Just in case you didn't see the link - this is a vid tracking the comic:

http://xkcd.com/442/

which tracks the original discovery channel ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0

Is the original Discovery channel ad based on something of its own altogether?

Either way, the 'boom de ya da' is very catchy and nice.

It's originally a camping song called "I love the mountains"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ExQGwF0Z3g

*edit: fixed link

Hmm. Wiki says this: «I Love the World, also known as I Love the Whole World, is an advertising campaign launched by Discovery Channel in 2008 in promotion of their new tagline: "The World is Just... Awesome".[1] The song used in the ad is a re-writing of a traditional camping song known as I Love the Mountains or I Love the Flowers, sung to the tune of Hoagy Carmichael's 1938 "Heart & Soul", featuring a chorus of "boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda".[2]»

But the tune of 'Heart & Soul' ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8CSjDC18b0 ) isn't very similar to the one in 'I Love the Word'. Confusing.

Here's Hugh Laurie with his take of it, by the by!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJRSKvbiXA

Not really confusing at all. They combined the two with the verses taking their melody from 'Heart & Soul' and the 'boom de yada' from 'I Love the Mountains.'

Upvoted for recognizing that the melody is the same as in 'Heart & Soul' but the 'boom de yada' melody is also in 'Heart & Soul' as harmony. Well, it's technically not harmony (my music theory is a little shaky) but it's in the background of the melody. Just listen to the first few measures of 'Hear & Soul' and you'll hear it.

tl:dr All parts of the mountain song melody are in 'Heart and Soul.'

The "boom de yada" melody is the bass line from "Heart and Soul."

There's also an animated version, which uses music from the same person:

http://www.vimeo.com/7151435

The only pity is the downfall of Discovery. It makes me so sad to see it airing bullshit shows like 'Ghost Hunters'. That is not science.

There are actually lots and lots of video tributes to this strip, although this new one does feature a bunch of celebrities. Here's one of the best older ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvGhEJyfC7U

It's inspiring to imagine making something so great as to have even a fraction of this sort of response.

That was a thing of beauty.

Impressive cast, too.

I don't think the cast willingly participated. I think they're just clips taken from interviews and so on that just happen to fit.

I'm hoping this is a joke that I overlooked, because I think it's rather unlikely that you're going to get an interview with Neil Gaiman jumping up and down on a trampoline and incidentally says 'I love her sister' to one of this twin daughters. Also, I'd hope Cory Doctorow doesn't wear that cape in every interview.

Fair enough (and I had to google Cory Doctorow). I think it's possible then that some clips were specifically recorded for this, and others just caught from other videos.

I know of many people on the list, and to me all the videos appear purposely made for the creation.

The clip of Lessig is actually from his appearance on the Colbert Report, where Lessig gives viewers explicit permission to remix, despite Colbert threatening to get "very angry and possibly litigious".

The voice might actually be Lessig purposely recording for this creation.

I love xkcdexplained.

I often experienced the issue that friends I pointed to xkcd either didn't get it because of poor English skills or lack of geek background.

Maybe I should try to point them to xkcdexplained.com instead -- thanks for the hint!

I'd not seen this - thanks for the pointer.

I love xkcdsucks: http://xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/