5 ms·

Philip Glass scored an animation for Sesame Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWwOzEDGss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWwOzEDGss I blame this for m

Philip Glass scored an animation for Sesame Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWwOzEDGss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWwOzEDGss I blame this for my interest in modern classical. I can't imagine them doing something so progressive today. But that's because they had a captive audience in the 70's.

jeffwass 5y ago
Wow!
Diederich 5y ago
Good God that's awesome! I must have missed that episode.
dang 5y ago
That's amazing! I wonder if I saw that and tuned it out as one of the 'boring' segments. It's genius, of course, but I'm not sure I would have felt so at 6. (I did recognize it, though, from this great thread a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18253445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18253445.) One of the great things about Sesame Street was how they could entertain the parent along with the child. I remember a sketch about some composer struggling to write a song which is obviously "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", who somehow gets coaxed into the following instead: Twinkle twinkle little bird Isn't eating crumbs absurd Try a ham and cheese on rye Or a piece of cherry pie If the crumbs are all you want Don't come in my restaurant That appeals perfectly to the small child who immediately recognizes the song and thinks it's ridiculous to rewrite it; perfectly to the adult with an ironic sense of humor; and perfectly to anyone who appreciates the craftsmanship it takes to pull something like that off. (Edit: I found it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfqc07-C4Vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfqc07-C4Vw - I forgot the Kermit news reporter. What a brilliant thing. The nuances of those puppets are incredible.) (Edit 2: oh gosh, there were tons of those! https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Music https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Music.) Another example: using "To be or not to be" and "Let It Be" as devices for teaching the letter B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=1m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=1m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=4m3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=4m3s (I wonder why they changed the melody - surely it would've been fair use)
- rvbissell 5y ago
  I remember in the 90s they did a sketch where Cookie Monster was dressed as Brutus from Shakespeare's _Julius_Caesar_. They were trying to get him to recognize the numeral '2'. "Is it a 2, Brutus?"
drewcoo 5y ago
> But that's because they had a captive audience in the 70's. They experimented more in the early years before they settled into their current business model. Since then they've shifted age groups, the creation of everything involves committees, and there's a process for everything. Think about their early years like a startup. Then the company grows into a FAANG and things change.
WalterBright 5y ago
Nice as that animation is, I bet it would be 1000 times more effective if a parent/teacher worked through it with the kid with paper, pencil, scissors, ruler, and compass.
- vanderZwan 5y ago
  It's more intended as abstract art aimed at children than as a pure maths lesson, I think
tptacek 5y ago
If you'd asked me yesterday to describe my memory of Sesame Street from childhood, that animation would have been what popped into my head. And I had no idea that it was Philip Glass. I just remember the music being weird and off-putting. This is extremely cool, thank you!
- jacobolus 5y ago
  > no idea that it was Philip Glass Listen to it and then try skimming around through Koyaanisqatsi.
  - tptacek 5y ago
    Yeah! It made perfect sense like 2500ms into the video! I just think it's kind of neat to get such clear telemetry on what my young brain thought of Philip Glass. I didn't remember the music literally, just my impression that the circle animation was neat, but ruined by the music. :)
vanderZwan 5y ago
Thanks for sharing that! Here's what appears to be a slightly higher quality upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D--qSD01VRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D--qSD01VRA EDIT: the muppet wiki seems to have a good quality upload on Vimeo too: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Geometry_of_Circles https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Geometry_of_Circles

jeffwass 5y ago

Wow!

Diederich 5y ago

Good God that's awesome! I must have missed that episode.

dang 5y ago

That's amazing! I wonder if I saw that and tuned it out as one of the 'boring' segments. It's genius, of course, but I'm not sure I would have felt so at 6. (I did recognize it, though, from this great thread a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18253445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18253445.) One of the great things about Sesame Street was how they could entertain the parent along with the child. I remember a sketch about some composer struggling to write a song which is obviously "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", who somehow gets coaxed into the following instead: Twinkle twinkle little bird Isn't eating crumbs absurd Try a ham and cheese on rye Or a piece of cherry pie If the crumbs are all you want Don't come in my restaurant That appeals perfectly to the small child who immediately recognizes the song and thinks it's ridiculous to rewrite it; perfectly to the adult with an ironic sense of humor; and perfectly to anyone who appreciates the craftsmanship it takes to pull something like that off. (Edit: I found it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfqc07-C4Vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfqc07-C4Vw - I forgot the Kermit news reporter. What a brilliant thing. The nuances of those puppets are incredible.) (Edit 2: oh gosh, there were tons of those! https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Music https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Music.) Another example: using "To be or not to be" and "Let It Be" as devices for teaching the letter B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=1m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=1m45s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=4m3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPb8oRJfNpQ#t=4m3s (I wonder why they changed the melody - surely it would've been fair use)

rvbissell 5y ago
I remember in the 90s they did a sketch where Cookie Monster was dressed as Brutus from Shakespeare's _Julius_Caesar_. They were trying to get him to recognize the numeral '2'. "Is it a 2, Brutus?"

drewcoo 5y ago

> But that's because they had a captive audience in the 70's. They experimented more in the early years before they settled into their current business model. Since then they've shifted age groups, the creation of everything involves committees, and there's a process for everything. Think about their early years like a startup. Then the company grows into a FAANG and things change.

WalterBright 5y ago

Nice as that animation is, I bet it would be 1000 times more effective if a parent/teacher worked through it with the kid with paper, pencil, scissors, ruler, and compass.

vanderZwan 5y ago
It's more intended as abstract art aimed at children than as a pure maths lesson, I think

tptacek 5y ago

If you'd asked me yesterday to describe my memory of Sesame Street from childhood, that animation would have been what popped into my head. And I had no idea that it was Philip Glass. I just remember the music being weird and off-putting. This is extremely cool, thank you!

jacobolus 5y ago
> no idea that it was Philip Glass Listen to it and then try skimming around through Koyaanisqatsi.
- tptacek 5y ago
  Yeah! It made perfect sense like 2500ms into the video! I just think it's kind of neat to get such clear telemetry on what my young brain thought of Philip Glass. I didn't remember the music literally, just my impression that the circle animation was neat, but ruined by the music. :)

vanderZwan 5y ago

Thanks for sharing that! Here's what appears to be a slightly higher quality upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D--qSD01VRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D--qSD01VRA EDIT: the muppet wiki seems to have a good quality upload on Vimeo too: https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Geometry_of_Circles https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Geometry_of_Circles