History Main / OrganGrinder

* 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.

* In ''Film/BatmanReturns'' the Penguin's circus gang had an evil organ grinder (complete with monkey) amongst their ranks, and he was seemingly TheDragon. His organ contained 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. His very presence was also kind of a stretch, since organ grinders are usually thought of as stand-alone street entertainers rather than members of circus troupes.

* In ''Film/BatmanReturns'' the Penguin's circus gang had an evil organ grinder amongst their ranks, and he was apparently very high in command. His organ contained 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. His very presence was also kind of a stretch, since organ grinders are usually thought of as stand-alone street entertainers rather than members of circus troupes.
* Tia Dalma uses an organ grinder as a signal to some of the ''Black Pearl'' pirates in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd''.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', Link learns the Song of Storms from such a guy.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', the Organ Grinder is part of a subquest to gain one of the masks.
** The Organ Guy makes a cameo in one or both of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames''.

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 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 or platform.

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.

They've been banned in some cities, both 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). 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.

More or less a DeadHorseTrope these days, but expect them to pop up in PeriodPiece stories set in the 19th and early 20th century.

They've been banned in some cities, both because of complaints about the excessive noise they make and because of copyright violations by some of the musicians.

A specific type of StreetPerformer, the Organ Grinder is a StreetMusician who would make a living turning the crank on a small, self-performing 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.

A specific type of StreetPerformer, the Organ Grinder is a StreetMusician who would make a living turning the crank on a self-performing organ (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 capuchin monkeys are often considered to be fairly easy to train and have been historically associated with organ grinders.

More or less a DeadHorseTrope these days, but expect them to pop up in stories set in the 19th and early 20th century. (They've actually been banned in quite a few cities, both because of complaints about the excessive noise they make and because of copyright violations by some of the musicians.)

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In ''The Hurdy-Gurdy Hare'', WesternAnimation/BugsBunny becomes a grinder and takes over the monkey's job after he catches the him pocketing the profits.

A specific type of StreetPerformer, the Organ Grinder is a StreetMusician who would make a living turning the crank on a self-performing organ (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.

* 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 Enrique Lucero.

* In ''Film/LaScoumoune'' (1972), there's Migli, the recurring 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 Enrique Lucero.

* In ''Film/LaScoumoune'' (1972), there's Migli, the recurring supporting character who's sometimes seen [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage playing the film's theme]] on a portable barrel organ (composed by François de Roubaix). He was played by Mexican actor Enrique Lucero.

* In ''Film/LaScoumoune'' (1972), there's Migli, the recurring supporting character who's sometimes seen [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage playing the film's theme]] on a barrel organ (composed by François de Roubaix). He was played by Mexican actor Enrique Lucero.

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'': In ''Dixieland Droopy'', 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.