"Sobre las Olas" (Spanish for "Over the Waves") is an instrumental song featured in the 1964 Disney live-action feature film, Mary Poppins. Originally written in 1888 by Juventino Rosas, the song remains one of the most famous Latin American pieces worldwide and popular as a classic waltz. In the film, Bert (Dick Van Dyke) hums this song while pretending to be a tightrope walker and acting like he is on a unicycle at the circus.
In The Muppet Show episode 110, Harvey Korman performs a circus act with Thog, who dances to the song. The tune also accompanies Fozzie Bear's rollerskating act in episode 215.
Background
In the United States, the song has a cultural association with funfairs and trapeze artists as it was one of the tunes available for Wurlitzer's popular line of fairground organs. The instrumental version of the song is often associated with magicians performing their "magical tricks" and is played in the background, especially in animated cartoons. It is so commonly associated as to be iconic although few people know it by its real name.[1]
References
