Original "Rubber Duckie" on today's Sesame Street

[Daffyfan4ever]

Something I want to ask about here. I just saw the Sesame Street ep today where Gordon takes Elmo to the ball game and he needs to find a fish sitter. On that episode they showed Ernie singing "Rubber Duckie." I'm kind of wondering if that was the original version from 1969. Ernie's voice did sound a bit goofier in that one, but I'm surprised they'd go that far back. Can somebody give me some info on this?

 

[doctort13]

I can't say if it's original or not, but I did watch it with my daughter and LOVED every second of it.

*SQUEAK*SQUEAK

 

[BEAR]

I thought you were gonna ask if they use the original Rubber Duckie prop today. I'd like to know that too.

 

[doctort13]

It certainly looked older than the one used during "Journey To Ernie".

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Yeah, I'm assuming it was the original. It was discussed in another thread that in the early eps that Ernie used to have a goofier voice in the early eps and he did sound a bit goofier in the one I saw. If it was the original from 1969, why don't they play anything else from that year? It seems like when they want to play segments with and are the only times they go that far back.

 

[ssetta]

Actually, the video for that one was actually done in Season 30 (1999), but what they did was, they did a new video for the song, and they put the original audio recording with it. They also did this for the songs "La La La" and "C is for Cookie."

 

[Rosewood]

I would say its original

I happen to have this on tape and I agree with Setta: it's probably the "original" where audio is concerned, and, although the scene set-up is a different one than the very first, it's still an older copy that has now been re-mastered and digitaly enhansed. The way to tell is by looking at the color of "Rubber Duckie". If you look around the set, the colors are much more bright and vibrant than usual; except for the yellow on the duck. In the process of "polorizing" the other colors on the screen, the color yellow becomes darker also, making it more of a "cacky green". The people at SW have been working for 2 years now to try to get some of the "older" vintage clips transfered and "cleaned up", if you will, so they could use them in their more recent episodes, now and then, and avoid having them look washed out or out of place. Believe me, these new enhansed versions of old songs and skits, are the soul reason I have still continued recording the episodes of the last 2 seasons.

 

[minor muppetz]

Actually, the video for that one was actually done in Season 30 (1999), but what they did was, they did a new video for the song, and they put the original audio recording with it. They also did this for the songs "La La La" and "C is for Cookie."

I didn't know that La La La was remade. So, are you saying that they still had Ernie and Bert in the remake, with the original audio (Jim Henson as Ernie, and not Steve Whitmire)?

Speaking of the original Rubber Duckie, in The Muppet's: A Celebration of Thirty Years, there is a clip of a verison of the song that I haven't seen anywhere else. It has Ernie singing, but instead of a blue background, it looked like the regular living room set is used, and I think the Rubber Duckie made quacks instead of squeaks. Is this actually the original version, or is the one with the blue background the original version?

Speaking of this, it's odd that they remade Rubber Duckie in season 30, because I remember seeing the blue background version in two different episodes from that season (the episode where a duck get's a case of the "moo's", causing him to moo instead of quack, and an episode where Big Bird and Snuffy kept interrupting Gordon's clarinet practice), and there was also an episode from that season that had filmed footage of real kids taking bath's while Ernie's recording was used as a voice-over.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

If you notice, the newer version has an up top camera view where you can see a 3d view of the bath tub and you can see Ernie's whole bodywhere you can see hisnees or his feet. Also, you can see bubbles coming out of the bath tub and floating in the air along with the water and sudes in the water.The camera is also moving around the bath tub.

It is the Original recording with with Jim Henson's voics, but it is obviously too complex to have been the original virsion made in 1969, ( even thow this was really cool) which was what appeard to be just a bathtub shot from a side view, and and Ernie on the other side of it with his duckie in his hand singing, but you can't beat the classics, huh.

I remember on the twentieth aniversary special, they showed Erine singing Rubber Duckie in several different languages, which was also though was really cool.
____________________
" Put then all together, they spell duuuuuc-keeeeeey, rubber duckie, I'm so lucky, you'er my friend."

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I was just about to mention that one. I remember that only Ernie's head was shown there. I have wondered about that considering that both that one and the one that was shown yesterday were updated versions of the original.