I remember watching this when I was 5 thinking it was really cool. I always liked programs about how things were made when I was little. Actually, I still do.
you know how kids are, things that adults wouldn't think of as scary can terrify them for no reason. this does have molten metal though... which when your told expressly not to touch hot things like the stove, but don't really understand why yet coupled with somewhat scary music can be frightining.
I used to love this clip back in the day. I was never afraid of it, always found it interesting. If anything on Sesame Street scared me just a little it was the Count.
the music is creepy as hell. it sounds like it belongs in a 70's gialo film. for those who dont know what a gialo is its an italian horror/slasher/thriller
I remember this; it didn't scare me as much as made me wonder what the heck I was watching. I mean the fact it was the letter 'I' I got, but seriously, what kind of five-year-old child is supposed to be familiar with molten steel?
I never saw this segment as a child, but I can see how it might scare some children. The whole segment is reminiscent of the "Rite of Spring" volcanic scene from Fantasia. Now THAT freaked me out something fierce!
this was just random, not scary. not "nightmare fuel" and btw i dont get alot of nightmare fuel. i mean some1 on a tv trope website was scared of yoshis island because they thought too much about it. they thought about how yoshi eats the enemies and makes them into eggs. they started talking about how he was "eating their rotting corpse and making it into an egg" most of the nightmare fuel is just people thinking too much about what somethings look like and they scare themselves.
this didn't really scare me back in the day but i can see how it could've scared kids. i think the noises before the video actually starts are scarier.
I think it'd be creepier if at the end a very low voice boomed " I !" Or if they had a similar voice say "I think we made the huge letter 'I'!" Unless they got someone by Roscoe Orman to do it, it would not be as menacing I think.
I never thought this was scary at all, and I remember seeing it a lot. Not that I don't see how it could be seen as scary, I recall a few TV logos and sign-offs creeping me out in my youth.
wow yes, scared the bejeezus out of me when i was 5 or 6 years old. i actually searched for this clip after remembering how much it freaked me out 25 years ago. violence.
Wow - this really scared lots of kids? It's like watching a 'how it's made' segment. But I can't be too critical...Mr. Ed (the show with the talking horse) scared the crap outta me when I was a little kid!
OMG this used to freak me out too! I think it was the music.. and I was wondering why it didn't cool down with all that water being sprayed on it... anybody else notice that?
I'm amazed too. I always thought The Crack In The Wall cartoon was one of the scariest things on Sesame Street. But for "scary", The Electric Company had a lot more things on it on a regular basis that were _really_ scary. I start with those 2001 wall cartoons and Spiderman without a voice and go from there.
I remember seeing this one as a child but I'm not quite sure if this one actually frightened me or not. I can understand why so many people were frightened by it as children though. The music is pretty intense-perhaps I was at least afraid of that-but I know that the "I" itself didn't scare me.
Yeah, I think I saw it before, but I don't remember being afraid of that, but I can definitely understand that music being intense.
Oh well, at least that skit is finally officially available on home video now! (It was released on DVD as part of the Sesame Street 40th Anniversary DVD!)
I must admit this music is scary and I don't blame any child for fearing this segment. To be honest I don't understand why they couldn't compose a tune with a more pleasant melody. After all the letter I is just another innocent letter of the alphabet; not something of wrath.
This scared me sooooooo much as a kid. I would still watch it but I would stay as far away from the TV as possible thinking that somehow the distance would protect me from the wrath of the letter I!!
Oh, my gosh! I remember this! The music is so dramatic. The higher-pitched instrument in the first couple of measures is a trumpet with either a philharmonic or a cup mute.
Why were so many people afraid of this clip? They are just melting metal. Why was this clip removed? Has any one seen the south park version Kyle fears I beam?
I'm so glad they found this. I wasn't scared, but I was wary of this clip. I remember thinking what would happen to me or someone I know if they got to close to that.
I agree that the music is the scariest thing about this video. Maybe a better song to go with this clip would have been Billy Joel's "Allentown." LOL!
I never was so thankful for the "today's episode is brought to you by" 's! When it was I's turn, I knew to run up to the set as the three cartoon guys that lived in the letter I came on to turn it off, count to 99, turn it back on, and take cover behind my couch in case I counted too fast! No lie! I don't know what they were thinking! First time I saw it, Nightmares and the whole bit!!! Glad to see I was not the only one! Let's start the sesame street I-Beam survivors support network :P
I remember this skit when I was a kid. it scares living hell out of me. When ever this came on I ran out screaming atop of my lungs bloody murder that my mom rush over to me asking me what's wrong. now I've seen it I'm not afraid.
omg HOT METAL!!!! i remember this used to scare me so damn bad when i was a kid...even right now i have it on pause because im too scared to watch it now, even at the age of 29.... like really im effing traumatized by hot metal!!! i used to run out the room in frantic tears screaming, hot metal is on !!!!!!! this is the first time in maybe 24 yrs i seen this and im really having flies in my tummy about to watch it. omg is that not retarded!!! i keep pausing it looool
I'll ask, what is that liquid pouring in the background, and can anyone explain the step-by-step process in this clip? I never really understood how this was done.
Well, obviously this is a steel mill. There are different types of machinery in use here. The block of forged steel goes in on rollers. There are also devices that push the block to all the different cutting devices so as to give them the shape they want. The liquid shown in the background is water to cool the steel off.
That is water to stop the workpiece heating up the rollers as they work the metal. Due to the length of time the water touches the work as compared with the rollers, the rollers stay relatively cool and the work stays hot. I believe steam engines were the prefered means of powering the rollers because of their ability to go from forward to reverse with ease. The I beam shown still has more rolling operations to go through before being finished.
I just thought of the perfect ending for this clip, get that voice actor from the "Screaming I" film and have him say "I" in that booming voice right as the music stops.
Man, finding this takes me back nearly 30 years to when I was five years old and this scared me to death whenever it came on. I was old enough to know from being warned about stove-burners that glowing things were "really hot," and the hellish music combined with the extreme close-up at the start had me feeling like it was coming right out of my TV at me, though I remembered it as being a constant slow roll away.
Even today, I still get that initial shudder... nice to know I'm not alone!
This sequence never scared me as a kid, though I was puzzled about what was going on. In my mind, I couldn't understand why this glowing "I" was getting squashed by the machinery, but it was all quite fascinating.
Too bad the keyboard parts of the music weren't performed on a Moog instead of a piano. With those metal clangs you'll get an industrial song!
BTW Raposofan, did you make this video straight from the film master? The video quality is very clear and even the leader is present.
Yes, I made this from a master Betatape that came straight from the CTW archives. I used to have a mole who worked there, but I have agreed not to reveal his/her name. Thank you to that person.
This scared almost every kid I knew growing up including me. Just that footage of the liquid hot metal with the menacing music. It was like hell. So evil and hellish. Anyone can understand how this would scare kids.
It just goes to show how particular and personal peoples fears are. I was terrified of this when I was a kid and even 25 years later, I still cannot watch it without my heart pounding in my ears. That... damn... music... Thanks for the upload :)
They call this "Nightmare Fuel", and believe me, IT IS. Nightmare Fuel is what they call it when something is meant to entertain small children, but it ends up scaring the shit out of them.
Man, Youtube has everything, doesn't it? Not only was I stunned to actually find this clip, but I found out that I wasn't the only one who saw it when little and was scared by the image and music to the point of running away screaming. The piano is still pretty scary. You have to wonder what they were thinking (and what little kid is actually going to know what that thing is?)
However, I thought the I-beam was actually coming *towards* you, not away, at the beginning.
Yeah, I can't believe I actually found this. I can't believe I actually looked for it either. I remember it scared the crap out of me as a kid. I don't know why, I guess I was a wuss. It is pretty cool though. Yaeee! Youtube!
I remember this skit from when I was a kid. For so long, the moment I saw and heard this skit come up, I would run out of the room screaming like I was the world's biggest coward. God only knows if this was Jim Henson's idea to have this Red Hot I-Beam of Doom skit filmed or not. But whoever put this up, I wonder where and how did they film this skit. Thank God (in the words of Kevin McCallister from Home Alone) I'm not afraid anymore of this skit!
When I was a kid, I found this video disturbing, but not necessarily scary or uncomfortable. It was hypnotic. I HAD to watch it, all the way through to that horrifying freeze frame at the end. Those two dark stains on the stem of the "I" are indelibly marked on my memory.
This thing absolutely scared the living shit out of me. I'd run and turn the channel, then hide on top of the couch under the afghan. Really strange how they'd sneak almost obviously disurbing music like this in knowing it would freak with our little minds.
I just watched this for the first time in many years and I found that now the music is the most creepiest part of the skit, although when I was little both the image and music were creepy. You have to wonder what they were thinking back then. I can see why alot of kids got disturbed by it. Sesame Street is supposed to educate kids not scare the s**t out if them.
Wow - there are a bunch of sisses around here! I remember watching this as a tot - I took it for what it was - THE LETTER "I"!!!It's just some kooky 70's music. Calm down, already!
!!!! I've been looking for this forever! I'm so glad I found it. Whenever the subject of sesame street comes up, i always mention it and my friends look at me like i'm crazy. this did creep me out in the worst way when i was young. i'd leave the room every time it came on....
Everybody was scared of this one but me! I don't get why this creeped folks out! I was more scared of the 2001 cartoon and the silent Spidey in The Electric Company. To me as a kid, Electric Company was WAY the scarier show!
I always freaked out to. Once I was watching this at my aunt's home, and at that time they had this phone that made an obnoxious BUZZZZ when it rang, and also flashed a bright red light. It rang during this, thus scaring me more! However, I've made a MIDI version of this song. Visit the bulletin section of my profile for the link.
Yep, put me down as another one scarred for life as a child... yeah, clever, the beam is shaped like an "I"... but other than that, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Yeah, hot metal and sinister music.. that will go down well with the kids. :P
I thought an I-beam was the thing I see when I move my mouse into a text box or where there's text that can be copied to the clipboard. It's that mouse pointer that's shaped like a big letter I.
I'd love to film those. Thing is, I can't figure out what other letters might be made in a place like that. A V maybe. Or an H-shaped thing that connects things. An X maybe? A Y or a T? T seems most likely... anyone who knows a place where they smelt stuff like this, PLEASE let me know.
Well, there's also such a thing as H-beams, so if you could find a place that makes those...the H-beam has much wider top and bottom (or "flanges"), so when turned on its side it looks like an H. To make things confusing, the original I beams (Such as the one shown) are technically called "S-Beams" (from "Standard"), and the newer versions (with fewer curves) are called "W-Beams."
if it's from my explantion, don't worry...but somewhere out there, they do make "H" beams which actually look like..."The Letter H" (must be said in that "Sesame Street Way")
Hmmm... I wonder if the CTW Archives in the Ampex Building in New York City still has a beta master of the Hamburger Bun Factory film in their archives
he did do one with centipedes? where is it I was suggesting the idea. Do you have all the animals joe did please send them. D you have the walrus one?
There WAS one with some kind of centipede/earwig critter. I remember its antennas probing blindly around, and shots of it crawling against a pale or white b'ground. I do NOT have all the animal clips nor the walrus one - but I do have "camouflage" and may post that this weekend or early next week.
When Joe Raposo mad this one, He should have used the same music and showed a film about centipededs including the house centipede this music fits them.
Yes, tpirman1982 is correct, that was a voice slate being announced before the countdown, to identify the video material ("I-Beam" in this case, obviously). Some studios use a visual slate on-screen instead, or both, which usually precedes the countdown. Sometimes the countdown is part of the slate (displayed on the side, or in the corner of the screen). I guess it just depends on the preference of the editor putting together the video material.
I think this is sort of a safeguard, in case the videotape is switched on (or with projected film, the projector lamp is turned on) earlier than usual, to prevent the countdown (not meant to be seen by the audienmce) from appearing. Plus, it would look somewhat awkward for the countdown to have a jumpcut from 1 to the program material as well...
I Loved watching this sketch back in the day...this didn't scare me a bit
dft432 2 months ago
I remember watching this when I was 5 thinking it was really cool. I always liked programs about how things were made when I was little. Actually, I still do.
yerk3 2 months ago
Frightening, even after all these years.
SpiritDragonMikey 3 months ago
Brought to you by Torgo Industries!
Kemonokami 3 months ago
i was looking for this clip just last night (11-4-2011)
splotchboi2770 3 months ago
I never really knew the meaning of this?
MattKoplowitz 3 months ago
The music sounds vaguely like Powerhouse by Raymond Scott.
AaaahShaddaaap 4 months ago
...What the Portal Gun is happening???
Peenut2k7 4 months ago
you know how kids are, things that adults wouldn't think of as scary can terrify them for no reason. this does have molten metal though... which when your told expressly not to touch hot things like the stove, but don't really understand why yet coupled with somewhat scary music can be frightining.
Montork 4 months ago
I used to love this clip back in the day. I was never afraid of it, always found it interesting. If anything on Sesame Street scared me just a little it was the Count.
jsf926 4 months ago
Ｉ see you.
akiratrooper 5 months ago
Scared the heck out of me as a kid, too!
zipzap73 6 months ago
Does anyone know what orchestral composition the background music is based on?
ypc123454321345 6 months ago
this music does not fit well and if used in someting else, i would have shit a brick
Komanekin 7 months ago
I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who found this scary as a child! No idea why. I thought I was the only one.
d3monicferret 8 months ago
damn that shit scared me too lol!!
LongDongSilver78 8 months ago
My sister always hated "The metal letter I" video!
totalrandomcrap 10 months ago
You know what it took me a long time to figure out what that was. But then I found out it was metal being melted down.
binturong1000 11 months ago
the music is creepy as hell. it sounds like it belongs in a 70's gialo film. for those who dont know what a gialo is its an italian horror/slasher/thriller
geminidreamatl26 11 months ago
In terms of "scary" the beginning is the worst. It's better after that.
thapoint09 1 year ago
4 steelworkers watched this video
V3N0M1300 1 year ago
*shits bricks*
girlintheflesh78 1 year ago
da da da bom bom da da da DUN DA DUN DA DUN.
gottaloveaz 1 year ago
I remember this; it didn't scare me as much as made me wonder what the heck I was watching. I mean the fact it was the letter 'I' I got, but seriously, what kind of five-year-old child is supposed to be familiar with molten steel?
temasongu 1 year ago
I always thought it was cool, if maybe a little dramatic.
Also, what's with the audio before the clip?
plateshutoverlock 1 year ago
I never saw this segment as a child, but I can see how it might scare some children. The whole segment is reminiscent of the "Rite of Spring" volcanic scene from Fantasia. Now THAT freaked me out something fierce!
Martiangrl86 1 year ago
I STILL think they're making poison ivy here.
jfpinell 1 year ago
This program was brought to you by the letter "I"... FROM HELL!!!
Danified1 1 year ago
this was just random, not scary. not "nightmare fuel" and btw i dont get alot of nightmare fuel. i mean some1 on a tv trope website was scared of yoshis island because they thought too much about it. they thought about how yoshi eats the enemies and makes them into eggs. they started talking about how he was "eating their rotting corpse and making it into an egg" most of the nightmare fuel is just people thinking too much about what somethings look like and they scare themselves.
skudwerd 1 year ago
what's scary about it other than the opening note being a little jolting.
ulmwarrior 1 year ago
hey! I remember this! though, I don't remember if it scared me though. It probably did. lol!
LunaEclipsed 1 year ago
I can see how the music made this seem scary.
grimdarkcold 1 year ago
ThIs iS TorGO's ThemE, iT PlaYS wHen tHE mASTer Is aWaY.
Coregond 1 year ago
WTF?
subhumanmaster 1 year ago
I remember this clip, and yes I was a kid, and no it didn't scare me. I was quite fascinated by the process, in fact.
EfrainMan 1 year ago
This used to scare the hell out of my little brother. He would cry and run away. He called it the "HOT I."
hexennacht 1 year ago
this didn't really scare me back in the day but i can see how it could've scared kids. i think the noises before the video actually starts are scarier.
DrPhilMusic 1 year ago
and yea when it came on it sent me running in terror from the room in sobbing tears screaming HOT METAL!!!!
JennelleBelle 1 year ago
this should be a clip on the faces of death video
JennelleBelle 1 year ago
I think it'd be creepier if at the end a very low voice boomed " I !" Or if they had a similar voice say "I think we made the huge letter 'I'!" Unless they got someone by Roscoe Orman to do it, it would not be as menacing I think.
wileyk209zback 1 year ago
Didn't scare me . . .but I'm wierd.
*CL*
CLeaf82 1 year ago
Why in the HELL was I scared of this when I was a kid?! I guess the music sounded more evil or something; I don't know.
DukeNukem2417 1 year ago
God, I haven't seen this in ages! BTW, I'm SO glad to know I wasn't the only one afraid of that hot glowing I-beam. I would hide from it.
PlotsnTom 1 year ago
Yeah, scary, in a cool way! No pun intended!
THE HOT LETTER I
finalfright 2 years ago 3
@finalfright I can just imagine this in 3d can't you?
redfox409 1 year ago
Comment removed
finalfright 2 years ago
I never thought this was scary at all, and I remember seeing it a lot. Not that I don't see how it could be seen as scary, I recall a few TV logos and sign-offs creeping me out in my youth.
JonLeibow 2 years ago
wow yes, scared the bejeezus out of me when i was 5 or 6 years old. i actually searched for this clip after remembering how much it freaked me out 25 years ago. violence.
shangomatic 2 years ago
Not really scared. It was pretty cool actually.
jellywillreturn 2 years ago
WOW. Looks like I'm not the only one LOL. This scared the hell out of me when I was a little kid. "The Hot Letter I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Stevaside 2 years ago 2
@Stevaside Who is that saying I beam?
redfox409 1 year ago
wow it stayed red even when water was dropping on it
hmh269 2 years ago
The next time I make a YouTube Poop with a scary sequence in it, I'm gonna have to include the music from this skit!
wileyk209zback 2 years ago
My parents still tease me about being scared of the "Hot I" - nearly 30 years ago! Funny to see it again now.
JoMac76 2 years ago 3
@JoMac76 OH MY GOD...YOU TOO?!? I STILL get hell for running, SCREAMING out of the room as a two year old.
smason1022 7 months ago
That dramatic pause at the end is great. Fear the almighty "I Beam"! lol
golbex 2 years ago 2
Wow - this really scared lots of kids? It's like watching a 'how it's made' segment. But I can't be too critical...Mr. Ed (the show with the talking horse) scared the crap outta me when I was a little kid!
stet1965 2 years ago
I don't find it scary, I just find it odd.
DavidtheBrave1 2 years ago
OMG this used to freak me out too! I think it was the music.. and I was wondering why it didn't cool down with all that water being sprayed on it... anybody else notice that?
coolbluelights 2 years ago
I'm really amazed that anyone found this scary. It's really quite tame for a Sesame Street clip.
POOPTURTLE 2 years ago 8
I'm amazed too. I always thought The Crack In The Wall cartoon was one of the scariest things on Sesame Street. But for "scary", The Electric Company had a lot more things on it on a regular basis that were _really_ scary. I start with those 2001 wall cartoons and Spiderman without a voice and go from there.
raposofan 2 years ago
@raposofan I saw your comment on the "Crack in the Wall" 'toon, but I don't remember that one. Do you have that one, too?
IJustWatchEm71 7 months ago
I remember seeing this one as a child but I'm not quite sure if this one actually frightened me or not. I can understand why so many people were frightened by it as children though. The music is pretty intense-perhaps I was at least afraid of that-but I know that the "I" itself didn't scare me.
glowworm2 2 years ago
Yeah, I think I saw it before, but I don't remember being afraid of that, but I can definitely understand that music being intense.
Oh well, at least that skit is finally officially available on home video now! (It was released on DVD as part of the Sesame Street 40th Anniversary DVD!)
wileyk209zback 2 years ago
I must admit this music is scary and I don't blame any child for fearing this segment. To be honest I don't understand why they couldn't compose a tune with a more pleasant melody. After all the letter I is just another innocent letter of the alphabet; not something of wrath.
briansky10 2 years ago
This scared me sooooooo much as a kid. I would still watch it but I would stay as far away from the TV as possible thinking that somehow the distance would protect me from the wrath of the letter I!!
hellcat6249472 2 years ago 3
This is amazing how many people were scared to death of this segment! It didn't scare me at all... lots of other Sesame segments did that!
raposofan 2 years ago
Wow... I thought I was the only little kid who got freaked out by this. For me, it was a combo of the music, plus the freeze-frame at the end.
CrackedTroyster 2 years ago
Oh, my gosh! I remember this! The music is so dramatic. The higher-pitched instrument in the first couple of measures is a trumpet with either a philharmonic or a cup mute.
CaitlinBrooksMusic 2 years ago 2
Raposo, a girl, says "I love you for knowing and saying this!!!"
raposofan 2 years ago
Why were so many people afraid of this clip? They are just melting metal. Why was this clip removed? Has any one seen the south park version Kyle fears I beam?
redfox409 2 years ago
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I'm so glad they found this. I wasn't scared, but I was wary of this clip. I remember thinking what would happen to me or someone I know if they got to close to that.
::shudder::
EnriqueH 2 years ago
Oh man, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was scared by this clip when I was a little kid...!
nickfifteen 2 years ago
Truth be told, this clip somewhat creeped me out, but didn't scare me silly. i guess i must have been different from everybody else.
DrPhilMusic 2 years ago
I agree that the music is the scariest thing about this video. Maybe a better song to go with this clip would have been Billy Joel's "Allentown." LOL!
vivabrooklyn 2 years ago
LOL too... and since I'm in Queens I guess I should sign, "vivaqueens"!
raposofan 2 years ago
I was obsessed with this music! I even made lyrics to the horn ("En-en-enemy!" I guess it WAS the enemy of many kids ;-))
JMFabianoRPL 2 years ago
its not just the big hot piece of metal it was the music that went along with it
alex21121485 2 years ago
I never was so thankful for the "today's episode is brought to you by" 's! When it was I's turn, I knew to run up to the set as the three cartoon guys that lived in the letter I came on to turn it off, count to 99, turn it back on, and take cover behind my couch in case I counted too fast! No lie! I don't know what they were thinking! First time I saw it, Nightmares and the whole bit!!! Glad to see I was not the only one! Let's start the sesame street I-Beam survivors support network :P
swordbladez 2 years ago
I always felt that the poor beam was getting tortured in that hot place.
culpit 2 years ago
Yup, it was like "The Letter I in Helllllllllllllll"
HootsytheOwl 2 years ago
Aw man, I wish I used that I-beam clip in my Sesame Street montage of scary moments from the show, set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller!"
wilek209 2 years ago
I remember this skit when I was a kid. it scares living hell out of me. When ever this came on I ran out screaming atop of my lungs bloody murder that my mom rush over to me asking me what's wrong. now I've seen it I'm not afraid.
ZackxCloud10 2 years ago
omg HOT METAL!!!! i remember this used to scare me so damn bad when i was a kid...even right now i have it on pause because im too scared to watch it now, even at the age of 29.... like really im effing traumatized by hot metal!!! i used to run out the room in frantic tears screaming, hot metal is on !!!!!!! this is the first time in maybe 24 yrs i seen this and im really having flies in my tummy about to watch it. omg is that not retarded!!! i keep pausing it looool
JennelleBelle 2 years ago
this used to terrify me when I was a kid....everytime this segment came on Sesame Street, I'd run from the room.
BadLactose 3 years ago
I'll ask, what is that liquid pouring in the background, and can anyone explain the step-by-step process in this clip? I never really understood how this was done.
gameshowguy2000 3 years ago
Well, obviously this is a steel mill. There are different types of machinery in use here. The block of forged steel goes in on rollers. There are also devices that push the block to all the different cutting devices so as to give them the shape they want. The liquid shown in the background is water to cool the steel off.
1977kb0wqh1996 3 years ago
That is water to stop the workpiece heating up the rollers as they work the metal. Due to the length of time the water touches the work as compared with the rollers, the rollers stay relatively cool and the work stays hot. I believe steam engines were the prefered means of powering the rollers because of their ability to go from forward to reverse with ease. The I beam shown still has more rolling operations to go through before being finished.
flyingscrapyard 3 years ago
im sure there was a longer version of this, and yes it would be scary for some kids. its years since ive seen this
nzoomed 3 years ago
To all those who can't see how this can be scary: you obviously don't remember how children can see things, do you?
paireon 3 years ago 17
Aside of the Torgo music, why is this scary?
TourqeGlare 3 years ago
It's the music?
25com36per 3 years ago
how is this scary?
Darkpheonix405 3 years ago
I remember this shiz :D I thought it was pretty cool.. the crayons thing kinda hypnotized me tho.
KairuHakubi 3 years ago
26 years ago this freaked the shit out of me...i mean really.....this was for little kids? Come On!
shaundis2117 3 years ago
I actually liked this segment back when I was little :D
sanjouindacapo 3 years ago
I just thought of the perfect ending for this clip, get that voice actor from the "Screaming I" film and have him say "I" in that booming voice right as the music stops.
Akira625 3 years ago 4
Do you want everybody who's ever watched this video to die on their sofas of fear? lol
raposofan 3 years ago
I bet this was a parody of some horror movies.
BuddyBoy600 3 years ago
lol - my little brother was so afraid of this clip! - He used to run out of the room screaming...ahhh memories...lol
indonesianprincess 3 years ago
I've been waiting to see this one! Use to creep me out when I was little, and even now the music makes me shudder.
BonzoGal1980 3 years ago
Holy crap! I remember seeing this when I was a little kid in the 80s!
Ringo84 3 years ago
No wonder a lot of jobs in america are gone, cause they went oversea's. like this video.
loikmg 3 years ago
Again, how is this scary???
MrShoTyme 4 years ago
Imagine how many children "I Beam" scared out of becoming future steel workers. No wonder they shipped all those jobs overseas XD
binwei 4 years ago
Man, finding this takes me back nearly 30 years to when I was five years old and this scared me to death whenever it came on. I was old enough to know from being warned about stove-burners that glowing things were "really hot," and the hellish music combined with the extreme close-up at the start had me feeling like it was coming right out of my TV at me, though I remembered it as being a constant slow roll away.
Even today, I still get that initial shudder... nice to know I'm not alone!
rdfox76 4 years ago 2
This sequence never scared me as a kid, though I was puzzled about what was going on. In my mind, I couldn't understand why this glowing "I" was getting squashed by the machinery, but it was all quite fascinating.
Too bad the keyboard parts of the music weren't performed on a Moog instead of a piano. With those metal clangs you'll get an industrial song!
BTW Raposofan, did you make this video straight from the film master? The video quality is very clear and even the leader is present.
Akira625 4 years ago
Yes, I made this from a master Betatape that came straight from the CTW archives. I used to have a mole who worked there, but I have agreed not to reveal his/her name. Thank you to that person.
raposofan 4 years ago
You know what I find scarier? The noises in the first 30 seconds!
ChekhovsGun 4 years ago
YES
I was always afraid of this popping up in an episode of Sesame Street when I was a kid! A minute of sheer terror!!!
newpageone 4 years ago
This scared almost every kid I knew growing up including me. Just that footage of the liquid hot metal with the menacing music. It was like hell. So evil and hellish. Anyone can understand how this would scare kids.
BabyWetsAllNight 4 years ago
It just goes to show how particular and personal peoples fears are. I was terrified of this when I was a kid and even 25 years later, I still cannot watch it without my heart pounding in my ears. That... damn... music... Thanks for the upload :)
surfingkoala35 4 years ago
Really raposofan, What was scary about this I beam ? It didn't scare me it intrigued me.
ghostchantxx 4 years ago
I don't know, Ghost. It never scared me either. I did find the Electric Company 2001 monolith cartoons scary, though.
raposofan 4 years ago
I read Poe as a kid. This never scared me.
aarondirebear 4 years ago
Hey I was wondering who wrote that strange music that goes with this?Was it Joe Raposo?Sounds more like Danny Elfman then him. Just wondering.
Andregrindle 4 years ago
They call this "Nightmare Fuel", and believe me, IT IS. Nightmare Fuel is what they call it when something is meant to entertain small children, but it ends up scaring the shit out of them.
DKN117 4 years ago 8
HA!HA!HA! Man that is FUNNY! Never heard that term before. NIGHTMARE FUEL. I'll have to remember that!
carriersignal 4 years ago
That was strangely... disturbing... T_T...
reydemagival 4 years ago
Man, Youtube has everything, doesn't it? Not only was I stunned to actually find this clip, but I found out that I wasn't the only one who saw it when little and was scared by the image and music to the point of running away screaming. The piano is still pretty scary. You have to wonder what they were thinking (and what little kid is actually going to know what that thing is?)
However, I thought the I-beam was actually coming *towards* you, not away, at the beginning.
wrs6565 4 years ago
Yeah, I can't believe I actually found this. I can't believe I actually looked for it either. I remember it scared the crap out of me as a kid. I don't know why, I guess I was a wuss. It is pretty cool though. Yaeee! Youtube!
carriersignal 4 years ago
Hi Dan, thanks for clearing us up on that. Btw, what the heck WAS "Dead Man's Party" about? :D
raposofan 4 years ago
I actualy thought that this clip was interesting when i saw it as a kid.
alphamone 4 years ago
I remember this skit from when I was a kid. For so long, the moment I saw and heard this skit come up, I would run out of the room screaming like I was the world's biggest coward. God only knows if this was Jim Henson's idea to have this Red Hot I-Beam of Doom skit filmed or not. But whoever put this up, I wonder where and how did they film this skit. Thank God (in the words of Kevin McCallister from Home Alone) I'm not afraid anymore of this skit!
racguy1183 4 years ago
When I was a kid, I found this video disturbing, but not necessarily scary or uncomfortable. It was hypnotic. I HAD to watch it, all the way through to that horrifying freeze frame at the end. Those two dark stains on the stem of the "I" are indelibly marked on my memory.
lisvender 4 years ago
I have finally found the "Hot I" that used to scare me out of the room when I watched Sesame Street! Thanks!
empress2377 4 years ago
This thing absolutely scared the living shit out of me. I'd run and turn the channel, then hide on top of the couch under the afghan. Really strange how they'd sneak almost obviously disurbing music like this in knowing it would freak with our little minds.
BruDiggity 4 years ago
I just watched this for the first time in many years and I found that now the music is the most creepiest part of the skit, although when I was little both the image and music were creepy. You have to wonder what they were thinking back then. I can see why alot of kids got disturbed by it. Sesame Street is supposed to educate kids not scare the s**t out if them.
JME1973 4 years ago 2
Man, if the scary stuff wasn't sometimes in that show, it wouldn't be the same, though!
raposofan 4 years ago
did danny elfman write this music
it kind of sounds like the clown nightmare music in peewees big adventure
godcharon 4 years ago
Danny Elfman was about 10 when this aired. He's a Generation X'er like most of us.
raposofan 4 years ago
Wow - there are a bunch of sisses around here! I remember watching this as a tot - I took it for what it was - THE LETTER "I"!!!It's just some kooky 70's music. Calm down, already!
solitaire81 4 years ago
I think this song should be called ''Letter I is Hot''.
ghostchantxx 4 years ago
It's burning up, burning up for your love... it's burning up, burning up for your love... (Madonna reference... sorry) :D
raposofan 4 years ago
!!!! I've been looking for this forever! I'm so glad I found it. Whenever the subject of sesame street comes up, i always mention it and my friends look at me like i'm crazy. this did creep me out in the worst way when i was young. i'd leave the room every time it came on....
AEF710 4 years ago
Everybody was scared of this one but me! I don't get why this creeped folks out! I was more scared of the 2001 cartoon and the silent Spidey in The Electric Company. To me as a kid, Electric Company was WAY the scarier show!
raposofan 4 years ago
I always freaked out to. Once I was watching this at my aunt's home, and at that time they had this phone that made an obnoxious BUZZZZ when it rang, and also flashed a bright red light. It rang during this, thus scaring me more! However, I've made a MIDI version of this song. Visit the bulletin section of my profile for the link.
NLind 4 years ago
Yep, put me down as another one scarred for life as a child... yeah, clever, the beam is shaped like an "I"... but other than that, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Yeah, hot metal and sinister music.. that will go down well with the kids. :P
Lurkerbunny 4 years ago
For many years I ran out of the room screaming whenever this came on. I'm glad to know I wasn't the only kid who thought this thing was creepy.
merrywrath 4 years ago
omg this scared the hell out of me when i was a kid! crazy trip down memory lane lmao
XxBrooklynsFinestxX 4 years ago
I remember watching this clip on TV when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me. What instruments do you think they used on this clip?
JeffK1980 4 years ago
I enjoyed this segment when I was young, but now it terrifies me. The music makes me think of "Torgo's Theme" from "Manos, The Hands of Fate" :)
splunge317 4 years ago
Manos!!!
raposofan 4 years ago
I thought an I-beam was the thing I see when I move my mouse into a text box or where there's text that can be copied to the clipboard. It's that mouse pointer that's shaped like a big letter I.
jeopardy60611 4 years ago
Well, it's called an I Beam, because it's shaped like the construction I-beam.
~Ra'akone
raakone 4 years ago
Imagine all 26 letters made in this steel mill. This same music.
ghostchantxx 4 years ago
I wish they DID all the other 25 letters.
tpirman1982 4 years ago
I guess we'll have to produce them for ours.
raposofan 4 years ago
You know,what if they did a series of these as in like,they had different letters being formed in this steel factory?
wattamack4 4 years ago
I'd love to film those. Thing is, I can't figure out what other letters might be made in a place like that. A V maybe. Or an H-shaped thing that connects things. An X maybe? A Y or a T? T seems most likely... anyone who knows a place where they smelt stuff like this, PLEASE let me know.
raposofan 4 years ago
Maybe they could use a metal circle for making other letters?
wattamack4 4 years ago
Well, there's also such a thing as H-beams, so if you could find a place that makes those...the H-beam has much wider top and bottom (or "flanges"), so when turned on its side it looks like an H. To make things confusing, the original I beams (Such as the one shown) are technically called "S-Beams" (from "Standard"), and the newer versions (with fewer curves) are called "W-Beams."
~Ra'akone
raakone 4 years ago
That clang you heard was my brain breaking.
raposofan 4 years ago
if it's from my explantion, don't worry...but somewhere out there, they do make "H" beams which actually look like..."The Letter H" (must be said in that "Sesame Street Way")
raakone 4 years ago
This clip still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. The steel looks extremely hot!
MajikBubble 4 years ago
Oh my! I must copy this notes of music right now.
rjolliffe 4 years ago
Hmmm... I wonder if the CTW Archives in the Ampex Building in New York City still has a beta master of the Hamburger Bun Factory film in their archives
tpirman1982 4 years ago
I am 100% sure they do. I wish I still had contacts there... I'd raid that place late at night and post the results.
raposofan 4 years ago
Well, ask Traci who you thanked for this.
There's a bunch of other skits I'm hoping to see studio masters of.
tpirman1982 4 years ago
he did do one with centipedes? where is it I was suggesting the idea. Do you have all the animals joe did please send them. D you have the walrus one?
lion371 4 years ago
There WAS one with some kind of centipede/earwig critter. I remember its antennas probing blindly around, and shots of it crawling against a pale or white b'ground. I do NOT have all the animal clips nor the walrus one - but I do have "camouflage" and may post that this weekend or early next week.
raposofan 4 years ago
When Joe Raposo mad this one, He should have used the same music and showed a film about centipededs including the house centipede this music fits them.
lion371 4 years ago
Now Joe didn't score this one, I don't think. But that centipede one is NASTY! I remember it... shudder... crawl... thanks for reminding me...
raposofan 4 years ago
I think that countdown they always put on at the beginning of all finished films to indicate to the editors exactly when the film starts
Nickrj1 4 years ago
yep.. been lookin for this one!
ilovemayo123 4 years ago
Would someone like to explain this? I... I just can't.
raposofan 4 years ago
Yes, tpirman1982 is correct, that was a voice slate being announced before the countdown, to identify the video material ("I-Beam" in this case, obviously). Some studios use a visual slate on-screen instead, or both, which usually precedes the countdown. Sometimes the countdown is part of the slate (displayed on the side, or in the corner of the screen). I guess it just depends on the preference of the editor putting together the video material.
pvx 4 years ago
But you probably knew that already... ;)
pvx 4 years ago
Ok. I noticed some one saying I Beam before the countdown.
Also what's the deal with the countdown sequence on all these old films? They never show 2 or 1.
Nickrj1 4 years ago
I think that's the slate
tpirman1982 4 years ago
As for the film countdown sequence, most studio master films would include those. There's film countdowns on YouTube, too.
tpirman1982 4 years ago
I think this is sort of a safeguard, in case the videotape is switched on (or with projected film, the projector lamp is turned on) earlier than usual, to prevent the countdown (not meant to be seen by the audienmce) from appearing. Plus, it would look somewhat awkward for the countdown to have a jumpcut from 1 to the program material as well...
pvx 4 years ago
No voice would announce ''I''.
ghostchantxx 4 years ago