Sesame Street’s acid animations

When the hippies of the late 60s rejoined society, many went back to university to finish their degrees, and a select few came out the other end with PhDs in fields such as education and child psychology. They were soon snapped up by the budding Children’s Television Workshop as consultants on its flagship show, “Sesame Street.”

The thing is, they never quite gave up the weed or the windowpane. Their drug-induced ruminations on such everyday things as pinball machines, fruit baskets, and getting lost soon found their way into bizarre animated shorts played as bumpers between Bert and Ernie’s domestic squabbles, Big Bird and Snuffy’s misadventures, and the Count’s obsessive-compulsive number fixation.

Take what is probably the most famous of these shorts: the pinball machine. One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twe-e-e-e-e-elve! What kept it fresh was that each edition, which featured a different number, had the pinball going on a unique adventure. Let’s see what’s in store for the number six:

Kind of a barnyard thing. I recall seeing better, but you get the idea. Apparently the Pointer Sisters did the vocals here.

Watch an orange come to life and sing Carmen, accompanied by phat Moog synthesizer music.

She almost loses it on “l’amour” but quickly regains her composure.

Finally, in one of the most fucked-up segments ever seen on Sesame Street, a kid unwittingly drops acid, gets lost, and seeks the advice of a shape-shifting pimp with a yo-yo who tells him how to come down from his trip.

Is there any wonder why we grew up to be Generation X?

Merlin!

Holy crap, I just came across this:

Merlin™, the Electronic Wizard! I totally loved this thing! There’s a Java version here.