirl'', the titular LonelyRichKid hears an organ grinder (without a monkey) and pays him to come into her house.
32	* In ''Film/MightyJoeYoung'' (1949), the titular giant gorilla Joe is involved in a humiliating performance playing an organ grinder's monkey with Jill, acting as a little girl, turning the handle.
33	* In ''Film/LaScoumoune'' (1972), there's Migli, the recurring mustachioed supporting character who's sometimes seen [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage playing the film's theme]] (composed by François de Roubaix) on his portable barrel organ. He was played by Mexican actor Creator/EnriqueLucero.
34	* In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', the Penguin's circus gang has an evil organ grinder (complete with monkey) amongst their ranks, and he is seemingly TheDragon. His organ contains a hand-cranked ''gatling gun'', and in the Super Nintendo game based on the movie, he fires bullets at Batman and then just tries to hit Batman with the organ when he gets too close.
35	* Tia Dalma uses an organ grinder as a signal to some of the ''Black Pearl'' pirates in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd''. For bonus points, Barbossa's monkey was hanging out with her while she had it. And then it turns out the organ grinder had a [[StuffBlowingUp bomb]] stuffed in it.
36	* One can be seen on the street in one scene of the Mexican film ''Film/SantaClaus1959''. He's easy to miss, unless you're watching the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' version:
37	-->'''Crow:''' ''[[{{BerserkButton}} WOULD YOU SHUT THE BLOODY ORGAN GRINDER UP?!]]''
38	* In the Shirley Temple version of ''Literature/{{Heidi}}'', an organ grinder's monkey makes its way to the window of the Sesemann's mansion on a cold snowy day; HilarityEnsues when Heidi is moved by both her compassion and the monkey's politeness to let it inside.
39	* ''Film/SheDoneHimWrong'' uses one to help establish TheGayNineties setting.
40	* ''Film/{{Dillinger\|1945}}'': An organ grinder is seen on the street as Dillinger and Helen make their fatal trip to the Biograph Theater.
41	* ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'': Inspector Clouseau accosts a "blind" street musician with an accordion and a monkey for not having a busking license, distracting him from the bank robbery going on in the background (the musician was the robbers' lookout).
42	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Vivo}}'' has Andrés, a street performer skilled with many instruments, one of which is an organ that doubles as a house for his partner Vivo[[note]]who looks like a monkey but is actually a kinkajou[[/note]].
43	[[/folder]]
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45	[[folder:Jokes]]
46	* There's an old, old joke where one character is cooking a chicken on a spit, and a second character (usually TheDitz or TheStoner, depending on the era) stops to watch. After a few minutes, he speaks up: "Hey, man, I hate to tell you this... but your music stopped and your monkey's on fire."
47	[[/folder]]
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49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	* In Margaret Sidney's ''Five Little Peppers and How They Grew'' an organ grinder stops at their house to perform for them. The littlest Pepper, Phronsie, follows him when he leaves and the other children have to chase after them.
51	* ''Literature/TheThinkingMachine'': In "The Problem of the Organ Grinder", Van Dusen investigates when an organ grinder's monkey is stabbed to death while Hatch is held at knifepoint. The organ grinder is later found beaten into unconsciousness in an alleyway.
52	* ''Literature/YearsOfGrace'': As war looms in April 1898 and Jane worries about Stephen enlisting, she hears an organ grinder and his monkey and momentarily cheers up. To Jane, organ grinders are a symbol of the coming of spring.
53	[[/folder]]
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55	[[folder:Music]]
56	* ''Eden Weint Im Grab'''s ''Moritat des Leierkastenmanns'' (''Murder ballad of the Organ Grinder'') feartures one as first person narrator.
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Video Games]]
60	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' features the recurring character Guru Guru, a music man most known for his ''very'' unique organ grinder instrument, his love of going around and around and around, and his HairTriggerTemper.
61	** He first appears unnamed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' as a musician in a windmill. He's happy in the present, but ''furious'' in the future because "seven years ago some mean kid played a weird song that messed up the windmill". He then proceeds to teach it to you if you brandish your ocarina, [[StableTimeLoop allowing you to go back in time and be that same mean kid]]. This gains you access to the Bottom Of The Well.
62	** He gets named in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' where he is the music man of Gorman's Troupe. You can find him sitting by the Laundry Pool at night, where he'll tell you about his days in an animal-only troupe where his [[TheResenter envy of the leader]] drove him to steal said leader's mask. He gives it to you as thanks for hearing his confession.
63	** He also makes a brief cameo appearance in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons]]'' as one brief part of the ChainOfDeals to get the [[InfinityMinusOneSword Noble Sword]]: he wants some oil to make his windmill go faster, and will give you his Phonograph in exchange for some Engine Grease.
64	** Unrelated to this gentleman is the Hurdy-Gurdy Man from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap''. He's the one who introduces you to Kinstone fusing and gives you the Kinstone Bag. [[ScrappyMechanic Gee, thanks...]]
65	* Brother Triumphator from ''{{VideoGame/Turgor}}'' is a giant humanoid mounted inside a barrel organ. In the battle with him, he keeps turning the crank of his organ to play his own BattleThemeMusic, occasionally stopping to teleport away from the beating.
66	* The organ grinder is one of the most nefarious enemies in the old text-adventure game ''Beyond Zork.''
67	* ''{{VideoGame/Dishonored}}'' has the Overseer Music Boxes, organ grinders worn by the [[ChurchMilitant foot soldiers]] of the Abby of the Everyman. The music boxes [[AntiMagic negate the magic]] of the [[HumanoidAbomination Outsider]] by creating "mathematically pure notes" and can attack with waves of sound.
68	* An organ grinder and his monkey are minor characters in ''Labyrinths of the World 2: Forbidden Muse''.
69	* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2'': Guybrush steals a piano-playing monkey in order to [[spoiler:have it help operate a water-pump]].
70	[[/folder]]
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72	[[folder:Western Animation]]
73	* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'': There is a slightly recurring organ grinder character with a monkey has since decomposed into a skeleton, and the machine is literally grinding organs into powder. (It's uncertain as to whether the machine is grinding the musical instrument or body parts.)
74	* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': The ''Dial M fore Monkey'' short "Organ Grindor" features the titular villain, a hypnotic organ grinder.
75	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'': In ''WesternAnimation/DixielandDroopy'', Droopy practices being a jazz band conductor to a record, but after he's kicked out of his home, he looks for other places to play the record, and one of them is an organ grinder's organ.
76	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Monkey Business", Helga gets bit by an organ grinder's monkey, causing her to believe she contracted a deadly disease.
77	* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': In the short "Mickey's Mistake", Mickey Mouse disguises himself as a organ grinder with Pluto as his monkey named Saturn.
78	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In ''The Hurdy-Gurdy Hare'', WesternAnimation/BugsBunny becomes a grinder and takes over the monkey's job after he catches him pocketing the profits.
79	* ''WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit'': In ''Hungry Hobos'', Oswald and Pete try to hide from a policeman by disguising themselves as a monkey and grinder, respectively; Pete builds an impromptu hurdy-gurdy by hiding a cat, dog and pig in a box and [[EverythingIsAnInstrument cranking a car's motor inside to beat them and create noise]].
80	* An organ grinder appears in the "Rhapsody In Blue" segment of ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000''.
81	* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': In ''The Organ Grinder's Swing'', Wimpy is an organ grinder with a monkey; Popeye enjoys his music, while Bluto hates it, leading to a brawl to decide whether he stays or goes. Bluto eventually stomps the machine down to splinters, but one spinach-powered pounding later, he is smashed into a piano and Popeye cranks his arm so that he rotates and creates music.
82	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OrganGrinder