Initially known for political and social
satire, JibJab produced commercials and shorts for clients such as
Sony,
Noggin,
Cartoon Network,
Nickelodeon,
PBS Kids,
Sprout,
NBC,
Qubo, and
Disney.
Political satire "Cooking With Clinton" One of JibJab's first animations "Cooking With Clinton" is about then-president
Bill Clinton trying to show the viewers how to bake
weed brownies while being high and repeatedly asking
Hillary for a glass of water., which featured an animated rap battle between
George W. Bush and
Al Gore while using the beat of
"Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio.
Bill Clinton and
George H. W. Bush also make appearances. This cartoon aired on
Mad TV on November 4, 2000.
"Rumple!" In 2001, JibJab released a series of Flash movies featuring then-President
George W. Bush and his 3-inch tall "imaginary" friend named
Rumple facing challenges and solving them while singing catchy tunes. • '''
Russian Bully:'
Rumple'' tries to solve Bush's problem with Russian President
Vladimir Putin after he mocks Bush while on a phone call and gets notified that he will have to meet him at a Russian Summit meeting. • '''
Funny Foreign Names:'
Rumple'' tries to solve Bush's problem of not pronouncing the names of world leaders correctly, after having a press conference with then-Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo and having a problem while pronouncing his name. • '''
Domestic Crisis:'
Rumple'' tries to solve Bush's problem after he made the mistake of making ethnic cleansings in Alabama, causing mass riots across the state.
"Ahnuld for Governor" In 2003, JibJab produced a Flash movie poking fun at
Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for
Governor of
California. It depicts Schwarzenegger giving a campaign speech to "
terminate Gray Davis" as well as going over how he will handle the state if elected.
"This Land" For the
2004 United States presidential election, JibJab created a Flash movie entitled "This Land", released on July 9, 2004, which featured animated versions of
George W. Bush and
John Kerry – voiced by comedian
Jim Meskimen – singing a
parody of
Woody Guthrie's song "
This Land Is Your Land". The video was an instant success, eventually being viewed all over the world, as well as the
International Space Station. The traffic surge forced JibJab's server to be shut down after one day, and the clip was placed on
AtomFilms, where it got more than 1 million hits in 24 hours. After being linked to on thousands of websites, the video was featured several times in the printed media and on television, including
NBC Nightly News,
Fox News and
ABC World News Tonight. On July 26, 2004, the creators appeared on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In December 2004, the Spiridellis brothers were named People of the Year by
Peter Jennings. JibJab responded with a lawsuit in a California federal court, claiming the song was protected under a
fair use exemption for parodies. JibJab and Ludlow Music reached a settlement after JibJab's attorneys unearthed evidence that the song had passed into the
public domain in 1973. The terms of the settlement allowed for the continued distribution of
This Land.
"Good to Be in DC" In October 2004, JibJab followed up with another original animation, "Good to Be in DC", set to the tune of
Dan Emmett's "
Dixie". In this video, animated versions of George W. Bush,
Dick Cheney, John Kerry, and
John Edwards sing about their hopes for the upcoming election.
"Second Term" On January 18, 2005, 2 days before
Bush was inaugurated for another term, JibJab released a third video, "Second Term”. Set to the tune of "
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain", an animated Bush gloats over his successful bid for a second term as president, and his plans for it, based on his campaign promises.
"Time for Some Campaignin'" For the
2008 United States presidential election, JibJab released another election-themed animation, "Time for Some Campaignin'" in July of that year. Set to the tune of
Bob Dylan's "
The Times They Are a-Changin", animated versions of
Bill and
Hillary Clinton,
John McCain,
Barack Obama sing of their presidential hopes, as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney Bid Farewell to the White House. This video was the first instance where viewers had the option of using JibJab's
e-card website to insert their own face as that of a harassed voter.
"He's Barack Obama" Upon
Barack Obama becoming president, JibJab released "He's Barack Obama", where they portrayed Obama as a superhero. The music becomes a heavy metal interpretation of "
When Johnny Comes Marching Home", as Obama promises he will fix the Middle East, defeat the Taliban, fix the schools, fight a giant space robot, wrestle a bear, fix the deficit and more. This one is notable for having been viewed by Obama himself. Stated on the description of its
YouTube video: "A Over-the-Top Satire That Debuted In front of the President Himself this Friday At the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner!"
2012 election For the
2012 United States presidential election, JibJab did not make an election video and instead began to focus their efforts on their e-card business. However, an election web app was released in late October of 2012.
Year in Review Starting in 2005, and for the next nine consecutive years until 2014, JibJab annually released "Year in Review" videos, usually late in December between
Christmas and
New Year's Day, sung to all various
classical melodies. The videos were originally uploaded on YouTube and their website. but on December 11, 2015, JibJab made a Facebook announcement that they would not be releasing anymore "Year in Review" videos, as the brothers had begun finding them creatively unfulfilling. By then, ten "Year in Review" videos had been made; by the winter of 2016, JibJab removed all "Year in Review" videos from their website (although they would remain on their
YouTube channel) and started to focus on their eCard videos instead. However, on November 24, 2020, in response to popular demand, JibJab uploaded a special "Year In Review" series with a video about 2020, the first, and only, to use an original tune.
Others Big Box Mart In mid-2005, JibJab made a project called
The Great Experiment which encouraged users to send their faces to JibJab to be featured in their next video, that video would later become "Big Box Mart", that made its premiere on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 13, 2005. Sung to the tune of "
Oh, Susannah", it tells the story of a 53-year-old frequent patron of the titular
big-box store, who is enthralled by the store's discounts and offers, but soon loses his job as a factory worker, which is outsourced to
Beijing, China as a result of the company now selling cheap products to Big Box Mart stores. The man is left no choice but to be employed at his local Big Box Mart for the rest of his life.
What We Call the News In January 2007,
Brian Wilson approached Evan and Gregg Spiridellis and asked them if they wanted to produce an animation that poked fun at the media, which they immediately said yes to, after a "nanosecond". It premiered at the
2007 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner, and was also then later shown on
The Tonight Show. It was then put online the next day on the JibJab website on March 29th, 2007. Sung to the tune of "
Battle Hymn of the Republic", "What We Call the News" laments the decline of journalism in the cable TV era, particularly sensationalistic stories.
Founding Fathers Rap On December 15th, 2000, JibJab released an interactive
Flash movie featuring
George Washington,
Benjamin Franklin, and
Thomas Jefferson rapping about their accomplishments and end their verse with "
We Declare Our independence". They are accompanied by
John Adams and
James Madison. Adams is the DJ, and Madison says "Oh Yeah" after every verse.
Shawshank in a Minute This sketch was part (and winner) of a 2006 online competition, The Great Sketch Experiment, held by JibJab and their first live action production. Participants included the comedy duo
Famous Last Nerds (
Jordan Allen-Dutton and
Erik Weiner) and
John Landis as director. It both summarizes and parodies
The Shawshank Redemption, condensing the plot to a length of nearly three minutes and underlining it with
rap music.
Music videos JibJab produced a music video for the 2006 song "Do I Creep You Out?" by
"Weird Al" Yankovic, a parody of
Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?". The video depicts the main character stalking a barista in increasingly disturbing ways, ending with him being arrested and jailed as he publicly professes his emotions in a song. In 2009 JibJab produced another music video for Yankovic for the song "CNR", which is a style parody of
The White Stripes. The video and song portrays
Charles Nelson Reilly as a superhuman doing seemingly impossible or improbable things. It also features Yankovic and
Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz as Jack White and Meg White respectively. ==E-cards and messaging==