Frazzle (song)

{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; " Frazzle is an eponymous emotional song about the monster which is composed by Sam Pottle in Sesame Street. His snarl sound is always the same regardless of any emotion.

The performers of the backup singer vocals include Richard Hunt who performed the earliest version of Joseph Scarbrough's monster character "Steve D' Monster" (built out of a lavender Anything Muppet pattern), Jerry Nelson for Maurice (who also performed Frazzle) and Christopher Cerf for the lead Frazzletone singer "Little Chrissy"  (who is made from the fat blue AM Monster pattern used for Harvey Monster). On this song, Chrissy's singing voice is noticeably deep than usual. Other notable differences with this puppet that also has a moving jaw, two square teeth, navy blue fur, a bigger darker pink nose, long hair and sunglasses (with thicker temples) compared to the regular character variant.

Nicknames
"The Song about Frazzle", "The Frazzle Song", "Broken Monster Background", "Ripped Up Background", "Frazzle's Emotions", "Little Chrissy and the Frazzletones", "Jiggly paper"

Music Video
On a green background, we see Frazzle staring at the viewer idling for a second and then he grumbles before the music starts. He walks a few steps at the beginning and during the song and runs outside the 4:3 screen, then a circle on the background (with white ripped paper around it) reveal The Frazzletones singing about him and his expressions prior to the transition to the bourbon colored background with them. In the order they sing after the hole expands, Little Chrissy is displayed first, Steve D' Monster second, both third and last, Maurice Monster, next we transit to the other side of the green wall with The Frazzletones shouting "He goes" and then we see Frazzle snarling through ruptured circle causing the paper to shake with a teeter totter animation at a speed depending on how fast he growls while they watch him grawl and describe what his grawl does depending on his emotions. On the second time Frazzle grumbles, the paper stretches up once. Once we hear Frazzle growl three times, we go back to Frazzle's background where we left off. At this point, he walks to the left from the screen. The routine with the Frazzletones part through the broken background is repeated. We head back onto the Frazzletone's part again and this time, Frazzle growls six times here. During the point after the third growl from him, he nods his head up and down before he continues growling with the Frazzletones making noises. The last growl will make the ripped paper animation play at a slow speed before he runs to the left while the iris expands. After that, the hole opens in the center of the screen which Frazzle will appear in the same background with the Frazzletones when the surface occupies most of the green background. After everything about him has been explained, the circle along with the ripped paper gradually zooms away. During the animation event, Frazzle sneaks from behind Maurice and then Frazzle pops up and grawls twice (with only slow ripped paper teeter totter animation) and the Frazzletones come together performing the last ensemble vocals before the zooming animation speeds up and then the hole disappears from the background while the music continues until the near end of the audio track that fades out before the final notes and Frazzle's last growling noise (which are only heard on the album version of this music).

FX/SFX
The outline overlay appearance is styled with unique shapes that look like horns, thorns, spikes, mountains and beaks (which includes part of the design that looks like Falco Lombardi's beak on the right side of the graphic). Also, the horn on the bottom right of it resembles a bread clip. Parts of the line's edges have some magenta and burnt orange coloring on it. The paper was created and applied to the circles to manipulate the surface physics as a signal when a growling sound is heard from Frazzle to help viewers determine how fast and loud he is snarling. It is also used to make it look like the monsters are bursting through the background while they open up. However, the song has odd minor upscaling of the paper overlay which hides the parts of it that resemble in shape of mountains, a pawn and a horn. This happens on the Frazzletone background part once Frazzle snarls the time after the circle along with the graphic opened up to reveal him.

The graphic is rendered at the same frame rate as the recorded footage which is made for 60 frames per second.

For the ripped paper, I'm not sure who were the designers of the graphic, but if you are able to contact Mike Pantuso, Amy Love, or Pete Ortiz, ask one of them if they created it for this song.

The circles of each footage use clipping mask on the background to appear as the background is open.

Lyrics/Transcript

 * Frazzle: ARGGHH!
 * [Frazzle Steps, then turns around and runs]
 * [Breaks background]
 * Little Chrissy: There's a monster name of Frazzle who's a good friend of mine!
 * Steve D' Monster: He looks ferocious, but he's really fine.
 * Both: Go up and ask him for his autograph.
 * Maurice: He'd be so happy that he'd start to laugh. [Circle continues the transition]
 * Three Frazzletones: He goes.
 * Frazzle: ARGGHH! [Paper teeters]
 * Three Frazzletones: That's how he laughs he goes.
 * Frazzle: ARGGHH! [Paper stretches and teeters]

Cheesy Factor
On transition to the Frazzletones part in the first time, the ripped paper disappears right before completely zooming outside of the screen. While Frazzle moves away from the screen, he carries a black fur item on his paws with him making it appear that he's holding it and taking off with it.

Errors


The paper does not always cover the circle leaving some parts of the circle lines to be visible as it makes it's way to the same scale factor as the circle. It also occured with the transition back to the green background from the second time on the Frazzletones part. On the part after Frazzle leaves the green screen the third time from the bourbon colored background, the graphic doesn't stick with the circle and the transformation keyframes were supposed to stay within the position where the circle is placed, but instead moves itself to the top right of the screen which then goes back to it's normal position.

By using frame by frame on the version with the graphic present after Frazzle leaves the green screen or after the transition to the Frazzletones part where Frazzle starts growling, there are a number of frames that the circle appears before the ripped paper appears on the next frame. It is due to frame timing on adding the graphic effect onto the circle during the editing proccess. The first time that Frazzle walks away has it applied onto it at the same time the circle appears.

Another goof has the puppeteer's head for Chrissy partially shown on the bottom right of the screen in the second time in the Frazzletone part.

Scare Factor
, especially for the original version. The circles that reveal the monsters through them along with the ripped paper and the graphic teeter tottering from Frazzle's crabbed snarl may startle some viewers and catch them off-guard. To those of you who aren't scared of the monsters and the rip lines,.

Variants
There is a version of the song without the torn paper effect around the circles leaving the circle (except for the clipping size animations) static as Frazzle snarls. This variant was the first and original version to be in use before they considered using the updated version the song with the graphic for the song which has became part of it. However, this post effect was placed onto the footage, then it was re-rendered as another video clip (separated from the original one) stored in their HDD for planned episodes or compilations to use this before they started working on the production of the home video "Elmo Says BOO!".

On the home video Monster Hits!, the beginning of the first variant of the song is trimmed off which fades to the point where Frazzle runs to the end of the screen on the green background.

There is an abridged version of the song where it starts with Frazzle grumbling and freezing near the end instead of finishing all the way to the end after the hole disappears.

Music/Sounds
Frazzle's grawling sounds, some trombones that play when he grawls and tambourines.

Music/Sounds Variant

 * On Elmo Says BOO!, the song fades out early near the end for the ghost transition to transit to the Alphabat joke scene.

Availability
Uncommon, This was used on a few episodes of Sesame Street and the home video Monster Hits!. The updated version is ultra rare on the show series as it was used for the home video Elmo Says BOO! released in 1997, but it can also be found on Sesame Street's official YouTube Channel. This song used to be on the official website "sesamestreet.org" where the video was added back in 2008 on the site's debut.

Trivia

 * The puppets used for the Frazzletones come from the first Fur song except that the Harvey puppet was modified to form a monster variation of "Little Chrissy".
 * This is the only song on Sesame Street to feature the monster form of Little Chrissy.
 * It appears that Frazzle might have broken through the circles to open a hole on the background so the monsters can see through it as they explain about Frazzle's emotions to the viewer. It also renders realistic hole openings rather than iris transitions itself.
 * As with the reflections on his glasses, it does not reflect through background intended for the song nor the rip lines. Instead it only reflects the lights shot in the studio where they puppeteered when videotaping this music video.

Videos

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