Cracks was a very interesting short, though it was also a rather surreal one. Whenever I hear about it, it reminds me a lot of those creepypastas that are about obscure kids shows that allegedly aired decades ago and are now lost or banned for whatever reason. It does make me wonder if any popular creepypastas that involve this kind of material like "Candle Cove" were in any way inspired by Cracks.
I mean, it's definitely very memorable, especially the monster at the end of the short which probably startled many kids. I may have not seen Cracks when it originally aired (I wasn't even born until the mid-90's), but there were definitely things from my childhood that did startle me that were arguably similar. Cracks didn't startle me when I finally did see it about two years after it was found (and was one of the things that encouraged me to join the Lost Media Wiki), though that's probably because I'm much older now and aren't startled by such things.
"startled" is a pretty modest way to put it, sterge. Don't forget, the 1970's were much more tame than 2016.
This is kinda cool, though we already have like eight different Sesame Street threads, and I've kinda already said everything I wanted to say about Cracks a million times. The questions are still out there; Armond's source, if you're reading this the door's open. I mean, they obviously searched the internet about it to know Jon was interested.
♪ Good day, good day, I'm glad you came my way... ♪
Something that always struck me as odd.. If they didn't want it to spread, why did they send the short to Jon? What did they gain from it?
I guess they thought he'd find it at some point anyway and then publish it on the internet so if they didn't want people to see it, one person is better than everyone who's interested. I'm just really confused as to why they didn't want people to see it anyway
Post by Conquest Comics on Dec 9, 2016 14:09:48 GMT
I'd be willing to bet that the parties in ownership of the footage have never really accomplished much with their life. So, they are holding onto it thinking it has a great deal of monetary value due to its obscurity and rarity. Which is why they needed to prove they had it, but wouldn't let him distribute it (especially via the internet).
Post by theCarbonFreeze on Dec 12, 2016 12:51:20 GMT
I disagree. I find it more likely that they did a lot of work in TV, but in thankless parts here or there, always more in the background. Even with the crazy contract stuff, they surely would not have given it to someone if they thought it was their big payday. They would have surely fanned the flamed online too, to foster interest, and then maybe offer a copy to the highest bidder.
My theory is there's some legal troubles with it. No one has the right to release it. They gave that guy the copy out of pity and/or to shut him and the movement up. Some lone wolf with access to the vaults emailed the other copy.
I like another theory Ive seen, tho this disproves my earlier thesis, that the person who animated it became a bigshot and is ashamed of this first project, so he or she is doing everything possible to keep it buried. Honestly tho, who knows. It blows my mind all the secrecy around a stupid, inconsequential 2 minute short. You'd think anyone whould be flattered by the impact and embrace it now.
I love the short though, even outside the context of the mystery. Its simple, charming, very rewatchable and yes, there is something vaguely creepy about it. Call it the music, call it the minimalist art, I dont know. I dont think it would have scared me as a kid, but I think it definitely would have left an impact had I seen it back then.
My theory is there's some legal troubles with it. No one has the right to release it. They gave that guy the copy out of pity and/or to shut him and the movement up. Some lone wolf with access to the vaults emailed the other copy.
I can't 100% confirm this, but people on the inside say Sesame Street owns 100% of the rights over these outside clips.
I totally agree they gave it to Jon to stop the bleeding before it may have been publicly released; they wanted as few people as possible to see it, but why?
This literally drives me balls to the wall nuts (especially in the AM hours when I get delusional)!
It has been said to have been officially released on a Plaza Sésamo VHS; I wonder what the chance of someone being attributed to this short in the credits is. I guess this is where I put on my detective hat and head over to Muppet Central...
Post by thatgamingasshole on Dec 28, 2016 6:57:17 GMT
If I were to take a guess, my best bet would be that whatever happened with Cracks there was a reason no one wanted it seen again. And to be honest, I doubt it's about who owns the rights or someone becoming famous and being ashamed of their first product. I get the idea that the fact Crackmaster's so creepy meant some parent's rights group had a shitstorm about it, causing the authorities to make it inaccessible on purpose.
Then, after, what, thirty years or more? The people who held it in some animation vault somewhere heard there was this internet movement looking for it and released it because they could. Now, if I guessed, I say they didn't release their names or anything because they didn't think it was relevant.
As to who animated it, I can only imagine they were just some mercenary cartoonists who neither remember a minute-long short from the 70s they did for like thirty bucks once, nor are they immediately aware anyone wanted it. Coupled with the fact the shorts on Sesame Street had a hundred names apiece, and even if they DID remember making it and DID know someone out there wanted it, they wouldn't know where to look.
