Oscar's Letter Party is a 1988 Sesame Street interactive home video released for the View-Master Interactive Vision video game system. The system came with a simple controller which included a joystick and three colorful buttons. As the video plays, the characters address the player directly, and ask the player to make a choice by pressing one of the buttons. The video has a number of different soundtracks recorded, and the player's choices toggle back and forth between the soundtracks, giving the impression that the player has changed the course of the story.
| Picture | Segment | Description | ||
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SCENE 1 | The game opens up with Oscar the Grouch discovering that his trash can is surrounded by happy faces. Using the controller, the player erases them for him. | ||
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Muppets | Grover and Christopher play a game where he gets tickled, then holds up a sign saying "STOP" when he wants the tickling to end. (First: Episode 1300) The player can hit the blue button to tickle Grover, and the red one to make him stop. | ||
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SCENE 2 | Oscar reveals that the player will be able to attend a grouch party, but must do some things first. First, Fluffy displays four random letters and wants the player to choose one. | ||
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SCENE 2 cont'd | Once the player has picked one, Oscar hears a car, alerting him that the party decorations have arrived. As he leaves, he presents a film that may have the chosen letter in it. | ||
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Cartoon | Psychedelic alphabet. The player can hit a button when their letter appears on screen for a message from Oscar. The beginning and endings are cut. | ||
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SCENE 3 | To make sure the player is worthy enough of attending his grouch party, he conducts a grouch test. However, if the player proves they aren't grouchy they'll get an invitation to Bob's party instead. | ||
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SCENE 3 cont'd | Before the test, Bob appears, hoping the player will attend his normal party. | ||
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SCENE 3 cont'd | For the first part of the test, Oscar has the player make a grouch word. | ||
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SCENE 3 cont'd | After the first test, Bob comes by the can to make sure the player is coming to his party. | ||
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Muppets | "Octopus Blues" (First: Episode 2221) The player can hit their green button to make 8 fish appear when they hear the number 8. | ||
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SCENE 4 cont'd | Next, Oscar presents a grouch music test. He plays a song that can be sung two ways... | ||
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Muppets | Big Bird sings "May I Be Your Friend?" to Samantha the Eel in his nest. (First: Episode 1593) The player can press the blue button to hear Oscar's grouchy lyrics, and the red button for Big Bird's nice lyrics. | ||
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SCENE 5 | Oscar writes the results on his scorecard and asks the player to remember their letter for the next segment. | ||
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Cartoon | A Rube Goldberg device is used to display the letters of the alphabet. (First: Episode 1113) The player can hit their green button when their letter appears. Only the first part of this cartoon is shown. | ||
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Muppets | Kermit sings "The Frogs in the Glen." (First: Episode 1786) When the player hears the word "frog", their green button will make an animated frog appear. | ||
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SCENE 6 | While Bob blows up the balloons for his party, Oscar runs the "Grouch Two-Plex" at his can. Two films appear above him (one about a butterfly and the other about pigs), which will give more proof as to how grouchy the player is. | ||
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SCENE 6 cont'd (alternate 1) | If the player picks the pig film, Oscar gives it a good review: 4 oinks. | ||
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SCENE 6 cont'd (alternate 2) | If the players picks the butterfly film, Oscar gives it a bad review: 4 yucks. | ||
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Muppets | Grover asks Maya to help him follow an arrow. The arrow keeps changing direction until Grover falls down, exhausted. (First: Episode 1641) The player can hit their white button to make an arrow that matches the one on screen. | ||
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SCENE 7 | Now it's time for the "Party Quiz". Oscar gives choices for party games, decor, music and presents. He plays a film while he tallies the score. | ||
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Muppets | Kermit sings "Caribbean Amphibian." (First: Episode 2205) The green button will make an animated frog leap to a lillypad. Animation of island maps replaced with a repeated shot of frogs jumping, and one additional second of Kermit singing. A few frames are cut at edit points. | ||
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SCENE 8 | Oscar gives the final tally, which gets the player into either Bob or Oscar's party. | ||
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SCENE 8 cont'd (alternate 1) | If the player gets Oscar's, then they get to attend a party with Oscar, his elephants and The Grouchketeers. | ||
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SCENE 8 cont'd (alternate 2) | If the player gets Bob's, then they get to attend a party with Bob and the kids. |
Credits[]
- Directed by Ted May
- Executive Producer: Jon Stone
- Producer: Sonia Rosario
- Interactive Development: Glenda Revelle
- Written by Mark Saltzman
- Segments Directed by Ozzie Alfonso, Emily Squires, Jon Stone
- Segments Written by David Axlerod, Jeff Moss, Ray Sipherd, Norman Stiles, Peter Swet
- Starring Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets:
- Bob McGrath as Bob
- Christopher Wein
- Marilyn Sokol
- Ivy Austin
- Maya Bernstein
- Songs by Tony Geiss, Bruce Hart, Stephen Lawrence, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, Jon Stone