Family Guy is an American adult animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane that premiered on Fox in 1999. Over the course of its 20+ seasons, the show has featured many memorable and hilarious moments from the Griffin family and friends. One such moment that has become ingrained in pop culture is Peter Griffin’s bird dance from the season 7 episode “Road to Germany”.
When does Peter do the bird dance?
In the episode “Road to Germany”, Peter, Stewie, and Brian travel back in time to 1939 and end up in Poland right before the Nazi invasion. They are captured by Nazis and taken to perform for Adolf Hitler himself. Brian encourages Stewie to teleport them out of there but the time travel return pad breaks. This leads Peter to improvise an eccentric dance routine to stall for time.
Peter takes the stage dressed in lederhosen and performs a goofy dance punctuated by bird calls and flapping arm motions. He bobs up and down squawking while kicking his legs wildly. The bizarre dance thoroughly confuses the Nazi audience but succeeds in buying enough time for Stewie to fix the return pad and teleport the group back home.
So in summary, Peter performs the iconic bird dance in the season 7 episode “Road to Germany”, specifically in the scene where he impressesively stalls Hitler and the Nazis to help his friends escape.
Why does Peter do the bird dance?
Peter breaks out the bird dance as an act of desperation and improvisation. When Stewie’s time travel device breaks right as the group is about to be forced to perform for Hitler at gunpoint, they need to stall for time. With no prepared act, Peter quickly comes up with the eccentric bird-themed dance on the spot.
The seemingly random and bizarre dance does exactly what it needs to – thoroughly confuse Hitler and the audience, making them hesitant to interrupt. This buys precious extra minutes for Stewie to fix the return pad undetected and teleport them back to Quahog. So Peter’s bird dance, while very strange, is actually a heroic act to save himself and his friends from a dangerous situation.
Description of the bird dance
Here are the key features of Peter’s iconic bird dance in “Road to Germany”:
- Peter dresses in traditional Bavarian lederhosen embroidered with flowers
- He awkwardly flaps his arms up and down like wings and bobs his body
- Peter makes loud bird calls, including quacking, tweeting, and crowing sounds
- His legs kick and step quickly in a haphazard, erratic manner
- At certain moments, Peter makes goofy facial expressions at the audience
- The dance lacks rhythm or choreography but has high energy
In summary, the dance involves energetic flapping, squawking, and hopping somewhat resembling a bird but in a very uncoordinated and ridiculous style. The absurd dance captures Peter Griffin’s brand of surreal, unpredictable humor.
Pop culture impact
Peter’s bird dance in “Road to Germany” became an iconic part of Family Guy history and wider pop culture for several reasons:
- The sheer absurdity and randomness of the dance made it instantly memorable
- Occurring during a pivotal historical plot point (Hitler/Nazis) added to the humor
- Peter’s bird dance built on his reputation for outrageous, over-the-top comedy
- The scene became highly gif-able and meme-able on the internet
The bird dance is often considered one of the most iconic moments from Family Guy’s earlier seasons. The scene’s clips and images are widely shared online. The dance is also frequently homaged and parodied within pop culture, appearing in shows from The Simpsons to The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Other instances of the bird dance
While the Season 7 episode “Road to Germany” contains the original classic scene, Peter also brings back the bird dance a few times in later episodes of Family Guy:
- “Excellence in Broadcasting” (Season 9) – Peter does the dance to celebrate becoming a conservative
- “Valentine’s Day in Quahog” (Season 11) – Peter does the dance after losing his Valentine’s Day gifts
- “Trump Guy” (Season 17) – Peter dances while imitating former President Donald Trump
The bird dance occasionally makes comebacks as a nod to the original memorable moment. Peter doing the flapping arm motions and squawking always brings a dose of chaotic humor to the scene.
Conclusion
Peter Griffin’s eccentric bird dance originates in the Season 7 episode “Road to Germany” when Peter improvises the goofy routine to stall Hitler and the Nazis. The absurd dance’s randomness, high energy, and context make it an iconic Family Guy pop culture moment. While first debuted in 2009, the scene remains memorable thanks to gif/meme culture. Peter occasionally brings back his classic bird dance in later episodes as an homage. For a scene that lasts less than 30 seconds, Peter’s bird squawking leaves a lasting hilarious legacy.