[Cover photo credit to Sam Jones]

10 years ago, “Weird Al” Yankovic released Mandatory Fun, the first comedy album in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard albums chart. Now, in celebration, Yankovic has released his new single and video “Polkamania!,” a medley of some of the most memorable songs of the last decade.
 
In keeping with Yankovic’s long-standing tradition of creating Polka medleys, “Polkamania!” lampoons the biggest hits by current artists. Reimagined polka-style, the medley includes Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” Adele’s “Hello,” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” all approved by each artist.

Yankovic says:

So many big hits in the last decade have been desperately crying out for the polka treatment, so I figured the 10-year anniversary of ‘Mandatory Fun’ was the perfect excuse to do just that!

For “Polkamania!,” Yankovic also enlisted a dozen of his favorite animators and filmmakers to create an “anijam,” a collaborative video that weaves a number of short, animated pieces together into one film. 

Featured creators include Yankovic’s past collaborators such as Bill Plympton (“Don’t Download This Song,” “TMZ”), Liam Lynch (“Craigslist,” “First World Problems”), Ghostbot (“Party in the CIA”), Jarrett Heather (“Word Crimes”), and Augenblick Studios (“Another Tattoo,” “Your Horoscope for Today,” and the Amish sequence in WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story). Notable new collaborators include British animator Cyriak and A24’s Hazbin Hotel creator Vivienne Medrano.

Full list of artists and songs included in “Polkamania!”:
Adele – “Hello”
Ariana Grande – “Thank U, Next”
Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy”
Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
Cast of Encanto / Lin-Manuel Miranda – “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road”
Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee – “Despacito”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
 
Full list of animators for the “Polkamania!” music video:
Augenblick Studios
Bill Plympton
Cyriak
David Wachtenheim & W/M Animation
Ghostbot / Alan Lau, Roque Ballestros and Roman Laney
Jack Evans
Jarrett Heather
KukoMitzu
Liam Lynch
Ryan Krzak
Victor Yerrid & Melanie Mandl
Vivienne Medrano