Sesame Street - Psychedelic alphabet

[whiskersdog77]

The woman singing is Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane!!!

[backwoodtripper]

far out. thats still good stuff

[mcenn]

I feel kinda hypnotized myself.

[latescarface21]

DID you also watch this video with mouth open?

[benamy02]

THIS IS so weird  it freaked me out someone must have been high when this was being made

[skeaneable]

THE WALLS ARE MELTING .....I COULD SEE MY RIGHT HAND SMILING TOWARDS TO ME!!!!

[DarkCloud467]

LOL LSD anyone, my god i totally remember watching that

[eggplnt]

what is interesting is the fact that sesame street is dedicated to following current trends in early childhood education. They are very intentional in their use of music and imagery - every element serves some specific purpose. This is not just the creation of some hippie PBS employee.

[ShadesBelow03]

I remember seeing this once sometime back in the '90s, and the music (maybe the recitation as well) in the middle had been obscured over by something else, less psychedelic. Anyone else remember it?

[ariel12955]

Wasn't television much more entertaining when it was drug influenced? (Sigh) Those were the days :)))

[JuanMamaril]

The Alphabet's bad mmm'kay?

Don't do the alphabet mmm'kay?

[darthmeyers074]

This clip freaked.me out when i was a kid.

[LimboShrimp]

Also, damn hippies and their psychedelphibet.

[LimboShrimp]

The alphabet's groovy man. Everybody's usin' it.

[skeaneable]

this alphabet sequence acid trip was brought to you by the Beatles on board their Yellow Submarine!

[freakette55]

A beautiful video...the music stayed with me for years...very calming.

Screw Wall Street... I'll take the detour onto Sesame anytime. (World might not be in such a mess now if more did...although Oscar would probably be screaming out the top of his can if that happened...)

Pax and Lux....

[64delftlover]

Two comments: I've always insisted that Sesame Street was really for adults, veiling adult humor as an educational show for kids, I always loved watching it with my kids. Secondly, "Timothy Leary's dead,, no,no.....he's working as a producer for PBS". This vid is sweet!

[Perkisound]

A Lexicon of purest soul revealment...thankyou

[asburytheo]

"So what do you do for a living?"

"I get stoned and animate cartoons for PBS."

[MrNickWright]

I think when I saw this as a kid I shat myself. I had diapers on though so it was cool.

[snhtown9]

My god! Charlie Sheen's narrating the alphabet on Sesame Street now?

[DoubleBassAlejo]

@snhtown9 What's with people being so easily influenced by fads? The death of individual thought is upon us...the NWO has already won.

[snhtown9]

@DoubleBassAlejo Huh? Ever heard of humor?

[DoubleBassAlejo]

@snhtown9 Exactly how is that considered humor?

Fad + fail joke delivery = not humor.

[snhtown9]

@DoubleBassAlejo Buddy, let it go, and let's pretend I never said the fuckin' line, fair enough? 

[theirishhateyou]

@DoubleBassAlejo

Not sure you can dictate what is and is not humour, though, can you? I'm not sure you can accurately assess how much of a "free thinker" this dude/chick might be based on a single youtube comment you found not to be funny. A single attempt to conform to current trends/fads/ideologies doesn't mean someone is necessarily ALWAYS a slave to those things, does it? That's my understanding anyway.

Though this comment IS from 9 months ago so what should I care, eh? Hahaha.

[DoubleBassAlejo]

@theirishhateyou You're absolutely correct.

[nunitonick]

Crazy stuff..is like knowlege,doesnt ocupied much space in the head...keep coming,only makes us more interesting as people.

[CBcinema1]

Im suprised I havent seen any skeptics ranting about how there may or may not be illuminati or satanic messeges in this. They are usually ranting about everything psycadellic.

[TRANZEURO]

LOL. Man whenever I see some of these early Sesame Street segments I can't help but laugh. A lot of them are sooo trippy ! It's not even just the visuals either,it's also that ethereal dreamlike floating music and the ghostly narration.All that leftover late 60's LSD I guess ? You don't notice these things as a kid of course,but when you get older it's a whole different story. lol

[spjunkie]

"Here is another psychedelic cartoon about the alphabet. There must have been people on drugs who created these cartoons. (lol)"

They were actually contracted from some crazy 70's animators. Who most likey WERE enjoying recreational substances.

[pkproductions0]

We just found the cause of synesthesia!

[norgeskuespiller19]

trippy

[hpsapphire915]

Strangely Awesome! lol :D

[nlghtgirl]

The background (although lovely) is distracting to teaching the ABCs... Thumbs up anyway.... Love Sesame Street! very interesting!creative

!

[umbsix]

Very creepy +)

[RavishingRedheadd]

wow i was a little girl when i watched this

[Zarggg]

It's not that they were on drugs, it's that creativity was actually ENCOURAGED in the 60s through the 80s.

[TrainmasterCurt]

@Zarggg Creativity has gone out the window, just look at Little Mosque on The Prairie, Dancing With the Stars and Lady GaGa, whatever happened to classic Sesame Street, The Champ, Visage,Logic System, new-romantic fashion. All we get now is braindead hip-hop garbage!

[ShreddinJohn]

Watch this higher than shit, it is amazing 

[Agnostic72]

It seems to me this video would be way terrifying if you're on an acid trip...

[2meninachair]

I dont want to watch this when im stoned

[Agnostic72]

Trippy!

[vertisync]

AHAHA WTF

[avalanchealonso]

Man! This is really fucked up and scary, especially for our childhood. No wonder we are so accustomed to dark humor.

[boBSerroneVideo]

Watch it while listening to Dark Side of the Moon

[Oldclaws]

Now you just need the 1 thru 12 pinball segment. ;-)

[monkeybutler20]

@Oldclaws that was beutifull that segment

[SpiderShane1]

LSD 5-MEO-DMT MDMA THC OC DXM PCP GHB 2C-I 2C-B MAOI AMT LSA SSRI ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Jacobre156]

so it is Sesame Street that accounts for my enjoyment of psychedelic music today ...haha

[LFraudHubbard]

Damn! thats some good stuff

[synespro]

I was one of those children. Programmed right :)

[Qulabican]

So this is why we're so fucked up in the head today...COOL! who wants to hit the pipe?

[alwayscocacola80]

I feel like I took something when I watch this.....

[stanley4889]

pretty trippy

[boobtuber06]

and that's when I first learned about the wonderful world of acid...

[murielsartre]

I'll have what they're having.

[WhiteMKIV]

Cool!

[TheTallMan35]

That's guy's voice was creepy. What did he smoke?

[gtankov]

whaaaaaat the fuuuuuuckkkk, i cannot BELIEVE they showed this to kids! lmao!

[gtankov]

@gtankov actually now my amazement has transformed into perplexity with respect to WHY did they make the cartoon this way?

[lirrguy]

I remember watching this on TV when I was a kid.

[autoforthepeople]

Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa reminds me of when I once went to Betterspecs: "Is it better nowwwwwwww...? Or better when I take it awayyyyyyy.....??? Better nowwwwww....... or better when I take it awayyyyy....??? *shakes head at herself for even posting this* :- D

[surfmcgoogler]

Heeyyy Meeyannn what's HAP.....pen-ing with that alphabet ? It's like Far out.

[certifiedloco]

A is for aaaaaacccccciiiiiiiddddd..

[wagerfilmART]

Lots of fun. And that was the idea.

[Nell0106]

as a kid i neve realy liked this, zeeeeeeeeeeee, lol

[LiteracyLabyrinth]

The Hammond organ at the end is awesome. TRippy memorable stuff.

[herbleus]

That's a trippy (and great) way of learning the alphabet ;)

[0047124]

H I J K L M N O P

[vidooch]

I DO THIS!

[09Listener]

This must have been what the aliens in Fantastic Planet showed their kids.... I like the ripping organ at the end: YOW!

[aramanth]

@09Listener Great Movie!! Yes I can see that would be great for the Draag toddlers to watch while their parents meditate!!

[spy4863]

I know I'm verey inspred y psychedelia, especially Peter Max--he's one of my all-time favorite artists! I realize the much of his art is probably drug inspired, but thyat's ot the case with me-I get my art inspiration from just looking all around and seeing things in my own unique way. I don't need the drugs to inspire me. But that's all beside the point-the point is that this is a classic cartoon, very artistic, very psychedelic and very inspired! A great, unique way to teach the alphabet!

[spy4863]

I love how the letters morph into each other! And thed backgrounds azre so cool! The "W" backiground looks alot like the "Sea of Holes" in the movie "Yellow SubmaRINE". Peter Max did the designs for that movie. Maybe his work was the inbspiration for thir cartoon. I don't think it was necessarily because the animaters were on drugs or anything like that-alot of people were inspired by the psychedelia that was so common in that era. Some were on drugs when thery were inspired, but not all.

[QuietByDay]

Dude, I remember this!

Actually, Sesame Street was still playing this in the late 80s. They liked to recycle their reruns. I guess kids are easy to please.

[FLYAPBY]

It was the seventies and was not uncommon or out of place from the rest of the common culture of the day.

[TrainmasterCurt]

The weird stuff we grew up with, and the fact Grace Slick had something to do with it, white rabbit!

[raposofan]

I was mesmerized by this as a kid. Today I want to stand up clapping and give the animators a standing ovation!

[jarbon5]

Learning on an acid trip, that is far out!

[AtenRa]

Oh my god this is so messed up! I can't believe I didn't find this scary when I was little. Timothy Leary takes over Sesame Street!

I think I'll just shrink into the corner with the cuddly Madrigal Alphabet before the walls start melting...

[joshuarosenblatt]

Atena don't worry and don't shrink into a corner....jsut turn on the allman brothers live at Fillmore.. and get lost in the guitar harmonies... it'll only last 10 more hours, I promise!!!

[autoforthepeople]

@AtenRa *sighs* I LOVED the Madrigal Alphabet!!! :- D

[TheJediCharles]

@AtenRa

I nearly found it scary, but mostly I found it unpleasant. I already had a love of drawing by this time and clearly thought, "if I made cartoons for Sesame Street, I'd never make them this weird."

[pureecstasy]

i love this

[joshuarosenblatt]

I'mpretty sure that many people involved with Sesame street, Sid & Marty Krofft, The Electric Company and all those shows were trippin balls pretty frequently back in the day.  Well, except Mr Rogers.... he was just a drunk. :)

[DrunkTrailerBabe]

lol!!....@ Mr Rogers!

[joshuarosenblatt]

you know it's true... it's how he dealt with his pedophilic tendencies...

[zacandtaylorrule]

Ithink that is grace Slick doing the singing.  Am I wrong?

[Crackrzz]

LOL I had that on that Fisher Proce crank viewer...

[mstatz]

I had the same thing when I was a little kid. I also had a Sesame Street one too. I had the Baker falling down the stairs and the Mad painter number 7 plus a couple other skits.

[Pattonfrodo]

@Crackrzz me too!

[JuanMamaril]

Don't give me crack, all I need is Classic Sesame Street ^^

[alfonsothepirate]

duuuude

[TehGhoul]

That was awesome

[certifiedloco]

I grew up on that shit. No wonder I'm so into psychedelics these days. Haha, Timothy Leary probably did it-

[codieraji]

It has a Peter Max look to it

[glassminimalist]

That "t" was a little lopsided

[macychick]

well, it was in the 1970's so I wouldn't be surprised!

[FuzztoneProductions]

haha lsd

[ASithTheyCalledEmo]

O - P - IUM

[BizzarreProductions]

I SWEAR they still showed this in the ninties. I remember seeing this and thinking it was a rorschach test...I mean, look at "F", for crying out loud.

[benamy02]

i wonder if someone was on acide or some type of drug when they did this

[abstar12]

what a trip.......

[imsloan]

I remember this the bakers counting song and all the other freaked out shit they used to have on Sesame Street..this is the 1st time that something frightened and fascinated me at the same time..

[JuanMamaril]

This video is a visual representation into the mind of a Driver caught Driving Under the Influence of abusive substance being able to recite the alphabet despite his state of mind :D

[autoforthepeople]

@JuanMamaril Too accurate an interpretation!!!

[shanandderek413]

WAT THE FREAK

[actif2603]

me too i was a little boy i remember!

[radiogreenblue]

want to peer into a kaleidoscope with eye popping colors? search for "Blue Siberia" on youtube.  filmed in high res and set to a song by the instrumental band star fk radium

[Keeko41k]

very trippi

[iloveoreos15]

I would have been licking the t.v if I had seen this as a little kid then.

[kblaise524]

this is why say no to drugs never worked.

[TroySundt]

Oh my. This is extremely reflective of the late 60's early 70's psychedelia culture! I love it!

[Hyperdrivespacefuck]

I AM THE ALPHABET AND THE OMEGABET

[ZOOMDOUT]

HA HA zoomdout, man!

[Syrinx77]

" There must have been people on drugs who created these cartoons." (OP)

Looking back at a LOT of these old SS film shorts, there's little doubt in my mind that was likely the case. Seriously, think about it- the entire Jim Henson crew were young in the late 60s, & probably on the "business" end of the then counter-culture. & a HUGE part of that culture was drug use. Maybe not sh*t like coke or *heroin*, but....

[CraigFoye80]

In the UK it's "zed". In the USA it's "zee".

[Kodos13]

Yep, it still trips me out....

They had some good sh*t at the Children's Television Workshop!

[jtomally9681]

I remember this too.

[KarinUtrecht]

That's kinda scary :-P

[ElektricBlue89]

wha?

[sarahthediva]

I think my brain just went through a blender

[Dresselhaus]

junkies

[turduckenband]

dude, awesome

[hippiekyd416]

That was awesome.

[LeftSock06]

The best of my childhood right here.

[demonfan4life]

far out man

[visitor48]

"Why is the alphabet so scary, Mommy?"

[xxxredmoonatnoonxxx]

I remember this! creeeeeeeepy.

[riktok]

trippy ... whooooooooooeeeeee

[noztnac1]

In the UK it's zed. In the USA it's zee. That you don't know that indicates that you are a narrow-minded, uncultured idiot.

[str3qFeE]

'ZED' is the CORRECT from, you *******. It comes from the Greek "zeta" whereas 'zee' is just random.

[doncoro]

I remember seeing hippy things when I was a kid.

Everything was so cool and colorfull back in 1970.

No drugs are needed to be in a constant hippy state of mind: the world would be a lot better.

[mugarwidow]

hahaahahaaa

[rang3r34]

Man does this bring back memories! This used to scare the shit out of me as a child, but I still found it cool at the same time! This is when sesame street was still fun to watch, now it's just the Elmo show.That sucks:(

[Teddywolf]

wow man i need to smoke another bowl to enjoy this more... LOL

[WildBill707]

me too!

[PandaMishima]

Hmmmmm........

[quizmaster85]

Elllllllllll

Esssssssssss

Deeeeeeeeeee

[murielsartre]

The man reciting has a very hypnotic voice.

[SweetKizzies72]

LOL cuz he's high as a kite ;]

[maleysnemesis]

I think I remember seeing this as a kid and being scared.

[BooJuggalette333]

damn that's creepy but sweet

[ExistentiaDementia]

yeah man.

[wabtanker]

omg I CAN SEE THE FUTURE!!!!

[gameshowluvr86]

Kind of relaxing....

[amishgangsters]

if they still had trippy cartoons like this for kids, they'd be a lot more chill

[jennarentz]

lmao, i remember when most cartoons were like that

[CelesteK]

That sounds like Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane.

[d72jjpilc]

Actually, I was just about to mention that - the woman's voice doing both the beginning and end 'run-through' of the alphabet in this clip sounds an awful lot like the one who does the vocals on the Jazzy Spies series - and that one is confirmed to be Grace Slick.

[CelesteK]

I used to get freaked out a little bit by this one.

[VirgoGal74]

Freaky stuff - I remember this as a kid and forgot how trippy it was. I wonder if it was animated by the same people who did the "Yo Yo Master" skit with the kid on his bike passing all those bizarre things.

[gianni737]

mescalin is great

[MattAKASchfiftyThree]

Wow, pretty trippy. I think Tomorrow Never Knows is more trippier.

[mstatz]

I agree!

[jbb22310]

i think i now know why im so odd-----growing up with this how can you not be?!?!?!!

[madaboutmika75]

wow, freaky voice xD

love the animation though <3

[MattBL]

I remember this one.

Sweet memories. The last time this appeared was in the early eighties.

Why? Because I grew up in the early eighties.

:)

[wfd57fatman]

A is for Acid, B is for Bennies, C is for Crack, D is for Dust, E is for Ecstasy, F is for Flake, G is for Gold, H is for Hash, I is for Ice, J is for Joint, K is for Kif, L is for Ludes, M is for Mesc, N is for

[CatalinaSafari73]

I remember watching this as a kid on a crappy 11" black and white TV and still thought it was cool as hell.

[jedininjas]

now we know how to get to get to sesame street... take an acid trip.

[bicchy1]

A is for acid trip

[pbanta62]

Interesting as I just realized three of the first four letters in the alphabed are three of the letters in "a-c-i-d" AND in alphabetical order!

Wow--the colors--the colors! Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? I'm hurrrtin', man! :D

[quizmaster85]

Don't know who gave your comment a thumbs down earlier, but interesting point you've made there :)

[wotmeworry333]

turn on tune in drop out.

[BroadwayPottergirl]

Switch on, switch off

[zombiesoiree]

Under-employed animators are all drug fiends.

[wanderingunderstars]

I was 4 years old, and my dad would feed me acid and make me watch this... so when I got older, every time I saw letters on the highway signs I would start having seizures and start screaming MAKE IT STOP while trying to eat my own nipples. How was your childhood?

[Wormdei]

Oh, you know, about average.

[rdangelo]

These guys were definitely druggies.

[LHZZ12MM]

Woah! I sooo remember this, and it was way cool...I think I was about 6 at the time. How fun to see it again, 30+ years later :)

About the design, I think if you look at it, it shows how SS always has tried to be culturally relevant with kids in their time...mold the show to the kids' world, not the kids to the show's world. I'm probably wacked on that thought.

[bicchy1]

nope lhzz, you're right on the money

[locutusofborg278]

Kind of looks like colored inkblots moving and morphing.

[tyrese3745]

Groovy alphabet, man. Wow.

[NEARLY40andSEXY]

I remember as a kid the guy reciting the ABCs and the music behind it used to freak me out a little. Too intense for me as a 5 yr. old,lol.