Schnappi was a one-time character in a popular animated German children's TV show called Die Sendung mit der Maus. In the episode in which Schnappi appears, Schnappi is seen singing a song about life in Egypt using simple language in German. Joy Gruttmann is the niece of composer Iris Gruttmann, and has since 1999 sung children's songs for ARD's children's broadcast Die Sendung mit der Maus. In February 2001, when she was five years old, she sang her fifth song, Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil, which in 2004 and 2005 ended up at the top of the charts in a number of countries, after first becoming popular through the internet.
Commercial success
In 2004 Schnappi became popular on the Internet. Radio stationRauteMusik began playing Schnappi, which led to a single release of "Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil" in December 2004. The single reached number one on Germany's GfK Entertainment Chart on January 3, 2005, staying at the top for 10 weeks. The song was then released worldwide and peaked at number one in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland in early 2005. It was translated into a French version titled "Crocky le petit crocodile", a Lithuanian version called "Šnapis mažas klokodilas", and a Japanese version entitled "Togetogeshi, chiisai wani". Belgian techno group Dynamite released a cover version that charted at number three in Belgium while the original version was still topping the chart. In April, the song began to experience success in Australasia. It made its first chart appearance on New Zealand'sRecorded Music NZ chart at number 32 on April 25. The next week, it jumped to number three before reaching number two for the first time on its third week in. Between May 9 and July 18, the single fluctuated around the top 10, eventually spending five non-consecutive weeks at number two, denied the top position by Savage's "Moonshine", The Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk with My Heart", and Crazy Frog's version of "Axel F". It remained in the top 10 until September 12. On July 17, the song debuted at number 20 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number six on August 21. A studio album, Schnappi und Seine Freunde was released through Polydor Records in February 2005. It peaked at number five in Finland, number two in Germany, and number one in Austria. A second single, "Ein Lama in Yokohama", was released in April 2005 and became another top ten single in Austria, Germany and Norway. It narrowly missed the top 10 in New Zealand, reaching number 11, and peaked at number 26 in Australia. It became Schnappi's last hit in both countries. In November 2005, "Jing! Jingeling! Der Weihnachtsschnappi!" was released and peaked at number three in Norway, but did not reach the top 10 anywhere else. This would become Schnappi's last hit in Europe. The second and final studio album, Schnappi's Winterfest, was released in December 2005, only charting in Austria and Germany at numbers 43 and 25, respectively.
