Everyone remembers the Big Mouth Billy Bass, the talking, singing, anthropomorphic fish of 1999. A video surfaced on the internet several weeks ago of one intrepid user that modified their Big Mouth Billy Bass to work with Amazon’s Alexa, resulting in a hilarious and slightly disturbing combination. If you were one of those that longed for your own Alexa-enabled version of this kitschy device, you’re in luck — it’s now available for pre-order straight from Gemmy Industries, the original producers of the Big Mouth Billy Bass.
The Alexa-enabled device is not an Alexa in and of itself. You will need to connect it to an existing Alexa device to get full functionality, but once you have set up and configured your Big Mouth Billy Bass, you can speak directly to it to play music, order products, and more.
The idea to connect these two seemingly unrelated products started in 2016 when a developer named Brian Kane came up with the idea. The concept gained traction, and in 2017 Gemmy Industries said they would make the idea a reality. The new and improved Big Mouth Billy Bass comes with an official “Alexa Gadget” certification.
Steve Harris, the vice president of product development at Gemmy Industries, said, “This is not your father’s Big Mouth Billy Bass.” If you’re interested in purchasing one of these for yourself, you can find it at Amazon for just $40. The Alexa-enabled Big Mouth Billy Bass releases on December 1. Keep in mind that it does require a separate Alexa device to work, but if you took advantage of the Black Friday sales and picked one up for cheap, you’re in luck.
Users that remember the original product will be pleased to know that it hasn’t changed in appearance at all since 1999. The mouth still moves, and the fish will lean forward to look when you activate the functionality to give it an order. Thanks to the Amazon Music functionality, you can play all of the classic songs the Big Mouth Billy Bass once sang, as well as anything else. What’s more hilarious than a wall-mounted fish singing Hips Don’t Lie?
Not much. The answer is not much.
