One of the first motion pictures ever made, possibly back in the 1890s? was of a train coming up to the camera; supposedly it freaked the audience out back then, thought they were going to get run over.
I found it! I had been looking for this video that I vaguely remembered from when I was a little kid because it scared the shit out of me. I can now see that it wasn't just me. Yikes!
hahahaha i never thought i would be sharing the same sentiments & experiences as a child.. i remember clinging on to somebody whenever this was shown..
I loved this video as a kid. My mom taped it off TV so I would watch it over and over. Then one time we went on vacation where I couldn't watch it, and my mom told it to me as a bedtime story.
Im 26 years old and to this very day, I still get nervous when Im around trains or near train tracks because of this sketch. It haunted me that badly when I was 3 years old.
The train whistle still sends chills to this day. Hard to say what they were trying to do here? Maybe they were trying to get kids to fear playing near train tunnels. Could be a Union Pacific / Dept of Transportaion subliminal video.
@MsPandaRosa Rosa its fake now but its very real when your 6 years old and it was the scary SCRERRRRRECCCHH that scared most kids as well as the 3D style effect the train would come thu the TV and kill them. If you put the 2 together its VERY scary to an impressionable Kid and could mentally scar them for life.
@MsPandaRosa I have moved on since then and I watch far worse now but one has to start somewhere and the only thing this did for me was to get me into horror films at a very young age.
Lol, I think what had scared me in this skit, was Bob's and Luis' reaction. If they were that freaked out, then imagine the fear that had impacted kids, lol. Would not draw a tunnel for a while after this, as well. =;P
I can't believe I found this. Bob Luis and the train used to give me recurring nightmares as a small kid. Evidently I'm not the only one who got a little freaked out over this.
They should have titled this one "How to Scare a Toddler to Death in Less than Three Minutes"; I've heard horror stories about kids leaving the room when the train was close enough to identify.
I remember this long time ago and the train made me nervous had no idea that was bob and Luis the whole time just two different guys donig stop motion
Hilarious memory indeed - I remember the music and stop-motion photography back from 30 years ago, and it still gets me 'in the mood' to this very day!
man that train part scared me so bad, I think i was scared more so because Bob and Luis looked so scared....lol, though now they just look funny. Trains scare me to this day.
The train coming through the tunnel and moving toward the camera used to scare me when I was younger because I really thought the train was actually going to come through the TV. I'm old enough to know better but that train still freaks me out.
@MoochyMooch Crikes, you too? My brother and I were both totally freaked. It was because it was a slowly approaching thing that had sound getting louder and louder. We'd jump behind the couch for cover.
@PandaMishima these days kids would laugh at it but when your 5 or 6 in the 70's it was scary. The 3D effert wasnt what scared me as a kid it was that horrible noise the train made.
What does this actually reach children?? There are more appropriate ways to teach children puzzles and shapes rather then freak them out with a angry looking train heading str8 for them. What were they thinking????
Yeah, it's funny. I know everyone gets all nostalgic about the kids shows from the 70's, but I think a LOT of it - this included - was developed by young stoner Baby Boomers from the 60's who had no clue what might freak kids out. I have little kids now and, yeah, maybe the stuff from the 70's was more clever on an adult level, but so what? Why were adults watching kids shows in the first place? The current educational shows, including Sesame Street, aren't as cool, but they do their job better.
Adults are watching it now because they still want to see if this still feaks them out. The only way to conquer fear is to face it. I watched this and simply laughed now understanding it was basicly visual slapstick.
@PandaMishima I find it laughable now but when I was 5 it was terrfying. It's worse when after seeing the sketch I was bundled off to Sydney via a train and the real thing comes into the station str8 at me at the time. Grendville didnt help at the time either.
@PandaMishima That clip ended up having me sent to a shrink at the time. Im over it now and since I watch far more disturbing stuff now as entertainment this is more comical.
HILARIOUS MEMORY! Frantic stop-motion environment as Bob and Luis scramble to try to find a solution, only to find out that they are too good for their own good! Also, this musical score was used for the short movie clip in the 'Dialing for Prizes Movie' clip featuring Guy Smiley and the word 'Fur.' It's probably about the same age as this one.
Don't recall getting all that scared at this, and I always wondered why Bo and Luis got so scared. They were standing BESIDE it. It's not like they were trapped in the tunnel and couldn't get out in time or something.
Well yeah, but even then, I'd be going, "WTF? How did that happen?" and be standing back puzzled. Okay, maybe a little shocked if I was to peer into the tunnel and see this train coming, but nothing more then that.
Ah, but this is the Cartoon Universe, and they HAVE to stand right next to the train as it comes out! Going behind the sign or worse, taking it down is just cheating!
Standing two feet from a rushing locomotive is not for the the squeamish!
Also, does anybody remember the video that used to immediately precede this one every time it aired? Maybe I'm wrong, and my memory is pretty fuzzy, but I feel like there was a video that always came on right before this one, and I feel like it had to do with a petting zoo. There was a weird goat-like sound at the end of it that served as a trigger for me to be terrified that the scary train video was about to air. Can anybody back me up on that?
I remember they always showed that before the train scetch so no your not wrong there I was a long term memory so I remember stuff far back as 5 years old and Im 37 now.
Wow. This brings me back. I used to be terrified of this video when I was a kid, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who got freaked out by it. Every time it came on I would shut the TV off and run up to my bedroom. Not sure what scared me about it though. Maybe it was the unsettling music, the train coming right at me, Bob and Luis making weird-looking faces....
i think this bothered me because, even at a very early age, i understood that trains were a force almost unstoppable, and i feared things coming at me that i had no ability to control. 80% of my mental issues are all about control-and-lack-thereof anyway. so no wonder it gave me the creeps.
This used to scare the crap out of me... I hid behind a chair whenever it came on... looks like I wasn't the only one who was horrified by this... I think it was half the train, and half the faces made by the two guys... they're downright creepy looking.
Haven't seen this in 30 years, and just got the same feeling of panic I had the 1st time I watched it. Why was this so terrifying? No idea! Maybe:
-The dudes being scared sh*tless.
-The "scream" of the train
-The super long lead up, where you can barely see something is coming for you...almost like in some Kubric movies where the scary stuff is REALLY small and far away from you.
I'll have a talk with my therapist and tell you what she thinks. :)
I have to say, even though many others have, that this particular segment terrified me when I was a kid. For years I pondered how they pulled off such a feat. Really.
This is the first time I've seen it since I was four or so-- maybe younger-- and it definitely gave me a chill at the start when I recognized it. Thanks for uploading it!
Here's how they did it: the train was a picture or a card on a blue screen (green is used now). The cameraman began a strong steady zoom in on the train picture. Camera 2 was then instructed electronically not to see the blue around the train. This tape footage was then composited against the main camera 1 footage of the tunnel billboard. This created an illusion of the train approaching up the tunnel. It's actually very easy to do in any television studio!
I also think CTW may have taken the inspiration for this scary scene from the Hall Scene of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine", when Ringo and Young Fred enter a large mansion looking for help. There is an almost identical train approach scene when a door in the great hall is opened. "Yellow Submarine" was produced in 1967 and released in 1968. This Sesame scene may have been produced in 1971; does anyone here know?
@raposofan That may be plausible. I liked that part in Yellow Submarine and than George saying it's all in the mind which is a reference to the ending of every Goon Show Radio program.
Ah, this clip used to freak me out to when I was little. Everything about it: the tunnel (I HATED tunnels), the frantic music, and especially that freakin' train I thought was barreling towards me.
Anyone else notice that the sound effect they used for the train is actually from a subway train, not a locomotive train?
This segment used to scare me so bad that I would shut off the TV and go into the next room so I would be BEHIND the TV. Just in case. I wouldn't go back in to turn on the TV until I was sure it was over.
After hearing the SCTV theme song back in the 70's, I often thought how the the song from this appropriate classic Sesame Street tibit would have right in with SCTV's opening theme. They both sounded similiar!
I was watching this video, thinking how much this used to scare me when i was little, and wondering if I should post that here, and thinking "no, that's embarassing." It's good to know that I'm knot the only one who would run away and hide when this skit was on.
I REMEMBER THIS!! What's scary is both the anticipation, as well as that f'ed-up train whistle!!! I've never heard a train sound like that... no wonder kids were so scared.
Oh, and P.S.--Not that I've got anything against sinister, even for the kiddie types! Oy, I'm dying to see the "lost" Wicked Witch segment now. The Wicked Witch never even scared me--the tornado did.
Whenever I view this, I totally go EEEE! and tuck my feet up on the chair, just like when I was five. That's what my big sister and I did when watching this together in the '70s: squeal and jump into my father's big recliner before the train got us.
When I was with my sis, watching this was fun-scary. Watching it alone, it always seemed more sinister.
I read there was a REALLY SCARY "Sesame Street" episode from 1976 featuring the Wicked Witch of the West. It was so frightening, CTW had to ban it after its initial airing! This would've been a good segment for that episode.
I remember that episode, particularly the scene where she pretends she's a "harmless old lady" asking David "Can I hold the broom for a second?", which he innocently agrees to (I remember thinking "Oh come on, David, how blind are you?"). I remember even as a kid thinking that scene was drawn-out and unconvincing, like anyone could see what was coming a mile away, and wishing they'd pick up the pace. :>
OK, I've just read it. All I can say is, let parents write letters like that to my company. While it will be sad to lose a few hundred or thousand child viewers from our show, I refuse to censor content for the remaining viewers on account of ANYONE. They'll be cheerfully let go, and their parents sent well-wishes, and a letter reading, "Thank you for your interest in our show." PC was starting then. Indulging it at all is what's led to our current America.
Imagine if Bram Stoker or Mary Shelley had been as squeamish and indulgent as CTW was in 1976. An even closer, more poignant analogy: what if Frank L. Baum or Victor Fleming had? We would not even know who the Wicked Witch WAS. Or for that matter... Dorothy. That is why PC is un-American and wrong, and why NO ARTIST IN ANY FIELD should tolerate it.
I haven't seen this one in at least 25 years. I do remember being spooked by it as a child. Seeing it now, I think I finally understand why I found the sinister plot twist at the end of "The Ring" movie so disturbing. Note the slow, suspenseful approach of the train coming out of the tunnel. Now swap that train with the image of Samara. Uncanny similarity. Very creepy indeed.
ME TOO :) I was sooo scared of this as a kid. How relieving to know that it wasn't just me afterall. For some reason, '3 whipped cream pies on the wall' used to frighten me also.
This scared the bejeezus out of me as a kid too. How they did the train: the train is a large painted card posted against a green screen (back then it was blue screen). Camera 1 is on Bob and Luis. Camera 2 is on the train picture. Camera 2 was instructed to zoom in on the train. Then both images were composited (there was blue at center of tunnel on Cam 1) and it creates illusion of train approaching Camera 1.
And P.S.: I strongly believe CTW swiped the idea for this sketch from a scene in "Yellow Submarine", where Ringo, George and John enter the house of endless corridors looking for Paul, and John, opening a door, reveals an enormous train colored this same way that hurtles directly towards camera. John slams the door just in time.
the opera singing orange right? I think the most scary one for me was that boy close up all you can see is his lips its animated he does the dah dah dah DAHHHDAHHHHHHH DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM!
I dont know if anyone else mentioned it, but the humpty dumpty clip from news flash was another traumatic bit. Someone needs to compile a bunch of clips together of scary/odd/traumatic sesame street shorts.
I fucking LOVED this skit when I was a kid. Man, they don't do stuff like this on Sesame Street anymore. I loved the fast-motion slapsitck and the whacky music. Totally classic.
Man, I hadn't seen this in forever! There's something visceral about a train coming at you screaming...I didn't like that either when I was little. Bob and Luis being terrified too sure didn't help matters any! Great to see after all these years.
No, singing orange which I just watched was creepy for a four year old, but I always knew it was just a singing Orange, in this one you face a blood curddling screaming train racing towards you. A singing Orange or a screaming train coming at you, I think the screaming train is scarier.
It's funny to watch this now after all these years, as this Sesame clip ranked #1 on the scary/disturbing factor to me when I was little. I still think the train screaming through is scary. I always liked the singing orange!
This and that demented Singing orange scared me to death, but this one is child's play compared to her...Sesame Street was quite traumatizing way back when lol..
So scared of this as a kid.
xMOSTYMANx 1 week ago
One of the first motion pictures ever made, possibly back in the 1890s? was of a train coming up to the camera; supposedly it freaked the audience out back then, thought they were going to get run over.
This goes it one better.
MsPandaRosa 1 week ago
I remember this one, but in my memory its a real train. LOL< the imagination of of a child
Merryrobin 2 weeks ago in playlist More Sesame Street Classics
Wow all these years i remember this so well big ups too sesame street real talk!!!
jayreal1971 1 month ago
I think Sesame Street took a page out of Looney Tunes ala Wile E. Coyote.
Rlotpir1972 1 month ago
I found it! I had been looking for this video that I vaguely remembered from when I was a little kid because it scared the shit out of me. I can now see that it wasn't just me. Yikes!
RipTheSystem33 2 months ago
hahahaha i never thought i would be sharing the same sentiments & experiences as a child.. i remember clinging on to somebody whenever this was shown..
WilliamCharlesRamez 2 months ago
I was terrified of train tracks well into my teen years because of this segment. I couldn't even watch the whole thing until I was at least twelve.
sporktacular 2 months ago
The train always scared me as child! Still 1 of my favs tho.
Charla1606 4 months ago
What year was this made?
Lupton2000 4 months ago
this video filled me with dread as a kid..... that oncoming train horrified me.
hareborne 4 months ago
it's a ghost train from hell!
skeaneable 5 months ago
what is this skit trying to teach little kids? or are they supposed to be scared shitless for life.
Nightmastercool97 5 months ago
@Nightmastercool97
Mainly not to put up pictures of train tunnels, as a real train might just come out, what else?
MsPandaRosa 4 months ago
Is it me, or did I see an early prototype of the cover for Pink Floyd's "The Wall" record. Check out 0:53 of the video and see what I mean.
timepoet77 6 months ago
I see Chuck Norris sold his train to Sesame Street. For what purpose?
discolives79ify 6 months ago
I loved this video as a kid. My mom taped it off TV so I would watch it over and over. Then one time we went on vacation where I couldn't watch it, and my mom told it to me as a bedtime story.
Astur9 6 months ago
Luis was kinda hot back then, hehe.
gordogreat74 6 months ago
@gordogreat74 Amen brother, or sister :)
JuanMamaril 6 months ago
This terrified me as a child, but now I can look back and laugh. :)
KaiserSkippy 7 months ago
Im 26 years old and to this very day, I still get nervous when Im around trains or near train tracks because of this sketch. It haunted me that badly when I was 3 years old.
bushbasher85 7 months ago
What were the numbers on that 'train'? I think it is '12-12'.
Rlotpir1972 7 months ago
@Rlotpir1972 I believe it is 23-24...If you pause it just at the right time...you can definetly make out the 23.
funnyfokker25 6 months ago
YES! Thank you SO much for uploading this one! This is one of my favorite videos, ESPECIALLY the look of impending doom!
stevenscottoddballz 9 months ago
Wow, the guitar work on this is incredible! Peace.
MuzikJunkyAES 9 months ago
The train whistle still sends chills to this day. Hard to say what they were trying to do here? Maybe they were trying to get kids to fear playing near train tunnels. Could be a Union Pacific / Dept of Transportaion subliminal video.
jahovahut 9 months ago
@jahovahut
It probably is a good idea not to play in or near train tunnels.
MsPandaRosa 5 months ago
@Cuteblondie1972 asking who stacehoney
sonicfanornonfan 9 months ago
@Cuteblondie1972 can you send me the slow motion skit
sonicfanornonfan 9 months ago
This scared me too. Darn tramatic childhood
Sherpaful 9 months ago
@Cuteblondie1972 the slow motion skit, stacehoney!
sonicfanornonfan 9 months ago
Could this possibly be an inspiration for the famous brothers Mario & Luigi? The colors do work, and the timing is right....
MsPandaRosa 9 months ago
@Cuteblondie1972 can you send me a video of that, stacehoney/cuteblondie
sonicfanornonfan 9 months ago
@Cuteblondie1972 You're Stacehoney!
sonicfanornonfan 9 months ago
The train could be taken from a myth where a train takes souls after they die to their destination called the Soul Train.
flatcapman 9 months ago
It scared me when I was a wee joey myself, though I was frightened at how close Bob and Luis were standing to the "track."
I wonder if this sketch inspired the ghost train in the 2nd Ghostbusters movie...
ozfoxaroo 9 months ago
Bob and Luis working fast...like a pair of 'Gilligans'.
Rlotpir1972 10 months ago
What the f**k is this supposed to teach kids?
That "Trains are scary as Hell and are out to kill you"
This skit is utter crap it should be teaching kids how cool trains are and that trains are their friends NOT a monster that wants them dead
NICE GOING WHOEVER MADE THIS.
flatcapman 10 months ago
@flatcapman
Trains are cool, but you do have to be careful around them, esp if they're coming out of a cartoon tunnel!
Alas, the very fact that this teaches nothing is why it will never be shown on Sesame Street again.... Be lucky you saw it when you did.
MsPandaRosa 9 months ago
@MsPandaRosa Rosa its fake now but its very real when your 6 years old and it was the scary SCRERRRRRECCCHH that scared most kids as well as the 3D style effect the train would come thu the TV and kill them. If you put the 2 together its VERY scary to an impressionable Kid and could mentally scar them for life.
flatcapman 9 months ago
@flatcapman
I still say you were lucky to see it when you did.
MsPandaRosa 9 months ago
@MsPandaRosa I understand that now as an Adult and now see it as comedy but Im betting it really screwed up kids minds back in the day.
flatcapman 9 months ago
@flatcapman
I still can't make myself watch it all the way, when the train is right about to emerge from the screen...
MsPandaRosa 9 months ago
@MsPandaRosa I have moved on since then and I watch far worse now but one has to start somewhere and the only thing this did for me was to get me into horror films at a very young age.
flatcapman 9 months ago
Lol, I think what had scared me in this skit, was Bob's and Luis' reaction. If they were that freaked out, then imagine the fear that had impacted kids, lol. Would not draw a tunnel for a while after this, as well. =;P
Zelkmassb 11 months ago
Still makes me squeal after all these decades.
DianaDeLuna 11 months ago
Yeah this skit scared the crap out of me as a kid as well.
birdsandbugs1 1 year ago
is it just me? Or can anyone else see that both Bob and Luis actually look alike.
Jiltedin2007 1 year ago
@Jiltedin2007 No they are supposed to be twins in the skit.
flatcapman 10 months ago
@flatcapman O.K., but I swear to you, the first time I saw Luis on Sesame Street, I thought that he was Bob.
Jiltedin2007 10 months ago
I can almost hear Wil Wheaton of "Stand By Me" fame calling out "TRAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!" to Bob and Luis.
patrickballoonman 1 year ago
This is so funny!
CC927 1 year ago
This is great! *hides behind couch*
1ChristineGO 1 year ago
I can't believe I found this. Bob Luis and the train used to give me recurring nightmares as a small kid. Evidently I'm not the only one who got a little freaked out over this.
chowder920 1 year ago
@chowder920 You weren't the only one. I also used to be scared of this as a kid.
markshazam 1 year ago
They should have titled this one "How to Scare a Toddler to Death in Less than Three Minutes"; I've heard horror stories about kids leaving the room when the train was close enough to identify.
hoopersghost 1 year ago
I remember this long time ago and the train made me nervous had no idea that was bob and Luis the whole time just two different guys donig stop motion
MofD619 1 year ago
Oh. Man. I LOVED this skit.
NorthWriter 1 year ago
I know and remember this skit well.
briansky10 1 year ago
Hilarious memory indeed - I remember the music and stop-motion photography back from 30 years ago, and it still gets me 'in the mood' to this very day!
d72jjpilc 1 year ago
Anyone seen that new Coors Light commercial how they paint a train tunnel and you know what happens?
Must have been inspired by this classic SS clip.
MIKECNW 1 year ago
@MIKECNW Or a Looney Tunes one.
swarlock 9 months ago
Personally I'd like to see what would happen if the train started to come thru when the tunnel was mismatched, like at 0:21 :)
PandaMishima 1 year ago
I remember this one. Luis and Bob work so well together. :)
CelesteK 1 year ago
man that train part scared me so bad, I think i was scared more so because Bob and Luis looked so scared....lol, though now they just look funny. Trains scare me to this day.
ayame316 1 year ago
Ha,Ha!!!! I love the look of impending doom on Bob's face @ 1:17
shrill99 2 years ago 4
There was another show that did the same gag, except that the picture of the tunnel fell down after the train passed.
raakone 2 years ago
Is it me or does Luis look a lot like Javier Bardem aka Anton Chigur from "No Country for..." in this clip??
professionalATCcscs 2 years ago 2
I'm another one who was scared of this and the Singing Orange. I'm 32 and they still creep into my dreams lol.
LUVZEP77 2 years ago
What is it about fast motion that's so funny to watch? LOL
stephenp1968 2 years ago
@stephenp1968 It's called 'trick photography'. Imagine WITHOUT the 'circus' music and hearing Bob and Luis talking....like chipmunks.
Rlotpir1972 10 months ago
I remember Gumby often did similar "train zooms into the camera" effects in the older episodes
wilek209 2 years ago
They should have just put up a giant picture of J.Lo also, so she could stop the train with her ass.
apboulton 2 years ago
The train coming through the tunnel and moving toward the camera used to scare me when I was younger because I really thought the train was actually going to come through the TV. I'm old enough to know better but that train still freaks me out.
MoochyMooch 2 years ago 19
@MoochyMooch Crikes, you too? My brother and I were both totally freaked. It was because it was a slowly approaching thing that had sound getting louder and louder. We'd jump behind the couch for cover.
IronPants 1 year ago
@MoochyMooch Imagine watching this clip .... IN 3-D!
Rlotpir1972 7 months ago
didn't they do an 2nd version of this years and years ago ??
Casinoplr 2 years ago
It wasn't the train that used to freak me out, it was them moving around so damn fast. I used to think people could move that fast in real life! LOL
iancurtis51880 2 years ago 2
@iancurtis51880
I suppose if you drink enough coffee you could.
PandaMishima 1 year ago
This scene as well as the "orange sings Carmen" were traumatic for me as a child. Did these writers look at things from a child's perspective?
Joelyboy74 2 years ago
I think they figured children were smart enough to see how impossible it was, and how absurd.
I always thought the singing orange was wierd but still neat, wish my kitchen stuff could do that.
PandaMishima 2 years ago
@PandaMishima these days kids would laugh at it but when your 5 or 6 in the 70's it was scary. The 3D effert wasnt what scared me as a kid it was that horrible noise the train made.
flatcapman 2 years ago
Come on guys...don't litter.
gomiwomi 2 years ago 2
What does this actually reach children?? There are more appropriate ways to teach children puzzles and shapes rather then freak them out with a angry looking train heading str8 for them. What were they thinking????
flatcapman 2 years ago
Yeah, it's funny. I know everyone gets all nostalgic about the kids shows from the 70's, but I think a LOT of it - this included - was developed by young stoner Baby Boomers from the 60's who had no clue what might freak kids out. I have little kids now and, yeah, maybe the stuff from the 70's was more clever on an adult level, but so what? Why were adults watching kids shows in the first place? The current educational shows, including Sesame Street, aren't as cool, but they do their job better.
deyoungparker 2 years ago
Adults are watching it now because they still want to see if this still feaks them out. The only way to conquer fear is to face it. I watched this and simply laughed now understanding it was basicly visual slapstick.
flatcapman 2 years ago
whatever.
MIKECNW 2 years ago
I was stating a point. Not trying to pick a fight since this means very little to me so please spare me the Jerry Springer act.
flatcapman 2 years ago
@flatcapman
You do have a point, what was the point of the sketch? Be careful putting up pictures of train tunnels?
PandaMishima 1 year ago
@PandaMishima I find it laughable now but when I was 5 it was terrfying. It's worse when after seeing the sketch I was bundled off to Sydney via a train and the real thing comes into the station str8 at me at the time. Grendville didnt help at the time either.
flatcapman 1 year ago
@flatcapman
Dear me, I hope you got help. What a dreadful bit of timing!
PandaMishima 1 year ago
@PandaMishima That clip ended up having me sent to a shrink at the time. Im over it now and since I watch far more disturbing stuff now as entertainment this is more comical.
flatcapman 1 year ago
@flatcapman
Oh my, now you have me curious, but please I don't want to know more.
I'll admit this bit is unsettling even now.
PandaMishima 1 year ago
@PandaMishima Don't worry about me I had more then enough people worrying about me when they should be worrying about themselves.
flatcapman 1 year ago
@PandaMishima And BTW It takes one little seed to start something and PRESTO you have watched that seed.
flatcapman 1 year ago
HILARIOUS MEMORY! Frantic stop-motion environment as Bob and Luis scramble to try to find a solution, only to find out that they are too good for their own good! Also, this musical score was used for the short movie clip in the 'Dialing for Prizes Movie' clip featuring Guy Smiley and the word 'Fur.' It's probably about the same age as this one.
d72jjpilc 2 years ago
For a moment there, I thought that train was gonna crash at the camera. THAT would've been scary!
gameshowguy2000 2 years ago 2
Don't recall getting all that scared at this, and I always wondered why Bo and Luis got so scared. They were standing BESIDE it. It's not like they were trapped in the tunnel and couldn't get out in time or something.
uofmrules1 3 years ago
Well wouldn't you be scared if you were putting up some picture of a train tunnel and an actual train comes through?
It's not like they expected that.
MIKECNW 2 years ago
Well yeah, but even then, I'd be going, "WTF? How did that happen?" and be standing back puzzled. Okay, maybe a little shocked if I was to peer into the tunnel and see this train coming, but nothing more then that.
uofmrules1 2 years ago
Ah, but this is the Cartoon Universe, and they HAVE to stand right next to the train as it comes out! Going behind the sign or worse, taking it down is just cheating!
Standing two feet from a rushing locomotive is not for the the squeamish!
PandaMishima 2 years ago
@PandaMishima Yep.
swarlock 9 months ago
That music sure would make great Switcheroo music on The Price is Right
tpirman1982 3 years ago 3
Also, does anybody remember the video that used to immediately precede this one every time it aired? Maybe I'm wrong, and my memory is pretty fuzzy, but I feel like there was a video that always came on right before this one, and I feel like it had to do with a petting zoo. There was a weird goat-like sound at the end of it that served as a trigger for me to be terrified that the scary train video was about to air. Can anybody back me up on that?
ebirnholz 3 years ago
I remember they always showed that before the train scetch so no your not wrong there I was a long term memory so I remember stuff far back as 5 years old and Im 37 now.
flatcapman 3 years ago
Wow. This brings me back. I used to be terrified of this video when I was a kid, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who got freaked out by it. Every time it came on I would shut the TV off and run up to my bedroom. Not sure what scared me about it though. Maybe it was the unsettling music, the train coming right at me, Bob and Luis making weird-looking faces....
Thanks for the nostalgia trip.
ebirnholz 3 years ago
I dont blame you the train comes right at the screen with a god awful screech that I have heard from real in the UK
flatcapman 3 years ago
Yeah, that one was a little creepy, but I remember liking how they had to work at getting the picture right. God! I love these videos!
ibrokemyfingerbowlin 3 years ago
@ibrokemyfingerbowlin And of course they took it down which was an ironic joke.
swarlock 9 months ago
I'm 32 years old now, and it STILL makes me scared! :)
andy42x 3 years ago 4
i think this bothered me because, even at a very early age, i understood that trains were a force almost unstoppable, and i feared things coming at me that i had no ability to control. 80% of my mental issues are all about control-and-lack-thereof anyway. so no wonder it gave me the creeps.
almadora 3 years ago
This used to scare the crap out of me... I hid behind a chair whenever it came on... looks like I wasn't the only one who was horrified by this... I think it was half the train, and half the faces made by the two guys... they're downright creepy looking.
MrBill82x 3 years ago
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I've been searching for this video because I remember it scaring the crap out of me every time it aired!
After watching it now, I can't decide if I was just a big wuss, or if the writers on sesame street just liked scaring little kids.
hongkongphooey13 3 years ago 3
Haven't seen this in 30 years, and just got the same feeling of panic I had the 1st time I watched it. Why was this so terrifying? No idea! Maybe:
-The dudes being scared sh*tless.
-The "scream" of the train
-The super long lead up, where you can barely see something is coming for you...almost like in some Kubric movies where the scary stuff is REALLY small and far away from you.
I'll have a talk with my therapist and tell you what she thinks. :)
StrangeFindings 3 years ago 2
anyone have any of the other fast motion clips?
ffmmfan 3 years ago
Oh Bob!! Oh Luis!! Why did you have to rip it up at the end? After all that effort. Besides why would you want to? trains rock!!
MikerWL 3 years ago
Littering? tsk tsk tsk!
grecomic 3 years ago 2
The fast motion stuff on Sesame Street used to crack me up. I loved them.
iancurtis51880 3 years ago 2
It's the Viacom Train of Doom!!
warlaker 3 years ago 14
I'm glad I'm not the only one that this reminded me of the V of Doom!
wiley207 3 years ago
@warlaker
Someone should do a mashup of that--the Viacom V music playing when the train comes.
RooseveltFranklinFan 1 year ago
@RooseveltFranklinFan And I did just that!
wileyk209zback 8 months ago
I have to say, even though many others have, that this particular segment terrified me when I was a kid. For years I pondered how they pulled off such a feat. Really.
This is the first time I've seen it since I was four or so-- maybe younger-- and it definitely gave me a chill at the start when I recognized it. Thanks for uploading it!
yeluac 3 years ago 3
Here's how they did it: the train was a picture or a card on a blue screen (green is used now). The cameraman began a strong steady zoom in on the train picture. Camera 2 was then instructed electronically not to see the blue around the train. This tape footage was then composited against the main camera 1 footage of the tunnel billboard. This created an illusion of the train approaching up the tunnel. It's actually very easy to do in any television studio!
raposofan 3 years ago 3
I also think CTW may have taken the inspiration for this scary scene from the Hall Scene of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine", when Ringo and Young Fred enter a large mansion looking for help. There is an almost identical train approach scene when a door in the great hall is opened. "Yellow Submarine" was produced in 1967 and released in 1968. This Sesame scene may have been produced in 1971; does anyone here know?
raposofan 3 years ago
It was probably more than less mid to late 70's since the video quality is much brighter.
MIKECNW 2 years ago
@raposofan That may be plausible. I liked that part in Yellow Submarine and than George saying it's all in the mind which is a reference to the ending of every Goon Show Radio program.
swarlock 9 months ago
Ah, this clip used to freak me out to when I was little. Everything about it: the tunnel (I HATED tunnels), the frantic music, and especially that freakin' train I thought was barreling towards me.
Anyone else notice that the sound effect they used for the train is actually from a subway train, not a locomotive train?
Akira625 4 years ago
This segment used to scare me so bad that I would shut off the TV and go into the next room so I would be BEHIND the TV. Just in case. I wouldn't go back in to turn on the TV until I was sure it was over.
richbon75 4 years ago
After hearing the SCTV theme song back in the 70's, I often thought how the the song from this appropriate classic Sesame Street tibit would have right in with SCTV's opening theme. They both sounded similiar!
SKIMAN73 4 years ago
It still scares me!
andy42x 4 years ago
heh.. I forgot how much I loved these "fast motion" clips
MasterEiji 4 years ago 2
Is there a less grainy copy of this out there? It's ten time scarier to watch with a nice clear picture =)
JOTONY77 4 years ago
Which episode is the EKA in?
lemonsters2008 4 years ago
I was terrified of this one when I was 4. I would always cover my eyes whenever it came on!
alpenguy1972 4 years ago
I was watching this video, thinking how much this used to scare me when i was little, and wondering if I should post that here, and thinking "no, that's embarassing." It's good to know that I'm knot the only one who would run away and hide when this skit was on.
ebhymowitz 4 years ago
same here!
i was scared when the actual train came thru.
wow!!!!
renlim75 4 years ago
I REMEMBER THIS!! What's scary is both the anticipation, as well as that f'ed-up train whistle!!! I've never heard a train sound like that... no wonder kids were so scared.
bethpedone 4 years ago
This scared and upset me when i was a little kid.
Nightmastercool97 4 years ago
Oh, and P.S.--Not that I've got anything against sinister, even for the kiddie types! Oy, I'm dying to see the "lost" Wicked Witch segment now. The Wicked Witch never even scared me--the tornado did.
DianaDeLuna 4 years ago
Whenever I view this, I totally go EEEE! and tuck my feet up on the chair, just like when I was five. That's what my big sister and I did when watching this together in the '70s: squeal and jump into my father's big recliner before the train got us.
When I was with my sis, watching this was fun-scary. Watching it alone, it always seemed more sinister.
DianaDeLuna 4 years ago
I read there was a REALLY SCARY "Sesame Street" episode from 1976 featuring the Wicked Witch of the West. It was so frightening, CTW had to ban it after its initial airing! This would've been a good segment for that episode.
wiley207 4 years ago
Citation please
raposofan 4 years ago
I found it out on Muppet Wiki. It was Episode 0847.
wiley207 4 years ago
Thanks! I want to read about this too.
raposofan 4 years ago
I remember that episode, particularly the scene where she pretends she's a "harmless old lady" asking David "Can I hold the broom for a second?", which he innocently agrees to (I remember thinking "Oh come on, David, how blind are you?"). I remember even as a kid thinking that scene was drawn-out and unconvincing, like anyone could see what was coming a mile away, and wishing they'd pick up the pace. :>
RSG2006 4 years ago
OK, I've just read it. All I can say is, let parents write letters like that to my company. While it will be sad to lose a few hundred or thousand child viewers from our show, I refuse to censor content for the remaining viewers on account of ANYONE. They'll be cheerfully let go, and their parents sent well-wishes, and a letter reading, "Thank you for your interest in our show." PC was starting then. Indulging it at all is what's led to our current America.
raposofan 4 years ago
Imagine if Bram Stoker or Mary Shelley had been as squeamish and indulgent as CTW was in 1976. An even closer, more poignant analogy: what if Frank L. Baum or Victor Fleming had? We would not even know who the Wicked Witch WAS. Or for that matter... Dorothy. That is why PC is un-American and wrong, and why NO ARTIST IN ANY FIELD should tolerate it.
raposofan 4 years ago
Does anybody know where I can find the sesame street skit with the wicked witch of the west?
shortyg53 4 years ago
This used to be my favorite skit when I was a kid. I used to watch Sesame Street in hopes that they'd show this.
lkrny 4 years ago
OMG I was scared by this one as a kid too. I always thought the train was going to come right through the tv at me.
kll510 4 years ago
One million percent hilarious! I remember seeing this on Noggin and laughing myself silly!
AlbieGray 4 years ago
Even as a child I loved this skit.But at the same time I also found it creepy too.
I love the way Bob and Luis are suddenly in slower motion when they hear the train coming.
Watching it now,I almost laugh myself silly.I hope this skit is included in the next DVD volume of Sesame Street Old School.
JerryMonotone 4 years ago
I haven't seen this one in at least 25 years. I do remember being spooked by it as a child. Seeing it now, I think I finally understand why I found the sinister plot twist at the end of "The Ring" movie so disturbing. Note the slow, suspenseful approach of the train coming out of the tunnel. Now swap that train with the image of Samara. Uncanny similarity. Very creepy indeed.
Scytale515 4 years ago
@Scytale515 Exactly what I thought
troyundroy1 1 year ago
ME TOO :) I was sooo scared of this as a kid. How relieving to know that it wasn't just me afterall. For some reason, '3 whipped cream pies on the wall' used to frighten me also.
signrichiesign 4 years ago
This used to scare me!! I used to close my eyes!!!
kimberleydawe 4 years ago
How did they do that animation with the train?
I thought this a little scary when I was a kid...I covered my eyes so I wouldn't see the train come screaming out of the tunnerl.
DaveJ721 4 years ago
You're a punk! hahaha!
mftheory 4 years ago
It's true! I remember seeing this and hiding under my bed. To this day trains give me the willies.
grimilkincat 4 years ago
This scared the bejeezus out of me as a kid too. How they did the train: the train is a large painted card posted against a green screen (back then it was blue screen). Camera 1 is on Bob and Luis. Camera 2 is on the train picture. Camera 2 was instructed to zoom in on the train. Then both images were composited (there was blue at center of tunnel on Cam 1) and it creates illusion of train approaching Camera 1.
raposofan 4 years ago
And P.S.: I strongly believe CTW swiped the idea for this sketch from a scene in "Yellow Submarine", where Ringo, George and John enter the house of endless corridors looking for Paul, and John, opening a door, reveals an enormous train colored this same way that hurtles directly towards camera. John slams the door just in time.
raposofan 4 years ago
I think that's how they made the Viacom "V of Doom" logo, too.
wiley207 4 years ago
The Ghost Train is coming, kiddies. Listen to it SCREAM.
DragonLord1975 4 years ago
This reminds me of the Viacom "V of Doom" logo.
wiley207 4 years ago
yes it was just looking at the fear on the two guys' faces i used to hide in the kitchen when this happened.
leviathon74 4 years ago
yes, no question, this was totally totally scary as a kid!
gringoyo 4 years ago
Weird! As a kid this scared the piss out of me.
twoonbiscayne 5 years ago
the opera singing orange right? I think the most scary one for me was that boy close up all you can see is his lips its animated he does the dah dah dah DAHHHDAHHHHHHH DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM!
it scared the shit out of me
lovemeg5186 5 years ago
I dont know if anyone else mentioned it, but the humpty dumpty clip from news flash was another traumatic bit. Someone needs to compile a bunch of clips together of scary/odd/traumatic sesame street shorts.
Reefdevil 5 years ago
I fucking LOVED this skit when I was a kid. Man, they don't do stuff like this on Sesame Street anymore. I loved the fast-motion slapsitck and the whacky music. Totally classic.
frankcotton 5 years ago
Man, I hadn't seen this in forever! There's something visceral about a train coming at you screaming...I didn't like that either when I was little. Bob and Luis being terrified too sure didn't help matters any! Great to see after all these years.
kaboompoop 5 years ago
I feel validated reading the comments and seeing this used to scare the hell out of everybody else too. Thank you so much for posting this!
Argiope 5 years ago
No, singing orange which I just watched was creepy for a four year old, but I always knew it was just a singing Orange, in this one you face a blood curddling screaming train racing towards you. A singing Orange or a screaming train coming at you, I think the screaming train is scarier.
bushbasher85 5 years ago
It's funny to watch this now after all these years, as this Sesame clip ranked #1 on the scary/disturbing factor to me when I was little. I still think the train screaming through is scary. I always liked the singing orange!
squeaks1015 5 years ago
I wonder what their union spokesman had to say about this lol
CygnusRoc 5 years ago
This and that demented Singing orange scared me to death, but this one is child's play compared to her...Sesame Street was quite traumatizing way back when lol..
JohnLennonLivs 5 years ago
Thank you, I was looking for this. The anticipation of the train coming always got to me. My twin brother and I would freak out in the living room.
nofrills 5 years ago
hahaha I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one freaked out by this as a kid!
dina81 5 years ago