Pinball Number Count
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Pinball Number Count 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.
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[edit] Overview
The Pinball Number Count segments contained 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 was a number-specific animated narrative showing the pinball in play. This middle segment featured a scene in which a number of contraptions moved the pinball about the interior of the machine. These scenes were typically tied to a theme, such as an amusement park, a jungle, a forest, a Medieval area, a desert, United States landmarks, European landmarks, a golf course, a circus or a farm. The pinball would then exit this area and into the end sequence where it exits play. Despite counting from 1-12, Pinball Number Count does not feature a segment for the number 1.
[edit] The Scenes
- #2: A Day at the Carnival
- #3: Circus Capers
- #4: FORE!
- #5: Arabian Nights
- #6: Down on the Farm
- #7: World Tour
- #8: Forest Follies
- #9: Play Ball!
- #10: Medieval Times
- #11: Wild Things
- #12: Sightseeing, USA
[edit] 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, steel drum, and trumpet. 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.
[edit] 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 discreet hinges and joints held together by screws and moved by rods or slots in the floor of the playing field.
[edit] Pinball Number Count in popular culture
- Pinball Number Count was parodied in Family Guy episode 68, "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz," when a plastic bubble-encased Stewie becomes the pinball.
- A remix of Pinball Number Count was released by Ninja Tune Records on a 12" EP and on the "Zen TV" DVD.
- A remix of Pinball Number Count was written and performed by Venetian Snares under the title "Twelve" - it was released on the Infolepsy EP by Coredump Records in 2004.
- An electronic dance remix of Pinball Number Count was recorded by UK based Braces Tower under the title "Eleven Twelve", released on the Creative Commons licenced "Pasteism EP", and hosted on the Internet Archive.
[edit] References
- A Letter from Walt Kraemer. Matt Jones (2005). Retrieved on 21 June 2006.
