I animated/produced this in 1989 for Sesame St. The music was influenced by David Byrne, as I recall. It was very hard to think of images for the concept of "every story has a beginning, middle and an end." They sent the music to me, and I took it from there, design and animation. Thanks for your comments.
Hello , I love listening to all your songs featured in Sesame Street from the late 80s / early 90s , I was only a young child back then when I watched it on a regular basis and just hearing this catchy music now brings back many fond memories from those days , thank you very much for making them 😊
wow..bring back a lot of memories..i'm from the c'bbean and a lot of ppl liked SS from the 80s and 90s.The music synthicisers of the 80s is really cool n for a children show the music was really professional i must say..
jzapert I remember I first learned who David Byrne was on Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast. It still cracks me up to this day - "David! You're bringing me down, man!" I had to be around 6 at the time.
well the ideas of beginning, middle and end are very abstract. I had to think of a way to illustrate them. It was the first Sesame St. piece I did. They sent me the lyrics on a piece of paper and I had to go from there. Once I started thinking about dancing books and eggs to chickens I had something to build it on.
@Carry the Lucumber What I think I remember is the full production from storyboards to final camera/video was about 3 months- had to read the track too, and send drawings off for "ink" and paint. (xerox). The animation itself I'd guess about six weeks, including a pencil test. I'd do a full cleanup of the drawings before sending them off, after the pencil test. Could have worded this more simply...
These old sesame street clips with Sal's art really bring back memories...and they truly have deep meanings; especially this one and the one called "Above it All". They give me chills. The music is wonderful too. Today's stuff cannot compete. Thank God we're still able to watch these...
"Seymour flies way back in time / He goes into business with some cavemen / He runs a very successful frozen yogurt stand / He changes the entire course of history / He causes a major paradox in the space-time continuum / The fabric of reality is unravelled and the entire universe is destroyed..." Actually, I might have made those last three lines up... :-)
Well done, Sally. I have been known to answer the question, "do you know what he is doing now?" with "he runs a very successful frozen yoghurt stand". One day, someone will understand the reference and we'll be forever friends.
Time flies by so fast.when nostalgia hits, it hits really hard. I remember watching this and singing along while sitting on the living room floor, now I m watching the same clip with tears in my eyes as I remember my youth gone by.
Riding in the car last week I heard Louis Armstrong singing "Jeepers Creepers" and no idea why that brought tears to my eyes except music sometimes does that.
My wife cited this Sesame Street segment in her doctoral dissertation in rhetoric and composition back in '95. Luckily, I had been recording episodes for our child, so I pulled out the tape and transcribed the lyrics for her.
2:11 "Snake! You can't do that! You've changed the future! You've created a time paradox!" It's okay though, because the universe where frozen yogurt existed as early as pre-history is probably much more advanced and happy than ours. If only I could hop over to that dimension...
I'm 7 months pregnant and have been walking around my home for the last week singing the hook of this song out loud for all to hear. I'm 100% glad I found this and other classics so I can sing them to my baby when he arrives :-)
I love this cartoon SO MUCH!! It always made me laugh out loud, crazy seymour, the pteradactyl, the yogurt stand, the pajamas...absolute genius! I must have been 18 or so when I first saw it. The music is brilliant as well. This animation piece had been periodically cropping up in my head over the years and all I had to do was type "beginning middle end" in a youtube search box. Sally, thanks for sharing/creating this! :) You are truly one of the great masters of animation!
Sesame street still played this clip when I was kid growing up in the 2000s. I love how they kept these classic bangers for multiple generations of kids 😁
This sounds exactly like a cross between Talking Heads "And She Way" and Thomas Dolby's (I don't think I spelled his last name right) "She Blinded Me With Science"!! This song would be a hit if either of these bands released this song as is. Great job on the piece!!!!
I remember one Friday in college, drinking beer and watching Sesame Street, and this popped on, and I was like: "Is David Byrne writing for Sesame Street now?"
It's really interesting to hear how Sesame street reflects the popular musical styles of the decade in its songs. The waily affected voice, the synth melodies with angular sounding guitar riffs...so eighties. And all of those funky syncopated beats backing some of the animations from the seventies...truly awesome.
Oh, nostalgia...I remember me and my sister listening to this I-don't-know-how-many-years before, when we were little. I found the video in 7th grade. Thanks so much! 😀
This song is brilliant. Everything from lyrics to animation to the music and singing. Forget it's "supposed" to be for kids, this is brilliantly layered too.
I remember this one from when I first saw it on sesame street years ago. Seymour always reminded me of Lamb Chop. What kind of animal is he actually supposed to be?
Sally Cruikshank Thanks! I always wanted to know that years ago, not just now that I'm seeing it again on UA-cam. I think it reminded me of Lambchop because I I might have been watching that at the same time I saw this on Sesame street, but I don't remember.
Beckoning Chasm , the thing is- trash cans used to be metal with flat tops. Now all trash cans have some kind of dome top. She's whacking the side of her head with the can lid because she can't believe what she just saw.
Screenwriters and authors need to watch this video and learn from it. So many forget that stories have a structure, and for the love of god, let it end!
Unfortunately Sesame Street didn't save the original materials as far as I know. After the first few I made I kept all the film materials, was told they didn't want them.
The music style sounds a lot like Talking Heads. This was definitely from the 80's; I'm going to say circa 1987. It ran for quite a few years on Sesame Street too.
Thanks for all these nice comments. Somewhere in the comments there's more info about who recorded it, I think. I just had a soundtrack to work with, never knew more than that. Sally
I remember watching this on Sesame Street as a kid. Music is definitely influenced and probably based off Talking Heads - And She Was. I Remember always wondering why Seymour had yellow eyes, and loving those purple elephants walking at the start. Great memories 🙂
That is just amazing! It was hard for me to come up with images for such abstract concepts, also the case for "From Your Head." I'm really shocked that youtube is posting an ad for the Mormon church at start of this piece- wow- they're making money off it and I'm not allowed to make money on it, and did not authorize them to include ads. geez.
I haven't seen this in AGES! I knew there was some sort of parody based on this song but I never knew it. Even though it was made in 1988, the year before I was born, they used to show it alot when I first remember watching SS around 1991-92.
I remember seeing some of these shorts on Sesame Street I really like the art style in them it reminds me of rocko’s modern life and these shorts predate rocko
To save people time, I'll answer the question once more. This song was sung by Paul Jacobs. He is also playing most of the instruments heard on the song.
Been looking for this. All I remember was the smiling bed and the part where he sings, "here's where we get to the meat." Its a weird feeling of nostalgia but not quite; kind of like nostalgia-adjacent. Glad I found this and this nostalgia-adjacent feeling is finally resolved.
This literally made my day to find this video! This and about 4 more Sesame Street songs still play in my head for going on 30 years now! Thank you for uploading this wonderful nostalgia!
There are millions of us out there. This was an ENORMOUS part of my childhood, and I am so thankful to have grown up during the time that I did, and that I was able to experience this. It has had an influence on my artwork and writing. I'm sure you must be honored to have been the animator... (:
I animated/produced this in 1989 for Sesame St. The music was influenced by David Byrne, as I recall. It was very hard to think of images for the concept of "every story has a beginning, middle and an end." They sent the music to me, and I took it from there, design and animation. Thanks for your comments.
😯 Amazing! I absolutely loved it then and I love it now. ESPECIALLY THOSE CHICKS ❤️.
Awesome stuff, Sally
Brilliant
@@Sparkina Thanks and Happy New Year!
This song is a masterpiece to some of us!
The nostalgia here is more than I asked for and I am grateful.
Hello , I love listening to all your songs featured in Sesame Street from the late 80s / early 90s , I was only a young child back then when I watched it on a regular basis and just hearing this catchy music now brings back many fond memories from those days , thank you very much for making them 😊
Oh you're so welcome. I sure wish they would still play them but it's a very different show these days.
lmao..i just sung this 3 minutes ago..
omg...so many beautiful memories!
wow..bring back a lot of memories..i'm from the c'bbean and a lot of ppl liked SS from the 80s and 90s.The music synthicisers of the 80s is really cool n for a children show the music was really professional i must say..
This is the best song I've ever heard! Keep up the good work!
Come on. Stuff like this is what kids should be watching instead of the crap out today. I still love this.
@LainQui Got that right! I love to write stories and this would be great for children who aspire to be authors and writers
Yes, he says that. Seems weird doesn't it. But "the meat" of a story, issue, etc. was once a seemingly normal metaphor.
At around 1:56, is the guy in the background shooting himself? Given the show, he probably isn't, but that weirded me out.
this is a parody of talking heads "and she was"
Excuse me at 1:30 I SAW GUN
The style of the song resembles Talking Heads, but it sounds like Danny Elfman imitating David Byrne.
Rick Clark m
yep exactly it was groundbreaking
Paul Jacobs has quite a unique singing voice.
Or like Andy Partridge
Does anyone else feel like they are listening to the Talking Heads?!?
Yes, It's a spoof of "And There She Was" by The Talking Heads. And The Talking Heads are a Canadian Rock Band.
Youko Miyamoto
To be honest I .like this version more lol
Splutter.... They're American with a little bit of British splashed in there.
@@BuddyBoy600alt Not to be nit-picky, but it's "And She Was", with no "there".
I watched this as a boy. I am now pushing 40 and sharing it with my kids. They do not have kids entertainment like this anymore.
There was a great producer at Children's Television Workshop for many years.
I was getting too old for Sesame Street by 1989. 8-9 years old, but I stuck around for these great animations and songs!
Hey that's really nice.
This sounds like a song that The Talking Heads would have recorded! TOTALLY AWESOME!
Michael Williams Or maybe Devo.
+Michael Williams It was purposely done as a David Byrne imitation, I read somewhere
I was going to say that it reminds me of 'And She Was'!
jzapert I remember I first learned who David Byrne was on Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast. It still cracks me up to this day - "David! You're bringing me down, man!" I had to be around 6 at the time.
Reminds me of Prince
well the ideas of beginning, middle and end are very abstract. I had to think of a way to illustrate them. It was the first Sesame St. piece I did. They sent me the lyrics on a piece of paper and I had to go from there. Once I started thinking about dancing books and eggs to chickens I had something to build it on.
@Carry the Lucumber What I think I remember is the full production from storyboards to final camera/video was about 3 months- had to read the track too, and send drawings off for "ink" and paint. (xerox). The animation itself I'd guess about six weeks, including a pencil test. I'd do a full cleanup of the drawings before sending them off, after the pencil test. Could have worded this more simply...
omg this one too, did you animate my whole childhood?
Your name relates to my last name Cruikshank.
These old sesame street clips with Sal's art really bring back memories...and they truly have deep meanings; especially this one and the one called "Above it All". They give me chills. The music is wonderful too. Today's stuff cannot compete. Thank God we're still able to watch these...
B
One of my FAVORITE bits from Sesame Street growing up! Thank you, Sally!
"Seymour flies way back in time / He goes into business with some cavemen / He runs a very successful frozen yogurt stand / He changes the entire course of history / He causes a major paradox in the space-time continuum / The fabric of reality is unravelled and the entire universe is destroyed..." Actually, I might have made those last three lines up... :-)
Well done, Sally. I have been known to answer the question, "do you know what he is doing now?" with "he runs a very successful frozen yoghurt stand". One day, someone will understand the reference and we'll be forever friends.
Ha!
I just like the fact that Seymour is still in his pajamas throughout the whole story. Maybe it was Casual Friday. 😊
Haha good one!
You know what else has the hero in his pajamas the whole time? The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! Great minds think alike…
I'm happy for seymour
His ending/beginning and his life of comfort
Time flies by so fast.when nostalgia hits, it hits really hard. I remember watching this and singing along while sitting on the living room floor, now I m watching the same clip with tears in my eyes as I remember my youth gone by.
Riding in the car last week I heard Louis Armstrong singing "Jeepers Creepers" and no idea why that brought tears to my eyes except music sometimes does that.
@@sallycruikshank
I guess maybe You were scared ,in the movie they said that he comes whenever that song plays.
M
If only the producers of modern television had watched this as a kid.
I hear you.
oingoboingofanatic, be sure to view my film "Face Like a Frog" with music by oingo boingo under pseudonym.
It's from 1989. The digital tv thing will bite them in the back-- everyone will use computers to view tv.
89 i was 6
Plz need a story that is interesting and beginning meddle ending once say the story write it under
My wife cited this Sesame Street segment in her doctoral dissertation in rhetoric and composition back in '95. Luckily, I had been recording episodes for our child, so I pulled out the tape and transcribed the lyrics for her.
WOW, I remember that song in my good old elementary school days, and i was younger!
2:11 "Snake! You can't do that! You've changed the future! You've created a time paradox!"
It's okay though, because the universe where frozen yogurt existed as early as pre-history is probably much more advanced and happy than ours. If only I could hop over to that dimension...
SNAAAAAKE!
B
I miss old day sesame street sad
I'm 7 months pregnant and have been walking around my home for the last week singing the hook of this song out loud for all to hear. I'm 100% glad I found this and other classics so I can sing them to my baby when he arrives :-)
iluvgr8music2 so sweet- good wishes on your delivery- enjoy!
Thanks for all your nice comments. It's so amazing to me to realize so many children were affected (word?) by my work.
Yes!!! These were great, some of my favorites ☺️ the music and animation are perfect compliments!
@@heidij2839 Thanks Heidi J
I love everything you did! I'm 37 now and still think about these songs and cartoons. Thank you for work!
@@Jerkparking Thanks so much!
I love this cartoon SO MUCH!! It always made me laugh out loud, crazy seymour, the pteradactyl, the yogurt stand, the pajamas...absolute genius! I must have been 18 or so when I first saw it. The music is brilliant as well. This animation piece had been periodically cropping up in my head over the years and all I had to do was type "beginning middle end" in a youtube search box. Sally, thanks for sharing/creating this! :) You are truly one of the great masters of animation!
Sesame street still played this clip when I was kid growing up in the 2000s. I love how they kept these classic bangers for multiple generations of kids 😁
I wish they still would run them.
Is it me or does Mrs. Bazini (Seymour’s neighbor) remind anyone of Bette Midler?
Unfortunately, TV nowadays barely airs any of the “good” shows I grew up with as a little boy
I love this so much.Theme is up-tempo,so terrific.
Thanks Sean!
Hi and you are welcome, Miss Sally.
M
That lyric line was incredibly hard for me: to find appropriate images.
This sounds exactly like a cross between Talking Heads "And She Way" and Thomas Dolby's (I don't think I spelled his last name right) "She Blinded Me With Science"!! This song would be a hit if either of these bands released this song as is. Great job on the piece!!!!
Xxx
I7
I remember one Friday in college, drinking beer and watching Sesame Street, and this popped on, and I was like: "Is David Byrne writing for Sesame Street now?"
Haha guess they were channeling him.
It's really interesting to hear how Sesame street reflects the popular musical styles of the decade in its songs. The waily affected voice, the synth melodies with angular sounding guitar riffs...so eighties. And all of those funky syncopated beats backing some of the animations from the seventies...truly awesome.
I've listed a nice piece of original artwork for sale from this song at my site:
funonmars (dot) com
Oh, nostalgia...I remember me and my sister listening to this I-don't-know-how-many-years before, when we were little. I found the video in 7th grade. Thanks so much! 😀
This song is brilliant. Everything from lyrics to animation to the music and singing. Forget it's "supposed" to be for kids, this is brilliantly layered too.
That's so nice, thank you. It's pretty sophisticated, I agree.
Hmm, kind of appropriate that the parody of a song about tripping on LSD is so tripped out.
the guy who did the animation for this is a freaking geniusXDDD
I remember watching this on _Sesame Street_ as a child.
I remember this one from when I first saw it on sesame street years ago. Seymour always reminded me of Lamb Chop. What kind of animal is he actually supposed to be?
Sort of an abstract dog who wears pajamas!
Sally Cruikshank Thanks! I always wanted to know that years ago, not just now that I'm seeing it again on UA-cam. I think it reminded me of Lambchop because I I might have been watching that at the same time I saw this on Sesame street, but I don't remember.
Sally Cruikshank, you're the best when it comes to animation! I salute ya' for your hard work!
This is as always wonderful stuff, but I have to ask... at @01:57 - Did the neighbor do what I think she did?
Beckoning Chasm , the thing is- trash cans used to be metal with flat tops. Now all trash cans have some kind of dome top. She's whacking the side of her head with the can lid because she can't believe what she just saw.
@@sallycruikshank Thank you! My outlook tends to be somewhat dark and I imagined something worse. Should have trusted your imagination!
This just randomly popped in my head today, wow the nostalgia hit me hard.
Thanks for your lovely comments. It's been such a surprise to me to realize and discover the audience these musical shorts I made actually had.
This is parodying the Talking Heads' "And She Was"....I can tell 😉
Screenwriters and authors need to watch this video and learn from it. So many forget that stories have a structure, and for the love of god, let it end!
Love your comment, and I agree.
Thank you, Sally Cruikshank!
Aww thanks Todd.
Nope, From 1988. Because Sally Cruikshank did not work on Sesame Street until Season 20.
The first Sally Cruikshank video on Sesame Street.
Episode 2556 Season 20 (1989)
Unfortunately Sesame Street didn't save the original materials as far as I know. After the first few I made I kept all the film materials, was told they didn't want them.
love the white tree with it's gold base- it stands out amongst the blue background-(the player on my end says around the 2:06 mark)
Thanks. Had to look it up to see what you mean. Wish the video quality was better.
@@sallycruikshank -yes, i can clearly see what you refenced.
Sounds a little like the Talking Heads, a little like Oingo Boingo and a little like early XTC
Course it's a successful frozen yogurt stand... It's the only one around at that point.
this sound a lot like And she was
by talking heads
its a parody of it
Reminds me of Prince
Is it me or do that house he in look like from the rugrats
The music style sounds a lot like Talking Heads.
This was definitely from the 80's; I'm going to say circa 1987. It ran for quite a few years on Sesame Street too.
No, 1989
Haha, no, it's the trash can lid, but it does sort of look like that!
It takes the song construction of "And She Was" and fuses it with Jerry Harrison's synth stylings as heard on "Making Flippy Floppy".
This song makes me think of the song "you might think" by The Cars
It actually based on the Talking Heads
I just saw this on PBS Kids Sprout this sunday. BTW, I love this song! I always thought the signer is David Byrnes of The Talking Heads.
Love love LOVE the talking heads vibe going on here
Sounds like the Talking Heads.
Yes! It took me years to figure this out....but this is a parody of Talking Heads "And She Was". :-)
Also sounds a little like Devo
I just love to read comments from grown kids who remember this. Thank you.
Awesome dancing books ^_^ Great childhood memory.
Thanks for all these nice comments. Somewhere in the comments there's more info about who recorded it, I think. I just had a soundtrack to work with, never knew more than that. Sally
I remember watching this on Sesame Street as a kid. Music is definitely influenced and probably based off Talking Heads - And She Was. I Remember always
wondering why Seymour had yellow eyes, and loving those purple elephants walking at the start. Great memories 🙂
Great memory!
She's hitting herself in the head with the trash can lid. But others have asked too so it must look like something else.
The song sounds like a cross between The Talking Heads and David Bowie. Your animation is, of course, still very awesome and inspired.
That is just amazing! It was hard for me to come up with images for such abstract concepts, also the case for "From Your Head." I'm really shocked that youtube is posting an ad for the Mormon church at start of this piece- wow- they're making money off it and I'm not allowed to make money on it, and did not authorize them to include ads. geez.
Your the best
I haven't seen this in AGES! I knew there was some sort of parody based on this song but I never knew it. Even though it was made in 1988, the year before I was born, they used to show it alot when I first remember watching SS around 1991-92.
I remember seeing some of these shorts on Sesame Street
I really like the art style in them it reminds me of rocko’s modern life and these shorts predate rocko
I feel like Joe Murray has a similar animation style to Sally Cruikshank’s.
@miraiyouko you have a good eye to pick up on the style like that. glad you're enjoying the films.
I love when teachers use my work in class, thanks for posting
SOOOOO Talking Heads!!!
Oh man, the nostalgia! This randomly popped into my head! 😊❤
ah, did anyone else see the neighbour pull out a shotgun at 1:56?
Peter Roden-Smith LOL!!!
That’s a lid of a trash can
I think about this song all the time. So glad it was easy to find here so I can applaud the animator directly 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Oh that's so nice!
Why does semores bed have a face that's just really bizzare and creepy
To save people time, I'll answer the question once more. This song was sung by Paul Jacobs. He is also playing most of the instruments heard on the song.
Roxanne, thanks for this amazing message and all best inspirational luck to you with your writing and artwork. CHEERS!
Been looking for this. All I remember was the smiling bed and the part where he sings, "here's where we get to the meat." Its a weird feeling of nostalgia but not quite; kind of like nostalgia-adjacent. Glad I found this and this nostalgia-adjacent feeling is finally resolved.
nostalgia-adjacent is an interesting concept.
I loved this as a kid. It's nice to know that this video still gives me a craving for frozen yogurt. Thanks!
I miss this era of sesame street...
That Seymour can stretch!!
This literally made my day to find this video! This and about 4 more Sesame Street songs still play in my head for going on 30 years now! Thank you for uploading this wonderful nostalgia!
so nice!
I remember this
I loved sesame street until season 46
Uh oh, season 46 sounds bad!
Looks like Parappa the Rapper to me.
I've been looking for this for years! ❤️
Glad you found it.
There are millions of us out there. This was an ENORMOUS part of my childhood, and I am so thankful to have grown up during the time that I did, and that I was able to experience this. It has had an influence on my artwork and writing. I'm sure you must be honored to have been the animator... (: