<P> Big Mouth Billy Bass is an animatronic singing prop, representing a largemouth bass, invented on December 16, 1998, sold on January 1, 1999, and popular in the early 2000s . The fish is made of latex rubber with a plastic mechanical skeleton inside of it; at first glance, it appears to be a mounted game fish . The product was conceived by Gemmy Industries product development vice president Joe Pellettieri following a visit to a Bass Pro Shop . The device turns its head towards a person, facing them, and then wiggles its tail on its trophy plaque and sings kitschy cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin and "Take Me To The River" by Al Green, who said he received more royalties from it than from any other recording of the song . The singing mechanism was originally activated by a motion sensor and intended to startle a passerby . Eventually, a button was added to activate it . In addition, many variants of Big Mouth Billy Bass were also produced by Gemmy using different types of game fish and other aquatic animals, with some of them being Travis the Rainbow Trout, Cool Catfish, and Rocky Lobster . The concept was even later adapted into a large mounted deer head, known as Buck the Animated Trophy, which is voiced by actor Clint Ford, and a medium - sized mounted bear head . </P> <P> On December 7, 1999, a special holiday version of the Big Mouth Billy Bass was released by Gemmy Industries . The fish had a Santa hat on his head and a ribbon with a sleigh bell on his tail . </P>

Fish that sings take me to the river