Number Three Ball Film

{{song|image=Rollercoaster123.jpg|writer=[[Keith Vernon Textor]]<br>[[Jim Henson]]|composer=|lyricist=|date=[[1970]]|source=|publisher=Scott Textor Music Publishing, Inc.|first=[[Episode 0254]]}}
[[File:BallFilm-Powder.jpg|thumb|300px|The film's original ending, where the ball is grounded into powder.]]
[[File:Cameo.heatherhenson-rollercoaster.jpg|thumb|300px|Heather Henson's cameo in the re-filmed ending.]]

The '''Number Three Ball Film''' is a ''[[Sesame Street]]'' film from 1970 with an electronic, carnival-like soundtrack that follows a small, red ball as it rolls throughout a toy roller coaster. The ball makes its way throughout a number of mechanical devices that help to propel it through the track, occasionally going past three items as an off-screen child voiceover ([[Brian Henson]])<ref>Karen Falk, see [[Talk:Number_Three_Ball_Film#From_Karen_Falk...|talk page]]</ref> counts to [[3]]. When it reaches the end, it drops into a metal box. 

==Versions==
Originally, the film ended with the ball being ground up into a fine powder. However, kids found this scenario too tragic,<ref>''[[Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street]]'' page 246</ref> and a replacement was shot on August 2, 1974.<ref name="redbook19740802">[[Jim Henson's Red Book]] — [https://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2012/08/821974/ "‘Film Heather for end of Ball Film"] August 2, 1974</ref> In the new ending, once the ball falls into the box, it turns into three cherries that are plopped down onto sundaes rolling by on a conveyor belt, one of which is eaten by a little girl ([[Henson Kids Cameos|played]] by [[Heather Henson]]). This version also features a different voiceover and first aired in [[Episode 0744]].

Although the ending was changed due to test audiences finding the film too tragic, the original continued to air interchangeably with the new ending. On at least one occasion, [[Episode 0797]], both versions of the film were included in the same episode. The original powder version was used on the show as late as [[Episode 4002]].

==Production==
[[Frank Oz]] recalls the production of the film in an interview with Kenneth Plume for IGN FilmForce: 

{{quote|The only <nowiki>[directing]</nowiki> I ever did myself <nowiki>[</nowiki>on ''Sesame Street''<nowiki>]</nowiki> was a bizarre thing with this ball for the number 3 where I built an entire kind of bizarre wire sculpture and shot it over many months. Looking back on it, I'm thinking "My God, why the fuck was I doing all of that work?" But it was fun to do. I wouldn't call that directing. I was in a gallery doing wire sculpture and one of my pieces sold, so that's where that came from. It was something where I could control my own little world, but it wasn't directing. It was creating and then just kind of calling the shots.<ref>IGN FilmForce [https://web.archive.org/web/20020804131802/http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/035/035842p1.html Interview with Frank Oz] by Ken Plume, February 10, 2000</ref>}} 

In addition to directing and building the wire sculpture, Oz sequenced the film by drawing on note cards. [[Jim Henson]] produced the film and also drew on some of the cards.<ref>[[Karen Falk]], personal correspondence, see talk page</ref>

==Title==
The film's title varies from several sources:
* [[Jim Henson's Red Book]]<ref name="redbook19740802" /> — "Ball Film"
* [[Episode 0254]] script — "Ball Sculpture #3"
* (most other) scripts — "Henson Ball Powder #3" (version I and version II, despite the latter omitting the powder)
* ASCAP Work ID: 498099788
** "Henson Ball"
** "Henson Ball Powder No.3"
** "Henson No.3 Ball Powder"
* ''[[Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street|40 Years of Life on the Street]]'' pg 247 — "Sesame Street Number Film #3" (shown on the film's label)
* [[sesamestreet.org]] — "Ball Powder No. 3" (though the video itself was of the second version)
* ''[[Learning About Numbers]]'' DVD chapter stop — "Rollercoaster 1, 2, 3"
* ''[[Old School: Volume 2]]'' — "Henson Ball High Wire #3"
* [[The Muppets Take Maryland]] exhibit (as seen in an episode of ''[[National Arts]]'') — "Number Three Ball Film" (as seen on the exhibit placard)

==Releases==
;Video
* ''[[Learning About Numbers]]'' (cherries ending)
* ''[[Old School: Volume 2]]'' (cherries ending) (as a Season 6 Classic Cut)
* ''[[Old School: Volume 3]]'' (cherries ending) (as a Season 15 Classic Cut)
* ''[[50 Years and Counting]]'' (powder ending) 
;Other
* ''[[Sesame Street Movie Viewer Cartridges|Numbers]]'' - A clip of the ball going through three doors

==Sources==
<references />

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