Buck buck (also known asJohnny-on-a-Pony, orJohnny-on-the-Pony) is a children'sgame with several variants.[1][failed verification] One version of the game is played when "one player hops onto another's back" and the climber guesses "the number of certain objects out of sight".[1] Another version of the game is played with "one group of players [jumping] onto the backs of a second group in order to build as large a pile as possible or to cause the supporting players to collapse."[1]
As early as the 16th century, children in Europe and the Near East played Buck, Buck, which had been called "Bucca Bucca quot sunt hic?"[2][3]Pieter Bruegel's paintingChildren's Games (1560) depicts children playing a variant of the game.[4][5] FolkloristsIona and Peter Opie claim that the game goes back to the time ofNero in the first century.[citation needed]
In theUnited Kingdom, the game is sometimes calledHigh Cockalorum, but has a large number of different names in various local dialects. These include: "Polly on the Mopstick" inBirmingham, "Strong Horses, Weak Donkeys" inMonmouthshire, "Hunch, Cuddy, Hunch" in westScotland, "Mont-a-Kitty" inMiddlesbrough, "Husky Fusky Finger or Thumb" inNottinghamshire, "High Jimmy Knacker" ineast London, "Jump the Knacker 1-2-3" inWatford, "Wall-e-Acker" or "Warny Echo" innorth West London, "Stagger Loney" inCardiff, "Pomperino" in St Ives, Cornwall and "Trust" inLancashire.[6] The game is sometimes played in thesergeants' or officers' messes of theBritish Armed Forces.[7]
InMexico andEl Paso, the game is known asel chinche de agua (water bug).[8]
In theChile, the game is calledCaballito de Bronce (Little Brass Horse)[9]
InAustralia a similar game is called "stacks-on" the goal being to jump onto the player declared by yelling "stacks-on <name>". The declared player attempts to remain upright, while the other players all try and jump on top of them until they collapse.
A similar gamemalttukbakgi (말뚝박기) is played in South Korea,[10][11] by children up until high school. Inmalttukbakgi, there are two teams. The first team has one person stand up against the wall and the rest of the team queue behind them with their heads tucked between the legs of the person in front, in a formation that resembles a long "horse". The second team then jumps up onto the backs of the first team one by one, with as much force as possible. If anyone from any team falls to the floor, that team loses. If everyone stays up, then the person against the wall and the person in front play a game ofgawibawibo (rock paper scissors) to determine the winner.
In Turkey, a similar game isuzun eşek ("long donkey").[12][13] The person standing up is the referee and is called the "pillow". One team bends over, then the other team one by one jumps on the "donkey". If the Donkey can stand the pressure, the first person to go in the jumping team puts up one or two with his fingers. If the donkey can guess the number right, they are permitted to jump. If the jumpers fall to the ground, it is the donkey's turn to jump. If the donkey falls, the jumpers jump again.
In Romania, the game is referred to aslapte gros ("thick/condensed milk").
Bill Cosby's 1967 albumRevenge includes a track "Buck, Buck" in which he describes playing the game as a child. He mentions that in his hometown ofPhiladelphia it was called "Buck Buck", while inNew York City it was known as "Johnny on the Pony". This track introducesFat Albert, "the baddest Buck Buck breaker in the world," who "weighed 2,000 pounds" and could cause earthquakes when he ran down the street. The character would later become the basis for the cartoon seriesFat Albert and the Cosby Kids which includes a buck buck episode (season 1 episode 6). Fat Albert and his friends also play a game of buck buck in the filmFat Albert (2004). The same story, in a slightly different form, is also included in Cosby's bookChildhood.
In the 2014Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, the heroes use a game of buck buck as an attack that is key to their defeat of the main villain.[14]
