The 10 Most Disturbing Puppets Ever Shown on TV
Posted at 5:01 AM Dec 05, 2008
By Todd CiolekThe puppet and its copyrighted Muppet cousin have a special role in enforcing childhood trauma. Regular cartoons and the invariably grotesque realm of claymation can easily conjure up terrible sights, but puppets occupy a unique space; they're physically real and capable of interacting with humans, but they're clearly not anything human. A puppet exists, and it's therefore just a little more plausible for kids to think that demonic, sharp-toothed Cookie Monsters will come for them when the lights are out and the parents are gone.
Puppets also symbolize just how horrifyingly wrong adults can be when attempting to delight young viewers. We're willing to believe that the people behind every one of the following entries thought they were creating adorable characters that would leave children laughing with joy. Little did they suspect that they were, in fact, building nightmares.
10) The McNuggets
The Source: McDonald's uncomfortable fusing of children's entertainment and commercials
The Puppets: Slightly turdlike pieces of fried chicken meat capable of sight and speech.
McDonald's mix of puppetry and mechanically separated chicken parts is disturbing only when a child thinks about just what they symbolize. Seen briefly in commercials, they're cute, happy, dim-witted munchkins who smother their nether regions in barbeque sauce. The unnerving part arrives with the implication that kids are supposed to pop these smiling, goggle-eyed creatures into their mouths and chew them. Never mind the agonized screams. It may be that McDonald's realized this and made sure that the McNuggets didn't appear naked in commercials, as dressing them up de-emphasizes their theoretically edible nature.
9) Egyptian Ernie
Source: Sesame Street
The Puppet: A pharaoh-like version of Ernie, encountered by the actual Bert and Ernie.
As TV's first unabashedly out-of-the-closet couple explores an Egyptian pyramid, Bert eagerly plunges into the darkness while the nervous Ernie stays behind to be taunted by a living Muppet statue. Truth be told, the short isn't terribly scary by puppet standards, as any frightening moments are alleviated by the harmless, friendly Egyptian Ernie and the ensuing musical number. Yet the word of a thousand YouTube posters suggests that children far and wide were scarred by Ernie's encounter with his embalmed, millennia-old doppelgänger, and Sesame Street supposedly edited the clip to seem less disturbing.
8) Kirara
Source: Star Fleet, or X-Bomber if you're one of those insufferable fans who insists on calling Japanese shows by their original, God-given titles.
The Puppets: A multitude of aliens and semi-humans, all rendered with a mix of Power Rangers-esque models and Thunderbirds-style puppetry.
The marionettes of Thunderbirds were never garish enough to frighten young viewers, but Star Fleet, Japan's own all-puppet tokusatsu show, filled itself with monstrosities, possibly due to the influence of co-creator Go Nagai (who also devised Cutey Honey, Mazinger, and many of the things wrong with anime and manga). While the show's human characters, including the massively chinned Barry Hercules, are standard puppets, the aliens invading their solar system are suitably ugly. Their battle commander, Makara, has a small devil-face where her left eye should be, and her chief lackey, Orion, looks like a cancerous version of Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes, with a centipede atop his battle helmet. But they were supposed to be scary. Less intentional was the look of Kirara, a big wooly creature that guards the Star Fleet cast's token mysterious princess. It's clearly supposed to be some cuddly Chewbacca stand-in, but Kirara is a hulking yeti with an exposed ribcage and glowing yellow eyes. What's more, it rarely does anything. It mostly stands by as the more human heroes converse, seemingly oblivious to the abominable space hellbeast in their midst.
7) Howdy Doody
Source: The children's show of the same name.
The Puppet: An aimlessly gesticulating marionette with an eerily broad grin plastered on its face.
Some baby-boomers may cling to fond memories of Howdy Doody, but the show was arguably American youth's introduction to unintentionally harrowing puppetry. Howdy was never as horrendous as the misbegotten creations of low-budget educational shows in later decades, but there was something unnatural about the cowboy-ish creature's contortions and his association with live actors. Kids of the day ate it up; perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of a lack of nothing better on TV. Either way, it ensured that Howdy would have a decades-long run and a permanent place in the history of subtly unnerving children's fare.
6) Marjory the Trash Heap
The Source: Fraggle Rock
The Puppet: A singing, kvetching, eyeless oracle made of trash.
Fraggle Rock may have made kids a little more likely to believe the hollow-earth theories of crackpot scientists, but at least its underground realm was a friendly place, full of colorful Muppets instead of mole people and human sacrifices. Marjory seems part of the pleasant aura, being a cranky yet benevolent garbage-beast that dispenses advice to Fraggles, with two mouse-gremlin attendants adding to her Jabba-like image. Yet there's something undeniably eerie about this conglomeration of filth emerging from the ground and singing about her masochistic proclivities. Perhaps she'd be less creepy if she had eyes, though a more human look would probably just make it worse.
1 | 2
Comments
Damn #6 fraggles brings back memories.. Kinda explains why im into "Old School" soul + Rythem & blues.. and thats just the FR music let alone all the other things, Fraggle Rock FTW!
*The trash heap has spoken!*
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:56:55 AMOK, I agree that the Wiggles puppets are some of the scariest things I've ever seen and deserve to be in the number one spot, but the trash heap from Fraggle Rock should have been higher up. The trash heap's gender was always a mystery - sometimes it was a woman and other times it appeared to be really butch. It scared the crap out of me as a kid. My younger sister wouldn't go near a pile of leaves for a while.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:01:40 AMDo Skeksis not count as puppets?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:08:13 AMHowdy Doody is perhaps the only thing to scare Seinfeld's Kramer more than black people.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:41:53 AMNice!
I'd like to nominate the norwegian Pompel & Pilt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0kNJNe7HGE
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:45:22 AMI still have nightmares about this show... Janitor Gorgon scares the crap out of me even today.
Awesome list, Todd! Although, when I read the title, horrifying images of those puppets of Phil Collins and the rest of Genesis in that "Land of Confusion" music video entered my mind.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:52:49 AMThe "Don't put in your Mouth" puppets- hysterical! This was about oral sex, right?
What about "The Riverbottom Nightmare Band" from Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas Special? I seem to recall a creepy Muppet snake in the band, and hell, they did steal xmas. As an adult, I think they rock, though.
I'd never seen the Go Nagai puppet show, but the post mention goes a bit far to say he's responsible for "many of the things wrong with anime and manga". Come up with a list of ten things, and no, the crappy puppet show doesn't count.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:55:16 AMSeeing the Genesis Puppets from "Land of Confusion" at age 4 may have caused severe trauma. And explains my utter contempt for Phil Collins.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:57:41 AMAs a mother of a young, impressionable preschooler, I have to submit the scary citizens of Lazytown. Much like in Peppermint Park, their rubbery-faced presence cause nothing but alarm and unease when the eyes look upon them. *shudders*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt9wteElPZI
Posted 12/05/2008 at 07:00:13 AM@ Alex and Jayson
OMG, you are so right about that music video. I can still see the one eating his tongue like a hotdog. And the Marilyn Monroe puppet with the pair of lips for a navel. The who thing was creepy, which explains why I was so fascinated by it as a kid. Really, you could right a book on all the bizarre symbolism found in that video.
I'm still convinced the Ronald Reagan puppet was actually the real deal. :P
Posted 12/05/2008 at 07:07:19 AMWow, I remember the "don't put it in your mouth" ads. Damn Canadian television.
If you want to see some freaky puppets (though not the children's variety, nor are they English), I suggest you look up Tetes a Clacques. Human lips and eyes grafted onto stationary toy dolls. Speaking in backwater Quebec
Posted 12/05/2008 at 07:47:32 AMFrench. They are truly uncanny.
#5 was my personal hell from this list. Those alien suckers gave me nightmares when I was a kid. I think it was the freaky way their mouths moved that really did it to me. Won't my wife be surprised to wake up to me screaming, "NO YIP YIPS!" tonight?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:11:33 AMThe Yip Yips scared the crap out of me, too. But I now sort of appreciate them for that. That's why I had to have this Yip Yips t-shirt made. It's one of our best selling Sesame Street tees.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:39:11 AMThose goddamn Wiggles are probably going to give me nightmare, just like that awful decapitated dog video you put up earlier this week. Jesus.
Why do you hate my happiness, ToplessRobot?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:44:30 AMOTOH, the Yip-Yips are awesome. I used to love them growing up.
Of course, my dad also had shown me Eraserhead before I started kindergarten, so I might be a bit biased.
Fruit Salad? Yummy Yummy!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:48:04 AMI agree with vote #1. By far the creepiest puppets ever. If you aren't convinced by the photo, you need to watch the video.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:59:29 AMDon't forget that ass-ugly puppet from kiddie-religious crapfest "Joy Junction". That monstrosity still creeps me the hell out.
And Star Fleet is some cool shit!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 09:01:07 AMHey, weren't the Yips named the second most underrated Muppets just last month on Topless Robot?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 09:05:11 AMWhat about Miss Piggy? When I was little my parents used to tease me, saying I was in love with her, which never made any sense to me, she was one violent, terrifying bitch and my least favorite Muppet- and it's Frank Oz! My parents taped a poster of Miss Piggy to the ceiling over my bed while I was sleeping, and laughed like jackals when I woke to this evil shit. I jumped on the mattress tearing at the poster, until it was shredded. "Good Times"!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 09:27:38 AMI always loved the yip-yip aliens, but holy shit, that Egyptian Ernie terrified me. I had completely forgotten about it, but seeing it again still gives me the creeps.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 10:02:45 AMLady Elaine Fairchilde from Mr. Rodgers was the creepiest.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 10:28:01 AM"Lady Elaine Fairchilde from Mr. Rodgers was the creepiest."
Thank You, I wanted to post that too, but couldn't remember the name. Still gives me the willies when my kids turn on Mr. Rodgers.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 10:43:33 AMWhat about the Thunderbirds? I had nightmares from this show, and really couldn't watch a full episode until I was in my 30s.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:01:00 AMThey forgot the Letter People. They never creeped me out, but I remember being forced to watch them through grades K-2.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:09:46 AMre Howdy Doody: I think it's odd that the show started on the radio, where you couldn't see any puppet.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:11:57 AMI love the Yips Yips, despite how totally terrorfying they were. And I'd totally buy that Yip Yip shirt.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:15:35 AMThe Yip Yip martians are awesome - there was another mupet that was a box or machine and other mupets would put money in it and the machine had arms and would take off their eyes or nose and give them other peoples totaly rearanging the way they looked - most of the time they would run off screaming at the end of the skit - what was that Mupet called?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:45:03 AMThe Yip Yip martians are awesome - there was another mupet that was a box or machine and other mupets would put money in it and the machine had arms and would take off their eyes or nose and give them other peoples totaly rearanging the way they looked - most of the time they would run off screaming at the end of the skit - what was that Mupet called?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 11:45:26 AMDoes anyone else remember the "We're not candy" pill puppets? They were BI-zarre!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 12:08:21 PMDoes anyone else remember the "We're not candy" pill puppets? They were BI-zarre!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 12:09:01 PMApologies for the double post.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 12:10:59 PMThe Swedish Chef. He freaks me out. No eyes, big nose, and fleshy human hands. Bork bork bork!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 12:59:24 PMOh..my god..I had forgotten about the Ernie statue until I saw it, and it used to scare the hell out of me. It still creeps me out.
And the rest of those are equally as creepy...haha, with the exception of the Fraggle Rock trash heap, that just brought back memories. o_O It was still disturbing, I'll admit, however.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:00:04 PMsomewhat disappointed that any of the "muppets" from peter jackson's puppet opus "Meet The Feebles" didn't make it on this list... or greg the bunny for that matter, now that was one scary puppet...
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:15:29 PMYep, Egyptian Ernie scared the crap outta me as a kid...
But as Nick said, the Letter People should be on this list. But unlike him, I *WAS* scared shitless of them.
Nothing like being home sick from school watching PBS, already plagued with fever dreams, only to have images of Tall Teeth coming at you.
Scariest, fucked-up puppet show ever...
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:23:00 PMYep, Egyptian Ernie scared the crap outta me as a kid...
But as Nick said, the Letter People should be on this list. But unlike him, I *WAS* scared shitless of them.
Nothing like being home sick from school watching PBS, already plagued with fever dreams, only to have images of Tall Teeth coming at you.
Scariest, fucked-up puppet show ever...
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:23:29 PMI guess no one here has seen "Meet the feebles".
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:26:42 PMI'm not going to say what it's about but it is nsfw. Yes the movie is a niche sick naughty movie, but regardless those puppets are the most terrifying things ever.
What about Elaine Layne from Mister Rodgers Neighborhood. She scared the hell out of me as a kid and still does with those crazy red cheeks and voice.
Actually, come to think of it, all of Mr Rodgers puppets were creepy.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:27:58 PMTodd,
THANK YOU!
For years I have been freaked out by the Wiggles puppets!!
I appreciate your validation of my feelings!
Michelle :)
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:30:06 PMNow that I think about it, my sister has serious fear factor of The Count from Sesame Street. Anyone else?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:42:01 PMOh God. Peppermint Park was the worst. Those things are proof that the Lord hates us.
The Wiggles puppet sounds like Foamy the Squirrel.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 01:57:27 PMHow did you decide that the Trash Heap doesn't have eyes. Look at that clip. You can see the eyes opening and closing. She just doesn't have the white parts.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 02:30:09 PMThe Yup Yups were AWSOME I used to annoy people for hours with that!!! All the others have now scarred me for life
Posted 12/05/2008 at 02:51:35 PMWhat about HR Puffnstuff?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 02:54:18 PMDid anyone see the Terra-Hawks? The creepiest puppet show ever created. Check them out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQkjmpqQIA
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:07:15 PMI remember watching Fraggle Rock when I was very young and the Trash Heap scared the shit out of me. I also mistook the name as "Trash sheep" which deeply confused me.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:13:03 PMOh yeah, you did pick some good ones! LOL.
jess
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:15:32 PMwww.privacy.es.tc
Mr Rogers always had the scariest puppets hands down. But I'm not sure if they count as puppets but those booba things scare me, and that look obscene. Oh and the yip yips never scared me I thought they were funny. :)
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:34:16 PMNOTHING from Greg the Bunny in this list?
Susan should be in the top 5, for sure!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:38:06 PMMy granddaughter has always loved monsters, in fact one of her first words was "monzer". The more deformed, twisted and disgusting the better. Monster, Inc. was her favorite animated movie. She is now 10yo and Alien is one of her favorite flix.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 03:45:09 PMI was in the Howdy Doody / Buffalo Bob target audience and thought Howdy was really creepy - he looked like he had some deblitating neural disorder.
you totally forgot the "We're not candy" singing pill puppets from the 80's PSA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xayd1c0wtOE
great list, though.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:11:04 PM"Meet the Feebles" is possibly the sickest puppet movie ever - like Muppets on crack. If you don't know it, what the hell are you doing making a list like this?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:12:37 PMPersonally the most disturbing thing about this article is its title. For example, to label Howdy Doody as "Disturbing" is to demonstrate both a total lack of common sense and probably significant peraonal patholgy. What a shame people who write such disturbing trash can get it published. Hopefully, the average persons common sense will override the negative psychological effects of this type of article.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:26:40 PMRecently there was a show on the Canadian Comedy Channel just for people who are freaked out by puppets- called "Puppets Who Kill". And they do- yes they do.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:28:45 PMI would also add L'ananna and the dancing skeletons from the French kids show Telefrancais. Here is a link to a full episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KZlDHVLZwo&feature=related
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:38:54 PMWow, this was a great list. The last four were truly disturbing.
I agree with the others- the Letter People deserve a spot. Mr. Z and his Zipping Zippers and Tall Teeth of Mr. T (I like the one who pities fools better) we definitely creepy. I think I could still sing the theme song as well.
As for the Yip-Yips- I used to love those guys!
Does anyone remember a very serious show that used to air on religious channels of bible stories acted out with puppets/marionettes? That used to freak me out on Sunday mornings- it was all "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" style, but just plain creepy. I'd take Xena over that any morning.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:39:49 PMThat Wiggles video was perhaps the single most awesome thing I've ever seen.
But, then again, I am really stoned, so...
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:41:38 PMUm, no Sifl and Ollie on your list? How embarrassing for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2gBPzdSg8
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:41:41 PMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6mJQOBU9U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owouynBXC4g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obHTruq0BCQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTz7npIYUk
Oh and how can you forget the California Raisins!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXzriJ2LDpI
Posted 12/05/2008 at 04:46:02 PMCyn,
Do you mean Davey and Goliath?
Gumby kinda creeped me out, especially the episode where his legs seemed to absorb a lot of water for some reason. Anyone rmember that?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:20:05 PMThe yip yip aliens? Those aren't really disturbing at all. No, you want to hunt for the Sesame Street sequence that occurs in a mouth. The set is composed of some fairly grotesque teeth and gums, with enormous furry octopus-like germs that appear, state their evil intentions, and then slurp maliciously on the teeth before a toothbrush shows up to smear white goop haphazardly on the teeth.
Here it is in Dutch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR5YEMaL55U
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:36:24 PMUnfortunately, you're missing out on the original slurping sounds, which were enough to send my younger brother into some kind of fear seizure.
You have fucked with my mind.
Now we're even.
You bastard.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:38:42 PMP.S. Majory rocked.
And while we're on the subject of creepy Canadian puppeteering, here's Telefrancais:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBSflK1FTSY
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:43:23 PMnothing freaked me out like clutch cargo
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:53:51 PMRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADIOOOOOOOOOO
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:56:26 PMOutstanding post! I think clowns and puppets have a lot in common. Kids are scared of both.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 05:59:25 PMuhm i can not believe that these were not on the list:
Animal
Sweetums
Uncle Deadly
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:06:48 PMThose blue things that sang about putting things in your mouth scared the hell out of me when I was little. In fact, they still do. *shudder* Also, what's with the talking garbage heap?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:16:27 PMDoes anybody else remember that character Digit from the Jim Henson Hour? He was a grey, human looking dude. Honestly the scariest thing Henson has ever produced, which is saying something. Nobody ever remembers who he is, but when I show them a picture, they never forget.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:17:35 PMHEyyy....
What about the singing "We're Not Candy" pills from that old PSA??
"We're not candy,
Even though we look so fine and dandy."
Anyone.....?
Posted 12/05/2008 at 06:59:49 PMAnyone?
Meet the Feebles and the Skeksis of Dark Crystal were movies, not TV as the list qualifies.
Dood, Letter People! I'm Mister M, with the Munchy Mouth!
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:38:56 PMSTOP IT WITH THE LETTER PEOPLE REFERENCES!!!!
It's too close to bed time!
Shudder...
Posted 12/05/2008 at 08:50:27 PMThe chick muppet with no eyes, big lips and that deep voice from uncle teeth's band still gives me the willies.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 09:53:28 PMHow about a little bit of not-so-subtle sexual innuendo from a group of children's puppets? From the classic British TV show "Rainbow" comes this horrible little gem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc6uMi8EA90
Posted 12/05/2008 at 10:10:26 PMLet me just say that I am seventeen, and the image of that egyptian Ernie was THE FIRST thing that came to mind when I saw the name of this article. That creepy A*S sketch will be burned on my mind forver, along with The whole fraggle rock show.
Posted 12/05/2008 at 10:58:35 PMMuppets are the most disturbing definitely. Although, all puppets are ugly.
Posted 12/06/2008 at 03:49:47 AMI definitely remember the Yip-Yips as being rather creepy. But nothing, absolutely NOTHING, on television frightened me more than this segment from the first season of Sesame Street:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUUP0tAiziE
You have to watch the whole thing -- with the sound on. The evil nightmares of this nasty little bit still haunt me to this day.
Posted 12/06/2008 at 10:45:50 AMThese brings back terrifying memories, especially that trash heap thing.
Posted 12/06/2008 at 02:52:54 PMscariest moment in #1 2:14 lower left corner.
Posted 12/06/2008 at 05:28:23 PMwhat??? no puppets from "meet the feebles"??? also, i luv the yip-yips :D not a bad list :P
Posted 12/07/2008 at 07:04:10 PMthats nothing compared to the puppets we had to watch as kids in britain try the riddlers or rosie and jim.
Posted 12/08/2008 at 06:19:32 AMnothing freaked me out like clutch cargo
Posted 12/08/2008 at 06:20:19 AMOh yeah, you did pick some good ones! LOL..
Posted 12/08/2008 at 08:17:42 AMAccording to my mother, the Yip-Yips were one of the very few things that could make me laugh as a baby (the other being the Sweedish Chef.) Apparently (and to anyone who knows me, unsurprisingly), I was a freak case.
Posted 12/08/2008 at 11:23:22 AMNo, THIS is the scariest Sesame Street segment of all time. An orange rolls around, eyeballs roll onto its head, and it sings an aria from Carmen--which sounds like otherworldly bizarre screeching to 4-year-olds without a lot of time spent in opera houses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-0_p_yefg
Posted 12/08/2008 at 11:30:58 AMI loved the yip-yips but never knew that was what they were called. Weren't they really saying "yup" (and sometimes "nope"?)
Definitely add Land of Confusion! But not Sifl and Ollie, they weren't disturbing, they rocked!
I had never heard of the Wiggles and the first thing I saw was the puppet one. I stood there transfixed, not sure if it was the coolest or most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. I was bitterly disappointed when I found out the rest of it was all live action.
But the worst was in this kid's show, Oobi, where they just use bare hands with eyes on them as the puppets... That's fine, but one day they were doing a message about being nice to kids that are "different" or whatever and the kid-hand meets a retarded kid in the park - played by a foot. I came very close to shitting myself. (Subsequent googling seems to indicate the foot was supposed to be a younger kid, but at the time it seemed like it was depicting a birth defect-riddled hand).
Posted 12/08/2008 at 06:08:38 PM87th!
Posted 12/08/2008 at 07:15:26 PM88th!
Posted 12/08/2008 at 07:16:53 PM89th!
Posted 12/08/2008 at 07:17:47 PMNice!!!
Posted 12/09/2008 at 07:51:48 AMI didn't know the aliens on Sesame Street had names! I always loved them, they never disturbed me. and I always loved that "UNG!" sound they make. The blue one does it once in that clip. I remember that one from my childhood...but such an old-fashioned radio! I know sesame street started in the '70s...I thought they had better radios than that by then!
Posted 12/10/2008 at 09:07:14 PMnothing freaked me out like clutch cargo..
Posted 12/20/2008 at 10:30:51 AMuhm i can not believe that these were not on the list:
Animal
Sweetums
Uncle Deadly.
Posted 12/22/2008 at 02:22:47 AMOkay - the Bert and Ernie Egyptian clip scared me as a kid! Also, I totally forgot about the Yip Yips - I too never realized they actually had names! But what about Mr. Crenshaw and Mrs. Pennypacker from "Today's Special?" They used to freak me out as well - also, I agree about the puppets from Mr. Rogers, but I think it was their voices that scared me more than anything.
Posted 01/24/2009 at 10:56:33 PMWhat creeped me out as a kid was Rupert the bear. It was on in England back in the early 70's as a puppet/ stop motion like show, though I guess they redid it now as an animated series.
Those creatures just were not natural. Having watched some clips in the present on youtube in a soul searching effort to see why they terrified me so when I was 4 or 5 years old, it all came back to me. As the closing credits showing the names of people involved with the production are scrolled across the screen, they also had static shots of the puppet characters staring in the show. Understand that these were humanoids with animal heads pantomining human behavior through living in houses, driving cars, farming (with livestock which is kind of tainted in it's own right), shopping with currency, and wearing clothes.
Ok, thats all fine and dandy, but there were no acctual humans present within the stories. And as the closing credits displayed the static creatures of nightmare, there was a human little girl puppet flashed across the screen. She wasn't in any stories but there she was, and I found that a terror to behold. A child's imagination can go to dark places unchecked, and my mind concieved that these creatures had in fact transformed this poor girl into one of them. And the fact that she wasn't in the show itself made it an unspoken secret among these beings of the atrocities that took place when we the audience wasn't looking.
And the theme song cried out "Rupert, Rupert the Bear, everybody sing his name..." The blashamic chanting drowned my innocent conceptions of reality asunder. Ia Ia Rupert Naphagin, the bear with a thousand young! That which is not dead can eternal lie and with strange eons even death may die! Puppeted! Gahhhhh!
And it happened as a child that I was afflicted with an harsh bout of food poisoning. I was bed ridden and unable to hold down food. My fevered brain had hallucinations as the blood rushing in my veins dominated the silence. And I had nightmares of this foul bear coming to me in my weakened state. "Rupert!" I would awake screaming from frenzied fevered dreams.
And my worried mother in an attempt to lighten my spirits arrived at the foot of my bed with a gift to comfort me. With her hand behind her back she stated that she had a visitor for me. Smiling with all the love of the world in her heart and eyes mingled with the worry and pain that accompanies such emotion, her formally hidden hands revealed the visitor. It was a Rupert doll!
From the confines of the television it had emerged to claim me at last. The hateful eyes masked with a sadonic smile hiding it's intent glared at me in tryumph. It had me. It was all true, it had been watching me from the television and knew that I was aware of the little girl. And in price for this knowledge I was to recieve the same fate. It would now be my vialated body they would display at the end of the show. A little boy instead of a little girl.
I screamed and blacked out.
I did recover from the illness, and took to hiding the Rupert bear during daylight hours so it couldnt return at night. But as my loving mother tucked me in each night, she would say "oh, you forgot Rupert, I found him under the couch", and tuck him in next to me. The thing would dominate its own side of the bed.
When I once told my mom this in the present day when I got a chance to see her, which is far and few between due to the few thousand miles between us now, she said: "No no. You loved that bear, and would call out it's name in the middle of the night, and it had to be tucked in next to you because I would find it across the room when I checked up on you." So I leave it at that, she doesnt need to know how a cold chill still creeps down my spine at the mere mention of the thing in the television.
Posted 02/16/2009 at 12:30:09 PMmarjory may be a villain but she did sing a cool song
Posted 04/04/2009 at 01:57:30 PMTheres nothing wrong with the yip yips my dad loved them plus i think that the real 5th disturbing puppet is THE BEAR FROM TELETUBBIES it should of been her and not the yip yips
Posted 04/04/2009 at 02:00:21 PMWhy does that Wiggles puppet continually point to his crotch?
Posted 04/07/2009 at 10:17:33 AM