Things That Disappointed You

[D'Snowth]

When you're a little kids, surely you believe just about everything on Sesame Street was real, and that Sesame Street was a real place... those are a given that we were learn the truth of later in life.

I'm talking about petty details that you learned about that disappointed you a bit, ala the 123 brownstone on the sound stage actually not having a top floor like illustrated and such.

For me, that top of my list was learning that Honker and Dingers don't actually work; somehow, I had convinced myself that the puppet builders had figure out a way to actually make them work in real time - you could squeeze a Honker's nose and noise really would come out the horns on its head, or tap the head of a Dinger and it really would ding... I just assumed somehow the builders fingered out to way to accomplish those, but when I learned that it was impossible, and that the sounds were added in post-production.

 

[Super Scooter]

Wait... the Honkers and Dingers DON'T work?

I seriously thought they did. I mean, I know they'd still have to add them in post-production to sound clearere, but... I dunno. Just seems like they should work. It wouldn't be that hard to make them work.

Anyway, I suppose I was disappointed to find out that Gordon, Bob, and the main cast were actors. I thought they were real people. I mean, they are, I just thought Roscoe Orman's real name was Gordon. I always knew the street and the Muppets weren't real, but I thought they were.

 

[dwmckim]

...and then there's the double-whammy of finding out the Honkers only have one hand!

Finding out the characters couldn't actually see you through the screen.

Learning that they can't really make letters and numbers appear in thin air like magic.

Seeing Herry with no legs in one of the Pageant sketches (not even his infamous boxer shorts that always appear in illustrations)

 

[Gelfling Girl]

Herry with no legs

What the?

 

[Oscarfan]

Yup. 'Tis true.

 

[Drtooth]

Seeing Herry with no legs in one of the Pageant sketches (not even his infamous boxer shorts that always appear in illustrations)

The fact he actually worse those ugly things is disappointment enough for me. Yuckka! He's clumsy AND has no fashion sense.

 

[PurpleHonker]

I am still horrified by the Honkers and Dingers issue. I've made a Honker complete with a honking nose. To now know it wasn't that way in "real life" is a huge disappointment.
Somehow I can handle them only having one hand, but I have a much harder time accepting the fact that Big Bird uses only one hand.

I recall being very disappointed that Bert and Ernie's apartment wasn't real. When I first started watching, I took it as truth that 123 Sesame Street and all the other buildings pre-existed, and that's where they decided to shoot the show.

 

[D'Snowth]

For the record, the Honker puppets may have one hand, but the characters in general don't... all of the illustrations and products (figurines, plushies, etc) they all have two hands, lol.

And yeah PH, I can agree with that, it kind of reminds me of a point I brought up a while back of how if Ernie and Bert have the basement apartment, and their windows are blocked by the divider wall on the outside, then how is it when you look out their windows you always see sunny blue skies?

 

[PurpleHonker]

For the record, the Honker puppets may have one hand, but the characters in general don't... all of the illustrations and products (figurines, plushies, etc) they all have two hands, lol.

And yeah PH, I can agree with that, it kind of reminds me of a point I brought up a while back of how if Ernie and Bert have the basement apartment, and their windows are blocked by the divider wall on the outside, then how is it when you look out their windows you always see sunny blue skies?

Can you imagine one armed Honkers running around? If they were holding something and needed to honk at the same time, there would be a major dilemma! lol

And concerning Ernie and Bert's window, good point D'Snowth. You could also look out and see the moon as though it were from a second story window. Due to that, I guess I always assumed they had an upstairs apartment, but that wasn't a correct layout. The basement twist is a conundrum.

 

[Drtooth]

I am still horrified by the Honkers and Dingers issue. I've made a Honker complete with a honking nose. To now know it wasn't that way in "real life" is a huge disappointment.
Somehow I can handle them only having one hand, but I have a much harder time accepting the fact that Big Bird uses only one hand.

You know... the more I think about it, even if these things DID have functioning mechanisms that actually honked or dinged... would they be audible? Or how audible would they be? Would the microphones even pick them up as ambient noise, or would they just be so faded that they'd have to do ADR sound effects for it anyway?