History Literature / WhyMosquitoesBuzzInPeoplesEars

* BrickJoke: Iguana inadvertently kicks off the disaster dominoes early on in the story by sticking... well, sticks in his ears. Later, once Python passes the blame off to Iguana, the latter isn't actually at the meeting because he didn't hear the summons because the sticks were still in his ears, so King Lion sends the Antelope to fetch him.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Ever since the events of the story, the mosquito has simply been trying to ''apologize'' - for which she gets the tar beaten out of her every time.
--> '''Mosquito:''' Zeee! Is everyone still angry at me?\\

* KarmicDeath: The mosquito is ordered to be punished for setting off the DisasterDominoes chain (leading to the death of an owlet) at the end of the last animal council meeting. However, the mosquito was listening in on the whole thing, and hides under a bush to avoid punishment. However, later, when she asks the yam farmer if the animals are still angry at her, he crushes her between his hands.

* NeverMyFault: The lion asks the monkey why he killed the owlet, and the monkey blames the crow for cawing and making everyone think the jungle was in danger. The crow blames the rabbit for running and making ''him'' think the jungle was in danger, then the rabbit blames the python for slithering into her house and scaring her, and it goes on and on until the blame finally falls on the mosquito for annoying the iguana and starting the disaster.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Pretty much the whole point of the story. For starters, if the iguana took the sticks out of his ears, he wouldn't have unintentionally snubbed the snake.

In 1984, an [[AnimatedAdaptation animated short film based on the film]] was produced, narrated by Creator/JamesEarlJones.

In 1984, [[AnimatedAdaptation animated short film based on the film]] was produced, narrated by Creator/JamesEarlJones.

One day, a mosquito decides to tell an iguana a lie about a farmer and some yams. Annoyed, the iguana grabs a pair of sticks and shoves them in his ears, then storms off. The iguana passes a python, who greets him, but the iguana doesn't hear him and continues on his way. [[PoorCommunicationKills The snake, convinced that the iguana is plotting against him, slithers into the nearest hole to hide, which (very unfortunately) happens to be a rabbit's burrow. The rabbit runs for her life when she sees the snake coming, which confuses a passing crow into thinking that the forest is in danger. He sounds the alarm to warn the other animals, and a monkey tries to help him by doing the same thing, but accidentally lands on a dead branch on a tree, which breaks under his weight and falls on one of Mother Owl's baby owlets, killing it.]] When Mother Owl comes home, she finds her child dead and goes into mourning, forgetting to wake the sun. King Lion calls all the animals to a meeting, and through a reverse chain of accounts, the mosquito is found guilty.

* InsectGenderBender: Surprisingly, averted. The mosquito who buzzes in people's ears is female.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Pretty much the whole point of the story. For starters, if the iguana took the sticks out of his ears, he would not have snubbed the snake.

* PoorCommunicationKills: For starters, if the iguana took the sticks out of his ears, he would not have snubbed the snake.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: If you're looking for zoological accuracy in a folk tale about bluffing mosquitoes, animals who can cross-communicate verbally with each other, and a lion who doesn't immediately eat any of the council members, you have ''grossly'' misjudged the point of this story.

* NeverMyFault: The lion asks the monkey why he killed the owlet, and the monkey blames the crow for cawing and making everyone think the jungle was in danger. The crow blames the rabbit for running and making ''him'' think the jungle was in danger, then the rabbit blames the snake for slithering into her house and scaring her, and it goes on and on until the blame finally falls on the mosquito for annoying the iguana and starting the disaster.

A 1975 classic children's picture book and African folktale by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. It won the Caldecott Award in 1976.

One day, a mosquito decides to annoy an iguana by telling him a lie about a farmer and some yams. Annoyed, the iguana grabs a pair of sticks and shoves them in his ears. The iguana passes a python, who greets him, but the iguana doesn't hear him and walks away. [[PoorCommunicationKills The snake, convinced that the iguana is plotting against him, slithers into the nearest hole to hide, which (very unfortunately) happens to be a rabbit's burrow. The rabbit runs for her life when she sees the snake coming, which confuses a passing crow into thinking that the forest is in danger. He sounds the alarm to warn the other animals, and a monkey tries to help him by doing the same thing, but accidentally lands on a dead branch on a tree, which breaks under his weight and falls on one of Mother Owl's baby owlets, killing it.]] When Mother Owl comes home, she finds her child dead and goes into mourning, forgetting to wake the sun. The lion (the king of the animals) calls all the animals to a meeting, and through a reverse chain of accounts, the mosquito is found guilty.

An animated short film adaptation was produced in 1984, and narrated by Creator/JamesEarlJones.

One day, a mosquito decides to annoy an iguana by telling him a lie about a farmer and some yams. Annoyed, the iguana grabs a pair of sticks and shoves them in his ears. The iguana passes a python, who greets him, but the iguana doesn't hear him and walks away. [[PoorCommunicationKills The snake, convinced that the iguana is plotting against him, slithers into the nearest hole to hide, which (very unfortunately) happens to be a rabbit's burrow. The rabbit runs for her life when she sees the snake coming, which confuses a passing crow into thinking that the forest is in danger. He sounds the alarm to warn the other animals, and a monkey tries to help him by doing the same thing, but accidentally lands on a dead branch on a tree, which breaks under his weight and falls on one of Mother Owl's baby owlets, killing it.]] When Mother Owl comes home, she finds her child dead and goes into mourning, forgetting to wake the sun. The lion (the king of the animals) calls all the animals to a meeting, and through a reverse chain of accounts, the mosquito is found guilty. To this day, she hides under leaves and whines in people's ears: "Zeee! Is everyone still angry at me?"

* BrickJoke: Iguana inadvertently kicks off the disaster dominoes early on in the story by sticking... well, sticks in his ears. Later, once Python passes the blame off to Iguana, the latter isn't actually at the meeting because he didn't hear the summons because the sticks were still in his ears, so King Lion sends his servant, the Antelope, to fetch him.

'''Narrator:''' And when she says that, she gets an honest answer.\\

'''KPOW!'''

The plot is simple: one day, a mosquito decides to annoy an iguana by telling him a lie about a farmer and some yams. Annoyed, the iguana grabs a pair of sticks and shoves them in his ears. The iguana passes the snake, who greets him, but the iguana doesn't hear him and walks away. [[PoorCommunicationKills The snake, convinced that the iguana is plotting against him, slithers into the nearest hole to hide, which (very unfortunately) happens to be a rabbit burrow. The rabbit that lives in the burrow runs for her life when she sees the snake coming, which confuses a passing crow into thinking that the forest is in danger. He calls the alarm to warn the other animals, and a monkey tries to help him by doing the same thing, but accidentally breaks off a dead branch on a tree, which falls on one of Mother Owl's baby owlets, killing it.]] When Mother Owl comes home, she finds her child dead and goes into mourning, forgetting to wake the sun. The animals' king, a lion, calls all the animals to a meeting, and through a reverse chain of accounts, the mosquito is found guilty. To this day, she hides under leaves and whines in people's ears: "Zeee! Is everyone still angry at me?"

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Again, inverted. See AccidentalMurder above.