Pinball Number Count
 |
Pinball Number Count (or Pinball Countdown) is a collective title referring to 11 one-minute animated segments on the popular PBS children's series Sesame Street that teach children to count to 12 by following the journey of a pinball through a rather fanciful pinball machine. These segments are notable for the colorful, imaginative animation as well as the funky "one, two, three, FOUR, five...." soundtrack provided by The Pointer Sisters. Pinball Number Count was originally produced in 1972 by Imagination, Inc. in San Francisco, California for the Children's Television Workshop. It made its debut on Sesame Street in 1977.
Overview
The Pinball Number Count segments contain common beginning and ending sequences showing the launch of the pinball into the machine and the exit of the pinball from play, respectively. Between these two sequences is a number-specific animated narrative showing the pinball in play. This middle segment features a scene in which a number of contraptions moved the pinball about the interior of the machine. These scenes are typically tied to a theme, such as an amusement park, a jungle, a forest, a medieval area, open roads, United States landmarks, European landmarks, a golf course, a circus or a farm. The pinball then exits this area and into the end sequence where it leaves play.
Opening Sequence
At the beginning of each segment, we see a number with a group of stars circling around it (If you count them circling around the number, you can see that they're the same number of stars as the number in the center.). We hear a voice whispering the current number.
Music
Music for Pinball Number Count was composed by Walt Kraemer and arranged by Ed Bogas. The vocals were provided by the Pointer Sisters. The arrangements in the eleven films reflect musical idioms commonly found in 1970s urban culture, predominantly funk and jazz, though other styles including Caribbean steel drum music are also represented. The number-specific middle sections contain one of three different (presumably) improvised instrumental solos over a basic progression, respectively featuring soprano saxophone, electric guitar, and steel drum. Consistent with an abbreviated jazz structure, a prearranged head and turnaround / coda are played during the common starting and ending animation sequences. The vocals work in similar fashion with improvised shouts of the numbers 2-12 during the middle section and a return to the arranged counting at the end. The main refrain of the song is in the odd time signature of 7/4
Visuals
Animation for the segments was directed by Jeff Hale and recalls contemporary psychedelic and pop art styles, typified by the ornate pinball bumpers, colorful geometrical motifs and whimsical themes and devices inside the machine. While great liberty is sometimes taken with respect to physics (the pinball moves smoothly over curved ramps lacking guide rails), subtle yet striking efforts toward realism are made by the animators to express the mechanical nature of the objects within. In particular, note that most of the contraptions in the pinball machine have discrete hinges and joints held together by screws and moved by rods or slots in the floor of the playing field.
List of segments
Despite the lyrics' counting from one to twelve, Pinball Number Count does not feature a segment for the number 1.
- #2: A Day at the Carnival (amusement park) The ball slides on a roller coaster, lands in a Ferris Wheel which passes it to hanging airplanes that drop it into the clowns mouth. The card from the beginning appears as we hear the voiceover saying "Two". Then the ball passes by a ghost, then a skeleton, then a bat (who flies in towards the camera) before leaving the haunted house. Then it runs over a balloon man holding helium balloons, causing them to float away. Now the ball rolls into a ball toss booth. A man standing next to the ramp tosses the ball to a duck game booth. In front is a windmill with spinning blades. The ball attempts to go through but gets knocked away by one of the blades. Then it bounces off a two bumpers cars and lands into the hole.
- #3: Circus Capers
- #4: FORE! (golf course) The ball rolls down a hill and is hit by a golfer. It lands in a duck's mouth which causes him to spin until it stops with its head in the water. The golfer gives the ball another shot. It runs over a flat guy standing next to a hole and rolls into a tunnel which makes six purple rabbits to pop out of their holes. The golfer makes the last shot. The ball bumps off the bottoms of some trees before rolling into another tree where a squirrel drops it into the hole.
- #5: The Only Way To Travel (modes of transportation)
- #6: Down on the Farm The ball rolls down a slide attached to a barn and is kicked by a donkey past a group of sheep before rolling into the bottom of a haystack. It emerges from the top and is tossed by a goat dressed like a farmer. Now it rolls under a group of chicks and is laid like an egg under a chicken who then pushes it away with its beak. The ball now rolls into a doghouse and out when the dog pops out. It then chases a pig into a barn where the goat farmer emerges from behind it carrying the ball in a wheelbarrow and drops it into the hole.
- #7: World Tour (famous world landmarks) The ball slides down from the roof of a Taj Majal building and into a tunnel under a snake charmer whose pet snake is startled awake and pushes the ball out from under him with its tail. The ball rolls under a sphinx (the statue turns its head to see the ball as it rolls behind him) and into a pyramid. The ball leaves the pyramid from the top. Now it bounces off two thingies that resemble roofs of Russian buildings before being kicked into the air by a dancer. A mountain climber blowing a horn swings to the right to catch the ball. Then he swings to the left and blows the ball loose. The ball lands on a bull in a ring, bounces off him and hits a matador causing him to spin around. A windmill with its blades turning with a hole in its base which the ball tries to go through but gets knocked away by one of the blades. Now it runs over a policeman and rolls into a sentry box which causes two soldiers to pop out of their holes.
- #8: Forest Follies Many forest animals pass the ball around. A unicycling brown bear, a frog, a monkey, a pelican, a kangaroo, a beaver, a tree bear, a couple of unicycling brown bears, and a raccoon who drops it into the hole.
- #9: Play Ball! (baseball) The ball encounters some baseball players and is chased under the bleachers and dropped into the hole by a mechanical dog.
- #10: Medieval Times (fantasy Middle Ages) The ball slides down a ramp attached to a wall shaped like a castle roof and is launched from a catapult into the mouth of dragon who spits it out. The ball rams into a knight which causes him to spin vertically. We see a tent with a hole behind it the flap which the ball tries to go through but is stopped by a giant who pushes it away with his spiky flail. Now the ball rolls into a castle through the doorway as the bridge lowers. And then it is shot from a cannon. The dragon who caught the ball earlier ducks as the ball flies into the cave. It lands into a witch's cauldron, causing a splash that literally "kills" her. The dragon then emerges from the pot with the ball in its mouth and drops it into the hole.
- #11: Zoo
- #12: Sightseeing, USA
Cover versions and parodies
Pinball Number Count has been covered and remixed by a number of artists. One such version, done with the cooperation of Sesame Workshop,[1] was released under the DJ Food name by Ninja Tune Records on a 12" EP and the Zen TV DVD.[2] Other versions have been performed by Venetian Snares (on the Infolepsy EP), Wicked Hemlocks, The Postmarks and an instrumental version by Big Organ Trio. The refrain was prominently featured in Many Moons by Janelle Monáe.
The Family Guy episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz" used a plastic bubble-encased Stewie as the pinball in a close parody of the segment. The Pointer Sisters' distinctive counting style in particular is also referenced near the start of the film Half Nelson, where Ryan Gosling's character Dan Dunne mumbles the numbers in the same fashion.
References
- ^ "Classic Sesame Street Tunes Become Dance Favorites as New 12" Vinyl Hits Market" (Press release). Sesame Workshop. 2003-08-04. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ "Ninjatune Releases - Solid Steel Presents Sesame Street". Ninja Tune Records. Retrieved 2008-10-15.