# The Johnstown Monster **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537 "2005-09-07T16:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/1 "2005-09-07T16:36:11Z")
Does anyone remember _The Johnstown Monster_, a kiddie film from the '70s about children who construct a fake sea monster to promote tourism in their town? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/2 "2005-09-07T18:32:46Z")
I think I saw this on TV a time or two, but I never knew the name of it. At least, the plot sounds pretty familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/3 "2005-09-07T19:13:40Z")
I remember it. I think the kids had this little ditty that they’d sing about it, but I don’t recall nay of the words. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/4 "2005-09-07T20:46:32Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > I think the kids had this little ditty that they’d sing about it, but I don’t recall nay of the words. I remember them singing ‘The Johnstown monster / Kai-yi-yi-yi!’ or something like that, with the first part descending like ‘We’ll all be gay when’ in _When Johnny Comes Marching Home_ and the last bit starting on a low note and then finishing on three high notes. Could be wrong, but that’s how I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/5 "2005-09-07T23:03:39Z")
It’s one of those sunday afternoon made for children movies. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/6 "2005-09-08T03:43:51Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I remember them singing ‘The Johnstown monster / Kai-yi-yi-yi!’ or something like that, with the first part descending like ‘We’ll all be gay when’ in _When Johnny Comes Marching Home_ and the last bit starting on a low note and then finishing on three high notes. That’s basically what I remember. I seem to recall something about its “gaping maw” and “scaly claw” or something sounding like that. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Stan\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-johnstown-monster/320537/7 "2005-09-08T04:15:14Z")
I remember a similar story from **The Mad Scientists Club** by Bertrand Brinley, one of my favorite childhood books. The story was called “The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Cove” According to this [Amazon.com review](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930900104/ref=pd_sim_1/104-2900271-7486325?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance), Disney produced a movie version. The plot description in its [IMDb entry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067798/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9c2VhIG1vbnN0ZXIgc3RyYXdiZXJyeSBjb3ZlfGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=2;fm=1) doesn’t sound much like the original story or **Johnny LA’s** query, so maybe it was a different flick.