History Main / PolkaDork

* In ''Film/HomeAlone'', Kevin's mother's desperate journey to get back home to her son--amidst more conventional transportation options being booked full for the holidays--was aided in its last leg (from Scranton, UsefulNotes/{{Pennsylvania}} to Chicago) by [[Creator/JohnCandy Gus Polinsky, "The Polka King of the Midwest"]] and his band, who planned to get back to Milwaukee by rental van. He asked her "You don't mind riding with a bunch of polka bums?" and she indicated she was grateful for the ride. The band played polkas the whole way back to Chicago.

* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'s owner Jon Arbuckle likes polka music and he also plays accordion. He is perennially shown to be about as unhip as someone can be. In one comic, his idea of getting "wild" was shouting "EVERYBODY POLKA!" while putting on an impossibly tacky suit. The series has taken so many [[TakeThat pot shots]] at the accordion that real-life accordion enthusiasts have [[DudeNotFunny actually gotten pissed off]].

* The Reds' driving music in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is a Mexican polka. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZS0WIQI7UU "Polkas y Huapangos" by Los Dos Laredos.]] Given the Reds are the even more inept side in this series whose theme is ArmedFarces, this seems oddly appropriate.

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He probably also plays the accordion. Since the accordion, and polka, are often associated in the US with an aged demographic, it's certainly not going to be cool for a young person there to admit to enjoying them.[[labelnote:***]]Except for Mexican norteño music, which is actually what cool young people listen there.[[/labelnote]]

* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' adventure ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12650047/3/Strandpiel Strandpiel]]'', Assassin Johanna Smith-Rhodes briefly considers mass inhumation when a group of musicians crash the baptismal party for her daughter, armed with accordions, and start playing old [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Vondalaander]] tunes to dance to. But being in a mellow mood, she shrugs and lets them get on with it. [[note]]For the referent in RealLife, see Music, Klipwerf Boerorkes below.[[/note]]

* Music/LawrenceWelk. While wildly popular with the older crowd, his music was considered square and dorky by the younger generation and even by his contemporaries and has often been parodied. (Example: Creator/StanFreberg's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArUCLh8pdkE Wun'erful, Wun'erful!]]")

** Yet another aversion: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZD8dA678ss French Letter]]" by UsefulNotes/NewZealand reggae band Herbs, which deliberately featured an accordion to underline the [[ProtestSong song's message]] about [[UsefulNotes/TheUltimateResistance French nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean]] during the early 1980s.
* The Klipwerf Boerorkes, very popular in UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica, are a group of musicians, average age about fifty, who play instrumental versions of Afrikaner music, and whose act inescapably involves a lot of polka music. Sometimes they achieve the double by [[AccordionMan playing it on accordions]]. What can stop it from being unbearably cheesy is that the best of it carries a sort of infectious joy. Try [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MV4sVWoTmA this]].

* {{Steampunk}} parodist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronique_Chevalier Veronique Chevalier]], who had a minor hit on the Creator/DrDemento show with "[[http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/1504463 The Beer Hall in Hell]]" off her album, [[http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/veroniquechevalier "Polka Haunt Us"]] (although she doesn't play the accordion herself).

* The Reds' driving music in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is a Mexican polka ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZS0WIQI7UU "Polkas y Huapangos" by Los Dos Laredos]]). Given the Reds are the even more inept side in this series whose theme is ArmedFarces, this seems oddly appropriate.

* The second ''California Raisins'' animated special combines this with DiscoDan. The Raisins are trying to make a comeback and enlist the help of a devious manager, who among other things convinces them that Disco Polka is "the hottest new craze". The result? "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XUWuZ61M0c Stand up everybody, it's the Disco Polka Man!]]"

* During the Continuation War of 1941-44, [[UsefulNotes/FinnsWithFearsomeForests the Finnish army]], already respected and feared by the Russians, added an extra-dangerous weapon to the armoury. In the fighting around Viipuri, a Finnish city captured and annexed by Russia in the Winter War of 1939-40 and recaptured by the Finns in 1941, the Russians attempted to defend the area with experimental radio-controlled mines. The Finns realised the radio frequencies controlling the weapons could be scrambled by counter-broadcasting. They chose to play a polka tune, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H37bcRw8gxo Säkkijärven Polkka]]'', on an eternally repeating loop. For six months straight. The effect this had on the Red Army is not recorded.

* In ''Film/HomeAlone'', Kevin's mother's desperate journey to get back home to her son--amidst more conventional transportation options being booked full for the holidays--was aided in its last leg (from Scranton, UsefulNotes/Pennsylvania to Chicago) by [[Creator/JohnCandy Gus Polinsky, "The Polka King of the Midwest"]] and his band, who planned to get back to Milwaukee by rental van. He asked her "You don't mind riding with a bunch of polka bums?" and she indicated she was grateful for the ride. The band played polkas the whole way back to Chicago.

* In ''Film/HomeAlone'', Kevin's mother's desperate journey to get back home to her son--amidst more conventional transportation options being booked full for the holidays--was aided in its last leg by [[Creator/JohnCandy "The Polka King of the Midwest"]] and his band's touring van. He asked her "You don't mind riding with a bunch of polka bums?" and she indicated she was grateful for the ride. The band played polkas the whole way back to Chicago.

Note: In recent years, especially with the popularity of Music/WeirdAlYankovic, who made this part of his comedic persona, and Mexican norteño music, as well as the advent of {{Steampunk}}, there has been somewhat of a reversal of this trend (even Creator/ChristinaHendricks proudly plays the accordion!) and it borders somewhat on the verge of becoming a DeadHorseTrope.

* In ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam'': Air Force DJ Adrian Cronauer's nemesis, Lt. Hauk, firmly believes US' soldiers' morale will be boosted by three hours of polka music in the mornings... when Cronauer is taken off the air, GI's are dismayed by his uber-square replacement, and morale duly plummets.

* Air Force DJ Adrian Cronauer's nemesis in ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam'' firmly believes US' soldiers' morale will be boosted by three hours of polka music in the mornings... when Cronauer is taken off the air, GI's are dismayed by his uber-square replacement, and morale duly plummets.

'''Gus Polinski:'''Yeah. Yeah, we... some fairly big hits for us.

** Pinkie Pie. She carries a huge one-man band around on her back and the Cheese Sandwich episode points out how similar her and Cheese are.

He probably also plays the accordion. Since the accordion, and polka, are often associated with an aged demographic, it's certainly not going to be cool for a young person to admit to enjoying them.[[labelnote:***]]Except for Mexican banda, which is actually what cool young people listen there.[[/labelnote]]

Note: In recent years, especially with the popularity of Music/WeirdAlYankovic, who made this part of his comedic persona, and Mexican banda music, as well as the advent of {{Steampunk}}, there has been somewhat of a reversal of this trend (even Creator/ChristinaHendricks proudly plays the accordion!) and it borders somewhat on the verge of becoming a DeadHorseTrope.

* Downplayed in ''Film/ThePolkaKing'': Jan Lewan is obviously called this by [[ObnoxiousInLaws his domineering mother-in-law]], but he's respected and even considered a celebrity by the other people in town, with a steady influx of requests to play polka at parties and selling his music. This stands out in very stark (and tragic) contrast to his attempts to live beyond his financial capacity and [[UsefulNotes/{{Ponzi}} the stupid thing he does to fund it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': One episode describes Jon as one. Garfield considers the accordion as the world's second worst instrument.[[note]]He considers [[EverythingsNoiserWithBagpipes bagpipes]] worse.[[/note]] The episode also features a garbageman saying he took that job because it brings more respect than playing an accordion.

** In one episode, Slappy Squirrel's quiet meadow is colonized by the Woodstock hippies. Slappy takes the stage armed with an accordion and announces into the mike: "Okay, everybody polka!" Not even ChirpingCrickets remain to listen.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': One episode describes Jon as one. Garfield considers the accordion as the world's second worst instrument.[[note]]He considers bagpipes worse.[[/note]] The episode also features a garbageman saying he took that job because it brings more respect than playing an accordion.

* During the Continuation War of 1941-44, [[FinnsWithFearsomeForests the Finnish army]], already respected and feared by the Russians, added an extra-dangerous weapon to the armoury. In the fighting around Viipuri, a Finnish city captured and annexed by Russia in the Winter War of 1939-40 and recaptured by the Finns in 1941, the Russians attempted to defend the area with experimental radio-controlled mines. The Finns realised the radio frequencies controlling the weapons could be scrambled by counter-broadcasting. They chose to play a polka tune, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H37bcRw8gxo Säkkijärven Polkka]]'', on an eternally repeating loop. For six months straight. The effect this had on the Red Army is not recorded.

Not to be confused with an AccordionMan. Compare to QuirkyUkulele. Contrast with FrenchAccordion.

Not to be confused with an AccordionMan. Compare to QuirkyUkulele.

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* Not surprisingly, polka is a favorite of Poland from ''Anime/AxisPowersHetalia''. [[SurferDude Like, totally.]]

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* Used as a gag by Music/WeirdAlYankovic, who does polka versions of popular music. He plays the accordion.

* Several early ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strips have Schroeder cringing at the popularity of polka music among less sophisticated listeners. Despite being a virtuoso classical pianist before being old enough to go to kindergarten, he even lost a talent content to a guy who "played the accordion real fast."

Note: In recent years, especially with the popularity of Music/WeirdAlYankovic and Mexican banda music, as well as the advent of {{Steampunk}}, there has been somewhat of a reversal of this trend (even Creator/ChristinaHendricks proudly plays the accordion!) and it borders somewhat on the verge of becoming a DeadHorseTrope.