Sesame Street - And Now The Octopus! (full version)

[lexvill]

Lol! That's the graduation song.

[raivenneny]

Yes I was one of the scared hiding behind my couch kids who had a nightmare or two over the octopus & "eggs" on it...40 years later I look at it & it's quite cool but at age 5 not so much LOL!

[cowellwannabe71]

I had sushi with octopus meat in it last week.

[binturong1000]

Every time I seean octopus I think of this. Who wouldn't?

[binturong1000]

Yes Kermit it was an interesting film about octoouses.

[fuckyounotme1]

is the octopus graduating? i think the octopus then goes to college where he will become one of the most respected doctors in all of Mississippi...idk im a weirdo :P

[wileyk209zback]

Why are they playing "Pomp and Circumstance" during footage of an octopus?!

[micmac99]

@wileyk209zback It's majestic and stately like an octopus! Seriously, this is the very first place I heard this music when I was a kid.

[starwarsnerd100]

ya! ya! Cthulu fhtagn!

[binturong1000]

Who was the 1 person to not like this? and why?

[cavalierfan1995]

she learned one thing about the octopus she knows how to squeeze blahhhhgggg!

[cavalierfan1995]

and now.......

#1.........the larch 

[1RichardHunt]

Where's the part where Shola and Fannie explain "next to" with Kermit?

[ClickClackClickClack]

like something out of monty python...

[KansaiSamurai]

Anytime I hear the Pomp and Circumstance march, I think of octopuses!

[JMFabianoRPL]

@KansaiSamurai Ooooooooh, yeaaaaaahhhhhhh!

[panda374]

Tis music works well with this clip.

[Usagi1992]

Oddly enough, this clip NEVER frightened me as a child! Rather, it made me look upon that octopus with a great deal of awe and wonder.

I consider this to be the extreme opposite of "I-Beam", where unlike "I-Beam", where the music was what made it frightening, it was this clip's choice of music that made me NOT scared! It was as if that 'Pomp and Circumstance' organ music said to me "This is something to be admired and respected, not feared", so I did just that. ^_^

[MegaCrowman]

filmed in the octopus's garden, in the shade

[megarouge2001]

This is bizarre music for this clip. Is the octopus graduating?

[bookstar77]

@megarouge2001 -- No, maybe it's an English octopus.

For the organ music playing in that clip was the famous English patriotic song "Land Of Hope And Glory".

But why the tune of that song is played at graduations is beyond me.

[BrawlSnorlax]

What is the leed into for that?

[kevico2]

The first time when I saw this, I thought the tentacles were sliced cucumbers... They eye is pretty gross...  ewwww! yuck!

[cootmaster]

HAAAAA pop amd curcumstance OMG LOL

[mjolniroz70]

I loved this clip as a kid and I still think it's great. I love octopuses.

[koala371]

Who's Elgar?

[sunnyblonde2118]

There have been so many other versions of the SS octopus film in addition to what has already been posted on youtube, I am wondering if you remember an episode from the 1974-1975 which when I saw this clip frequently when Big Bird & Snuffulufagas and the gang on the street were all interacting and this film fades in. I know I remember it.

[sunnyblonde2118]

stevenscottoddballz, you actually liked this clip, huh! Didn't you get scared by the pounding drumroll in the beginning of the film and the scary organ music during this clip, because I screamed bloody murder at this film. Check out all my comments on this film.

[stevenscottoddballz]

#1. What was the skit with Ernie before the octopus?

#2. What is the part we're seeing moving from about 0:20 to 0:30?

[sunnyblonde2118]

#1 The skit prior to the octopus was Ernie & Cookie Monster in the skit "Ernie Fortune Gets Told".

#2 The part your seeing is the eyes of the octopus!

[stevenscottoddballz]

Thank you VERY much for the answers! I really appreciate it! The octopus was AWESOME!

[rockhopper10r]

I haven't this clip in so long that I honestly didn't remember that it was Elgar playing in the background. :)

[sunnyblonde2118]

bigg3463, I meant to also ask you if in the early 1970's that this clip first appeared on SS, did you happen to flip through channels and see this film and happen to recognize the music as P&C.

[bigg3469]

This Version of Pomp & Circumstances March No. 1 in D with pipe organ & tympani (kettle drums) sounds so regal & majestic!!

[sunnyblonde2118]

Hi bigg3469, Hi there It's sunnyblonde2118, and I have a quick question for you? I saw that you are about 9 years older than I am. Do you have sibling my age that watched Sesame St. in the early 1970's or did you watch it yourself or if you have kids did they watch it? The reason I ask is because you seem to know this version of Pomp & Circumstance, but still want to know if Diane Bish played this version.

[sunnyblonde2118]

Is this Diane Bish playing this version of "Pomp and Circumstance".

[kartanoman]

Add me to the list of folks who were scared out of their pants whenever this clip was televised during my childhood. I used to run out of the TV room, and into my bedroom, until the eery music was over and I knew it was safe to return. Nowadays (I'm 40), I watch it, think it's kind of cool, and think to myself ... "mmmm - sushi!"

[sunnyblonde2118]

I am with you on the scariness of this video and the organ music , not to mention how much this video made you run out of the TV room or in my case up the stairs in my house until this clip was over and looking at it today is actually pretty cool, studying the cycle of the octopus in this little tank with the strobe lights going on and off and moving around from one side of the cage to another with tentacles bulging in and out so close up the screen. Ha! Ha! that last sentence cracks me up!

[absentmindedprof]

Mommy, I want to be an octopus when I grow up!

[sunnyblonde2118]

Canada Family Man, I always remember organ music in this film in all versions and always either crying or screaming bloody murder when this skit came on with the pounding drumroll in the beginning of the film, but I think you maybe right about parts of this video having cheerier music without the octopus being so scary looking.

[NEUDude]

That isn't Virgil Fox on the organ, is it?

[stegaflaps]

They put this in to scare kids Im sure! When I was a little tacker I thought it had eggs on its legs!

[shrill99]

At what aquarium was this filmed?

[sunnyblonde2118]

I am wondering the same thing too and also wondering from what date did this clip appear on SS for the first time.

[panda374]

@shrill99 We have an octopus here in the Denver aqiarium. When I see him I think of this.

[MrPurrfect68]

Yes that was Luis doing the voice over.

[sunnyblonde2118]

I couldn't disagree with you more about this clip looking kind of weird about the suction cups on the tentacles! YIKES! It makes you wonder whether or not the makers of Sesame Street were "on something" back then.

[CanadaFamilyMan]

All they were "on" was a desire to scare us kids born from 1966-72. Like you said, what we see here is super-scary-looking, & then that music makes it 8 times scarier! Without a doubt, they WANTED this to be scary!

[sunnyblonde2118]

I know that there were other versions of And Now the Octopus that I remember seeing during the years I frequently watched SS. Could you possibly post them?

[jonnytbirdzback]

I wouldn't know the other versions that you're referring to so sorry.

[CanadaFamilyMan]

sunnyblonde, I think you're right. I vaguely remember seeing parts of this (the "eggs" in particular) on a version with cheerier music, which made the octopus seem more friendly!

[sunnyblonde2118]

I watched Sesame Street frequently from 1974-1977 and when I saw this video for the first time in 1974 when I was 3 years old, I would start screaming bloody murder to the point where my Mom had to turn the TV off. It was both those bulging tentacles and scary organ music. Because of this video is the reason I liked the Electric Company far better.

[msjacksoncounty]

i was obsessed with this clip when i was little. they're so gorgeous and fascinating!!!! I'm in my mid 20s and i'm still obsessed with them

[blackout010]

This used to scare the crap outta me when I was a kid.

[d72jjpilc]

I remember this - I didn't know that octopi went to graduation ceremonies! Just wondering - is the voice of the man who announces 'And now...the octopus!' Emilio Delgado (Luis)? Sounds like him. Thanks in advance.

[toastichedu]

That is indeed Luis.

[sunnyblonde2118]

@d72jjpilc Yes, I remember watching this and knew when I heard "AND NOW THE OCTOPUS", it was w/ out question Luis and it sounded very, very scary and then the organ music came on and started screaming bloody murder. In order to get to Mr. Rogers & The Electric Company in both the AM & PM and the good thing about SS being on before both of those shows, it made me feel more at ease & relaxed as this skit was always shown if I remember during the last 1/2 hour of SS

[JME1973]

This one used to creep me out as a kid. I just hated they way the octopus kind of stared at the screen. I used to also wonder why the makers of Sesame Street were thinking back then. This could easily traumatize a youngster.

[snuffereet]

I know what you mean. Even though at one point I didn't see this clip for a good 10 to 12 years, I swear I thought about it in my mind at least once or twice a week. I think it's a cool clip now but I always got freaked out at the end of the clip, the only time you see the Octopus' eyes and it's looking right AT the camera. Memories... :)

[CanadaFamilyMan]

Ya know, I think they added that piece of Kermit saying it was so cool to try & calm down all us little kids who had just gotten scared to pieces!

[blackout010]

Yup. Scared the crap outta me as a kid.

[MrPurrfect68]

Thanks jonny for posting this one, my all time favorite clip from the show!!!!

[glowworm2]

I love what Shola does to Kermit at the end of the clip!XD

[Kryer98]

Shola's awesome. It's a shame she had to grow up.

[benvolio15]

I remembered the music from this clip so well, that by the time I was in high school, I used to wonder why octopus music was being used in our graduation ceremonies!

[ISNorden]

You apparently aren't the only one...  :-)

[jeopardy60611]

I would be asking why graduation music is being used to show an octopus.

Actually, I didn't know about the lyrics to this song ("Land of hope and glory...") until I transfered to a new school in 3rd grade and we attended the graduation ceremony every year where they sang this.

[bennyraven]

Hooray! The one segment that seriously scared the pants off me when I was a kid! Thanks, Jonny!

(I'm not being sarcastic, I have wanted to see this again.)

[ISNorden]

I thought the clip was kind of weird too, when I saw it years ago: the camera angles made that octopus look threatening, and those suction cups on the tentacles completely puzzled me.

[MrPurrfect68]

I thought while watching this as a kid the octopus had a lot of eggs on his body....;^)

[Kryer98]

I thought they were marshmallows when I was a kid.

[raakone]

I like this. This is probably the freakiest rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance" I've ever heard. Nice octopus!