How did this scare me so much as a kid?

Question

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8871174103289691108&q=fraggle+rock

used to terrify me when the big giants used to snatch them up to the garden

LILMAN is very very witty, everyone read his anser below!

answer even

I'm not a nancy boy, I was 4..... everyone has a weakness, this was mine. Poltergist, I could handle at 6/7, at 4/5 this terrified me

Answer 1

After careful consideration, i think i may have an answer. This is an in-depth analysis, so please bare with me.

First of all, at a time when the most advanced special effects was a moving model of Thomas the Tank Engine, quite how the camera goes through the window at the start of the episode would have baffled even the most astute of viewers.

Secondly, the dog in that basket isnt actually a dog. It is in fact a strange cross breed between a dog and a pancake. How this was possible i dont know, but i should imagine it had something to do with the cutting-edge special effects that the Fraggle Rock production team were using at the time. It is a very flat dog, and this would have scared the sh*t out of me as a kid as well.

The camera then pans - almost magically - through what appears to be the worlds largest rat hole. Again, a rodent that could munch a hole into a wall that is that big must have been a monster of an animal. This too sets up an aura of fear as the camera delves into the unknown.

Then, to our horror, there is an almost pornographic use of vibrant colours. It's the kind of thing Kermit would hide from Miss Piggy were it ever to be released onto VHS. Jim Henson porn, if you will.

And then note the way the camera slides each frame off to the left. This too would have seemed the work of the devil back in the 80s, such was the technology used. To this day, we are still unsure as to how the production team of Fraggle Rock managed to access such advanced technology. One theory is that this "camera, slide and drag" effect was recovered from a home movie recovered from the Roswell incident.

Then, to our horror, the 'hero' of the show then re-enters the rat hole. Expecting a rather large and demented rodent, we instead encounter a rather clumsy individual who appears to have the mental age of a two year old.

And this is why the giant is so horrifying. The sheer clumsyness of the way he dunks his hand into the hole to pick up a creature that is handbag size to him is truly terrifying. Remember, this was a time before animal safety laws. Even poor old Fraggle himself looks terrified, and rumour has it he broke two ribs, an arm and fractured his leg after that clumsy big b4stard picked him up. The sheer fat-fingered approach to grabbing that poor puppet showed such a lack of care and precision, you'd be forgiven for thinking that giant had some kind of a neurological problem.

To make the situation even more horrific, watch as he almost slams that poor puppet into his wife's face. She even screams as he does it - and this wasnt scripted.

I hope this is of some help.

Answer 2

I cant comment on that as i used to be scared of a book with pics of animals i will never forget it it was called johnny Morris's baby animals pictured in there own world it had a big sandy & white rabbit on the front and when you opened the 1st page it had like a tortoise print then 2nd page a big cat with a nasty look and the next page was the one that treifered me it was of a baby elefant in this dirty the water it was all spikey and it was treable i had to ask my mum to hide it away from be as i did not like it and when i got older she used to leave it out when cleaning cupboards out where she had put it but i would never stay in the same room as it and about 4 years ago we gave it to a carrity shop

Answer 3

Everyone's terrified of silly things when they're younger! For me it was a cartoon rabbit wearing tweed and smoking a pipe that used to invade my nightmares!

Answer 4

I like the way Chriatian IV tried to be cool and say a really long timmy but didn't realise that it'd be edited so now it just says Timmm

Answer 5

Nancy boy

Answer 6

Probably because knowing that somewhere in the world huge giant monsters could come and get you. Back then mostly everything you saw was real in your mind

Answer 7

Hey that program was the best I loved fraggle rock, I was'nt scared and don't see why anyone would find it scary. sorry

Answer 8

Because they are scary when you are a child at that age. I was scared the the Coyote would catch the Road Runner and eat him .

Answer 9

for positive Bullet for my valentine, i imagine scary youngsters scaring youngsters is fairly sturdy, yet no longer as sturdy as bullet. Fall out boy, properly each from time to time their stuff is fairly pop, and im no longer into that! My chemical romance, eh is o.k., i became by no skill fairly into them, and Tokio motel ? Who? ive by no skill heard of them. everyday Bullet for my valentine is my #2 maximum fav band of all time, i said them in live performance in april, it became fantastic! Jo!

Answer 10

I don't know, I was afraid if the Dark Crystal when I was younger and everyone used to laugh at me.