| Sesame Street | |||||||
| Preston's "Illustration Activation" machine | |||||||
| Air date | December 25, 1989 | ||||||
| Season | Season 21 (1989-1990) | ||||||
| Written by | Mark Saltzman | ||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | Preston Rabbit brings a present to the Sesame Street Library - an "Illustration Activation Machine," which brings to life the images in books. Gina and Elmo put a copy of "Little Red Riding Hood" into the slot on one side of the machine, and suddenly Little Red (speaking in a Valley accent) and the Big Bad Wolf are transported magically into the library! Elmo runs to get another book to try out. |
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Cartoon | Fleas have fun in fur! Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 0630) |
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Cast | Big Bird, Susan and Bob sing "Can Read" while at a newsstand. (First: Episode 2268) |
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Cartoon | A hand draws a telephone booth. (First: Episode 0791) |
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Muppets | Guy Smiley takes his 39-member studio audience to a restaurant, but there is no place for him to sit. In later airings, some of the sound effects and ambient sound present here would be removed. |
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Cartoon | AT words: A fat cat with a hat sat on a mat. A bat scared the fat cat. (First: Episode 1101) |
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Film | A Navajo boy who lives in the desert talks about how his family has to pump water from the ground. |
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Cartoon | The Ringmaster displays 11 purple pooches. Artist: Jeff Hale (First: Episode 1347) |
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SCENE 2 | Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf learn from Gina about their new surroundings, though the Wolf is disappointed to find that they don't serve food. Elmo puts another book into the machine and out pops Mary and her little lamb. Elmo goes to get more books, while the hungry Wolf begins to chase after Mary's lamb. |
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Animation | It's a giraffe Artist: Ishu Patel (First: Episode 1752) |
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Film | Kids narrate a film about water in hoses, fountains, puddles, streams, bathtubs, rivers, oceans, and other places. (First: Episode 0135) |
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Muppets | The Two-Headed Monster finds a TELEPHONE, and reads the word. (First: Episode 1569) |
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Cartoon | A tour of a TV studio, with set decoration, camera adjustment, etc., setting up for a taping with an R2-D2-like robot. Artist: Irra Verbitsky (First: Episode 1875) |
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Muppets / Celebrity | Linda Ronstadt sings "La Charreada" with Elmo and Parker. (First: Episode 2540) |
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Cartoon | Snacks on Parade: Peanut Butter Artist: Bruce Cayard (First: Episode 1301) |
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SCENE 3 | While Gina explains what's happening to Linda, Elmo puts another book into the machine - The Three Little Pigs. Soon, the Big Bad Wolf is chasing after the lamb and the pigs. Preston is the only one who knows how to get them back in their books, but no one knows where he is. Linda gets an idea to write a book about Preston and put it into the machine, and she and Gina start to plan out the necessary supplies (rejecting the Wolf's suggestion of lamb chops). |
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Animation | Draw a circle around the bus. Cross out the telephone. (First: Episode 2093) |
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Muppets | The Count sings about "The First Day of School". (First: Episode 1736) |
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Cartoon | Frances Fairy displays several F words. (First: Episode 0335) |
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Muppets | Muppet & Kid Moment — Grover and Erik surprise each other. (First: Episode 1689) |
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Film | Old Time Movies: Anne Meara narrates a silent film of a woman in a burning building, who needs HELP. (First: Episode 0506) |
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SCENE 4 | As the library sits in disarray from the storybook character's antics, Gina, Linda, and Elmo finish writing The Story of Preston Rabbit and throw it into the machine. Preston magically appears and Gina begs for him to help solve their mess. When the Wolf gets hungry for bunny rabbit, Preston runs off to find the crank that will turn off the machine. |
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Animation | First leaf, last leaf (First: Episode 0794) |
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Film | Some kids learn how to use Logo, a computer programming language, to draw shapes on computers. (First: Episode 1968) |
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Cartoon | Gordon voiceover N/n (First: Episode 2283) |
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Muppets | Ernie & Bert — At the movies, a lady with a tall hat sits in front of Ernie and Bert. She block's Ernie's view, so he asks her if she'd mind taking it off. When she places the hat on the seat next to her, Bert's view is now obstructed. (First: Episode 0538) |
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Cartoon | A derby-hatted man identifies animal sounds, ending with a tractor. (First: Episode 0839) |
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Muppets | NTV host Nora Nicks introduces Nick Normal and the Nickmatics singing "The Letter N." (First: Episode 2071) |
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Cartoon | A map of Australia morphs into the shape of animals that are found there. Artist: Fred Garbers |
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Film | Two apples balance on a block seesaw. (First: Episode 2176) |
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SCENE 5 | The crank is attached to the machine, allowing it to go in reverse. Linda turns the crank and the storybook characters are subtracted one by one, narrowly missing the jaws of the Big Bad Wolf each time. Preston almost gets snapped up when the Wolf is the last one to go, and Preston becomes so grateful he decides to thank them by getting another present! |
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Cartoon | Rumba pencils (first, last, Crazy Melvin) (First: Episode 0638) |
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Muppets | Grover the Salesman: Grover wants to sell Kermit some earmuffs, but Kermit doesn't have ears, so Grover gives Kermit some big human ears. (First: Episode 0800) |
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Cartoon | "It's a Lovely Eleven Morning" Artist: Bud Luckey (First: Episode 0362) |
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Cast | "A word from your local chicken" - A nerdy Gordon interprets a chicken's words. (First: Episode 2329) |
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Song | "Litter Rap" |
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Cartoon | Cloud blows things FFFFFFFF (First: Episode 0387) |
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SCENE 6 | Preston's gift is two movers (Tyrone and Gus), who arrive to take the machine away. Tyrone reads the sponsors (the fine print on their delivery form) and Gina takes care of the CTW slogan as the movers end up busting the machine on their way out. ("Butterfingers!") |
Notes[]
- Additional performers include Camille Bonora (as Little Red and Pig #1), Jerry Nelson (as the Big Bad Wolf), Fran Brill (as Mary and Pig #2), Martin P. Robinson (as Mary's lamb), and Pam Arciero (as Pig #3).
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