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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Steve’s Lava Chicken is only about 34 seconds long, but it has an unusually large afterlife. The song began as a joke in A Minecraft Movie, became a charting Jack Black novelty track, and then crossed back into the game as a music disc. The “lava chicken video” is not a mysterious teaser or a behind-the-scenes clip. It is a short excerpt from the finished film—and its strange journey is more entertaining than the clip’s premise.
What the video actually is
The official music video was released by WaterTower Music on April 9, 2025, five days after A Minecraft Movie opened in the United States. It runs for roughly 50 seconds and uses footage from the film rather than presenting a separate story.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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A Minecraft Movie (Blu-Ray + Digital) | $13.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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A Minecraft Movie (4K Ultra Steelbook + Blu-ray + Digital) | $37.89 | Buy on Amazon |
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A Minecraft Movie - Limited Edition SteelBook 4K UHD [Blu-Ray] | $59.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Blu-ray + Digital) | $24.95 | Buy on Amazon |
Jack Black, playing Steve, demonstrates a contraption that prepares chickens with lava while singing about the process. Jason Momoa’s Garrett and the rest of the group are present, reacting to Steve’s performance. The scene is staged like a ridiculous musical number: Steve is completely committed, while everyone around him has to process the fact that this is apparently the plan.
That distinction matters because the clip is easy to mistake for an unusually elaborate promotional short. It is not an unreleased preview, and it is not evidence of a hidden Minecraft lore reveal. It is one of the film’s deliberately broad comedy songs, extracted and packaged as a music video.
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Why a 34-second song became a real hit
The audio appeared on the A Minecraft Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on March 28, 2025, as track seven, credited to Jack Black. At approximately 34 seconds, it is barely long enough to establish a premise before ending. That brevity became the central joke—and a genuine chart statistic.
According to Guinness World Records, “Steve’s Lava Chicken” became the shortest song to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 78. In the United Kingdom, it reached No. 9 and became the shortest-ever UK Top 40 hit, according to reporting by The Guardian.
The song’s success makes more sense in the context of Jack Black’s performance style. He does not sing the material as if it were a throwaway gag. He gives Steve the full rock-star treatment: exaggerated confidence, emphatic delivery and the conviction that a lava-based chicken recipe deserves an anthem. The contrast between the grand performance and the aggressively silly subject is the entire mechanism.
The joke works because Minecraft already invites it
Minecraft is a game built from systems that players routinely turn into stories. A chicken, lava, a minecart or a hostile mob can be an ordinary gameplay object one moment and the centerpiece of an elaborate personal myth the next. Steve’s song pushes that habit into musical-comedy territory.
There is no need for the film to explain a complicated chicken-lava mythology. The visual gag is immediate: Steve has built a machine, he considers it brilliant, and the audience can see enough of the setup to understand why the others might be alarmed. The number also borrows from the game’s visual language without attempting to reproduce normal gameplay. It is Minecraft filtered through a live-action fantasy comedy, not a literal tutorial.
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That is why theories about the clip being a coded teaser or a major plot clue feel misplaced. The scene’s appeal comes from its lack of importance. It is an overproduced answer to a question nobody needed to ask: what if Steve treated cooking a chicken with lava like a stadium performance?
The film song and the Minecraft music disc are different
The song’s popularity later fed into an official Minecraft reference, but the two recordings should not be confused.
| Release | Performer or version | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| A Minecraft Movie | Jack Black as Steve | The original film performance and soundtrack track |
| Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.7 | Hyper Potions remix | The “Lava Chicken” music disc added to the game |
| Minecraft Bedrock Edition 1.21.93/1.21.94 | Hyper Potions remix | The same game-related disc added in the July 2025 update |
The game version is a remix by Hyper Potions, not Jack Black’s film recording. It is therefore better understood as a Minecraft in-game adaptation of the viral song than as the movie audio being inserted unchanged into the game.
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The official release notes give the disc a suitably Minecraft-specific acquisition method. In both Java and Bedrock, a player can obtain it by defeating a baby zombie riding a chicken—a Chicken Jockey.
- Find a Chicken Jockey in a world where the relevant game version is available.
- Defeat the baby zombie while it is riding the chicken.
- Collect the music disc if it drops.
- Play it in a jukebox.
The drop is not guaranteed simply because a chicken is nearby, and players do not obtain the disc by cooking a chicken in lava. That latter claim is an understandable internet embellishment, given the title, but it is not the acquisition method specified by Mojang’s Java or Bedrock release notes.
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It is also outdated to describe the disc as Java-only. Java Edition received it in version 1.21.7 in June 2025. Bedrock Edition followed in version 1.21.93/1.21.94 in July 2025.
Do not confuse the disc with the Bedrock add-on
There is one more source of confusion. Minecraft also has a separate “Lava Chicken” Bedrock add-on, announced in December 2024. That add-on gives players a lava-chicken food item with a temporary fiery trail effect. It is not the music disc, and neither feature is the same as the movie’s original Jack Black performance.
In other words, “lava chicken” now refers to several related but distinct things:
- a musical scene in A Minecraft Movie;
- a short soundtrack track performed by Jack Black;
- a Hyper Potions music disc in Minecraft;
- and a separate Bedrock add-on item.
Why the clip has more staying power than it should
Most promotional clips disappear once the film they advertise has finished its theatrical run. “Steve’s Lava Chicken” did the opposite because it was compact, instantly recognizable and easy to replay. The clip contains a complete joke, a memorable hook and a performance that is much bigger than the material requires.
It also benefits from being self-contained. Viewers do not need to know the film’s plot to understand Steve’s enthusiasm or Garrett’s bewilderment. The scene can circulate as a miniature comedy sketch, while the chart records and game tie-ins give it a life beyond the movie.
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- Runtime: 95 minutes
That is the real story behind the lava chicken video. It is not a puzzle box waiting for a lore explanation. It is a tiny piece of movie promotion that became a pop-culture event by being exactly as excessive, disposable and catchy as it was designed to be.
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FAQ
Is the “Steve’s Lava Chicken” video a new Minecraft teaser?
No. The official video released on April 9, 2025, is a roughly 50-second excerpt from A Minecraft Movie. It is not a standalone short or behind-the-scenes production.
Who performs “Steve’s Lava Chicken”?
Jack Black performs the movie version as Steve. The soundtrack track is about 34 seconds long. The later Minecraft music disc uses a separate Hyper Potions remix.
How do you get the Lava Chicken music disc in Minecraft?
In Java and Bedrock, defeat a baby zombie riding a chicken—a Chicken Jockey. The official release notes do not say that cooking a chicken in lava produces the disc.
Is the Lava Chicken music disc available on Bedrock Edition?
Yes. It was added to Bedrock in versions 1.21.93/1.21.94 in July 2025. The claim that it remains Java-only is outdated.
The Bottom Line
Steve’s Lava Chicken is a 34-second Jack Black gag that outgrew its scene. The official video is a film clip, the chart success was real, and the later Minecraft disc is a separate Hyper Potions remix obtained from a Chicken Jockey—not from putting a chicken in lava.
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