King Minus

[Cookie fan]

To begin with, I want to say how happy I am to join the forum- I have considered the people here to be quite knowledgable on my favorite topic Classic Sesame Street. I hope that I can contribute to the forum as well as you guys...
King Minus was one of those scary clips for me personally- I think it had to do with those dragons and the music that accompanied it. And yes, I remember King Minus accidentally made himself and his horse disappear- I trying to remember if he had a glove on or something like that.

 

[MuppetDude]

He did have a glove on one hand.

 

[MartyMuppets]

This is starting to sound very funny. If the words of the script can't be found could someone please at least tell me in detail what happens during the part where he confronts the four dragons?

 

[MartyMuppets]

Do they advance against him one at a time or in whatever numbers and how do they react when he starts making them vanish?

 

[Mickey Moose]

Do they advance against him one at a time or in whatever numbers and how do they react when he starts making them vanish?

I believe they attack him one at a time so they can do the subtraction. Like when he makes the first one disappear the narrator says "Four take away one leaves three". If I remember correctly, they didn't appear intimidated until the last one was left and I think he tried to run away, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I believe they attack him one at a time so they can do the subtraction. Like when he makes the first one disappear the narrator says "Four take away one leaves three"
If I remember correctly, they didn't appear intimidated until the last one was left and I think he tried to run away, but I'm not sure about that.

That makes sense. Sesame Street often did such simple mathematics as adding or subtracting one number at a time in many of its skits.
I can easily picture when the first two have gone the others saying quietly to each other:"Go get him but watch your step." "Don't worry.I'll pounce very quickly before he can zap me."
Then after he's zapped no wonder the last one would try to flee LOL

 

[SesameMike]

The King Minus skit had a narrator that spoke rather fast, to a soundtrack that sounded like it might have been harpsichord. However, I distinctly remember someone onscreen who did the subtraction with his fingers (i.e., "two take-away one is one") while looking at the camera.

Phrases I remember, approxmately.

"The last dragon thought it best to hide, <something-something-something> (visual shows dragon sticking his head in the ground, then deciding that won't work so he heads for the woods)
... but King Minus found him. <POOF!> And then there were none. One take-away one is none."

Then he goes into the castle, but, "...when he touched the fair maid, she too went poof." At the end, he touched the castle, causing it to disappear. He immediately fell (since he was up in the tower level of the now-gone castle), but he touched himself and vanished before he hit the ground.

There was once a street segment where Cookie Monster imagined that he was "King Cookie", where everything he touched turned into a pile of cookies. First he transformed the newsstand in front of Hooper's store into such a pile. But CM got all upset when he transformed two of the adults (I think Luis and Maria) into cookies. CM also warned David "Don't touch me" while trying to explain his undesirable situation. Of course, in the end it was all just a dream/vision/imagination.

 

[mikebennidict]

He didn't imagine he was a king but just had a thing he called magic touch and did what he did. he touched the newsstsand and a nearby tree turning it into a large pile of cookies and it was Bob and Susan and were accidently turn into cookie and a bunch of kids came by and started easting them. OK I made that part up. and the rest went as folows.

 

[MartyMuppets]

Oh wouldn't Cookie have really been upset if kids had started eating those piles of cookies. He would have been twice as relieved or more when he found out he was only imagining things I bet if that had been the case.

 

[mikebennidict]

I wish they would included kids eating Bob ans Susan.