Opinions about the 1985 animated video "5 Sesame Street Stories."

[wiley207]

Hey, I thought I should bring this up. While rummaging through my house a couple of months ago, I came across an old print of a video called "Five Sesame Street Stories." And mind you, it wasn't live action. It was all animated! It was from 1985 and released by Golden Family Enteratainment, which was under the old "Golden Book Video" banner with that cool logo in the beginning. I should tell you, the animation is particually cheesy. It is like "Monty Python"-type animation, where it's mostly still pictures taken from actual books with some movements, such as still subjects (such as SuperGrover) would be moved, such as this when SuperGrover is shocked at something (when that Rhonda girl from the sled story says, 'Do you want to come with me, SuperGrover?"), his image wiggles around and is crudely moved downward and as we hear a Hanna Barbera squish-splat (the SFX editors call it a "ZORK,") it cuts to a knocked-out image of Grover in the snow. Or a still picture of SuperGrover flying would have him sliding by ala the "Television" in the TV Paramount logo from the 70s. Also, it had some oddly-made canned music cues for it. One scene (during the Goldilocks play starring Prarie Dawn in a wig) uses an old stock music needle-drop cue that can be heard on Ren and Stimpy. Most of the sound effects come from Hanna Barbera, such as an HB airplane diving sound effect, then a metal hit sound when SuperGrover bonks into a wall and his image switches into an embarrased Grover and after he falls, we hear a WHOOSH and then the HB China crashing SFX. There are some neat CGI glittering effects in it, too. For the voices, they hired some narrators like one that sounds like Gary Owens, and a woman. For the voices, they only had Caroll Spinney (as Big Bird and Oscar) and Frank Oz (as Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster.) And they hired another girl to do the voices of the little girl female muppets. For parts with characters like Ernie or Mr. Count, the narrator would say something like "Ernie told Big Bird that he was going to visit Betty Lou cause she was sick in bed." When I saw this, I would laugh at the cheesy tricks. What do YOU think of something like this?

 

[Crazy31088]

Yeah, I know this is a really old post, but I just had to reply when I found this.

I thought I was the only one who ever saw that one! I still have it, though I probably haven't watched it since I was maybe 5 years old, so I don't remember it being particularly cheesy (you look at everything with such wonder at that age). I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the memories!

 

[minor muppetz]

Fran brill also did voices in these. it seems obvious at times that some performers are not there to perform. in big Bird brings spring to sesame street, when he visits the count, the counts bats count instead.

it is too bad that the credits do not list voices. there are many voices that i do not recognize, so i am not sure if these were done by henson performers or not. Does anybody know if caroll spinney performed any voices besides big bird and oscar in these videos?

there was also a golden book video called "three sesame street stories", which featured the stories "everyone makes mistakes", "the cityworm and the country worm" and "wanted: the great cookie thief". In these, whenever rodeo rosie talks, she is voiced by fran brill instead of jerry nelson, but kids probably wouldn't know a difference in her voice, since she was no longer on the show at the time this video was produced (i don't even know what jerry nelsons rodeo rosie voice sounded like).

 

[Drtooth]

You know, these sound pretty bad, but still I'm curious. I guess it would have been better to do something similar to the Avon released "Muppet Babies Stories" tapes, in which Kermit (Jim) narrated the stories, while doing impersonations of other characters.

 

[The Count]

Guilty. Used to have this video release, not sure if we do anymore. Only rully remember the story of Grover in Prairie's play about Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, Super Grover rescueing the boat everyone was fishing from, and Big Bird Brings Spring to SS.

Will ask but I don't think we have it anymore.

 

[minor muppetz]

After seeing the insert "I'm Going to Get My Hair Cut", in which Jeff Moss voices a character named Jeffy (presumably no relation to Big Jeffy), I wonder if Moss might have voiced Slimey.. Err, that is, "Squiggly", in "The City Worm and the Country Worm". The voices are a bit similar. Though I haven't watched it since seeing the haircut segment to compare.

 

[wiley207]

Here's the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jqRfuP5owc

 

[Drtooth]

Like your poops based on them, by the way.

I've seen certain ones online, and I think I like the ones with Carol Spinney doing impersonations of all the characters the most. Great Cookie Thief is pretty good, but it hardly improves on the sketch, or even the book.