Frigtening Kids Shows and Movies

[Mr_Vindictive]

Being as I have a 15 month old daughter, I am constantly subjected to two channels: Noggin (an offshoot of NickJr) and PBSKids.  It never fails to amaze me just how some of the kids shows that they air could be quite frightening.

The main show that I find strange is a kids show called "Boobah".  It is about some weird alien looking creatures that are fat and fuzzy with small heads with lights in them.  They constantly move their eyes back in forth as if waiting for an assasin to take them out.  Their eyes make an extremely creepy noise as they move.

Not only are the creatures weird as hell, so is the entire show.  It's a huge acid trip.  Rainbows, swirling colors, kids dancing in the giant puddles of color, etc.  

And then there are the stories.  They are strange stories with different family members (grandpa, grandmother, etc).  The episode this evening had a pink hat on the beach.  Time freezes and a disembodied voice says in a menacing tone:

"It is a pink hat"

Then "Grandpa" comes in and tries to wear the hat.  You have no idea just how weird all of this is until you see the show.  Hell, for all I know, it's sending subliminal messages to my daughter to try LSD.

Anyway, it got me thinking:

What are some of the shows/movies made for children that are actually fairly frightening?

[Mr_Vindictive]

BTW,

For anyone curious

This is a picture from Boohbah.  Scary.

[Scott]

That might be more frightning than Teletubbies (spelling ? )

[raj]

From the Seventies there was H.R. Puffenstuff.  I enjoyed it, but there was an element of fear with WitchiePoo.

[AndyC]

There was an element of fear with just about everybody on that show.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

You haven't seen The Fimbles... although I think that Tweenies (with their ugly heads and obnoxious personalities) and Hoobs (with their communist messages) are the most scarring.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Scott, (IMHO) nothing is more frightening then Teletubbies. Like "Boobah," another import from the U.K.

As for "H. R. Puffenstuf," that program looks normal compared to "Lidsville," where all you have is giant hats running around. Sid and Marty Krofft have alot to answer for.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Prophet,

Argh!  The Tweenies is extremely creepy!

[raj]

BoyScoutKevin wrote:

> Scott, (IMHO) nothing is more frightening then Teletubbies.
> Like "Boobah," another import from the U.K.

What about Barney?  Teletubbies, from what I understand, can be fun if you're stoned, but I don't see how that's possible with an annoying purple singing dinosaur.

[ED]

"The main show that I find strange is a kids show called "Boobah". It is about some weird alien looking creatures that are fat and fuzzy with small heads with lights in them. They constantly move their eyes back in forth as if waiting for an assasin to take them out. Their eyes make an extremely creepy noise as they move."

This explains a lot about this site:
http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html

My gosh, this terrifies me as an adult!
-Ed

[ED]

Ugh, I have Krofft nightmares.  
-Ed

[Scott]

Loved most of those shows H.R. PUFFINSTUFF with the talking trees, the flute, etc. Also THE BUGALOOS and SIGMAN AND THE SEAMONSTERS.

The ones I didn't like were SHAZAM and ISIS.

[Mr_Vindictive]

ED,

Holy crap.  That's pretty much a virtual version of the show.  See what I mean?  I can't believe my daughter loves this show.

[AndyC]

My wife and I just caught a bit of the show today. Wow. It's frustratingly slow and repetitive (I know toddlers are supposed to like that), yet bombarded us with a psychedelic acid nightmare that never stopped. We were mesmerized for a good ten minutes. We laughed out loud a few times, but mostly just stared in disbelief.

The theme song is really something too.

And what's the deal with giving the characters names that are almost unpronouncable?

And speaking of the characters, do they remind anybody else of The Green Slime?

[Dave Munger]

Nooo! The Onion isn't letting me search their archives for free anymore for the article on Lidsville nightmares!

http://www.tvacres.com/clothing_hats_lidsville.htm I've been misusing the gift of Ulthar lately, had to google that post to refresh myself on how to link.

The girl bugaloo was my first love. I can barely remember one clever part from Isis. This guy was getting tied up by robbers, and he saw Isis's myna bird on the window sill, so he keeps saying "robbers" over and over. "Why you're just a bunch of ROBBERS! That's what you are, isn't it, ROBBERS?" So the bird goes back to Isis saying "robbers, robbers". Sigmund and the Sea Monsters creeped me out.