Talk:Count von Count

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Resemblance to Lugosi

This page and the Dracula page say that the Count has a particular resemblance to Béla Lugosi's portrayal. I'm not totally familiar with all the Dracula movies, so I'm not sure how the Count is more like Lugosi than any other interpretation of the Stoker book. The cape, the fangs, the Transylvanian accent, the castle... that's all from the book, isn't it? What's the specific Lugosi twist? -- Danny (talk) 20:32, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

The impression I've always gotten (and may have read somewhere) is that The Count's exaggerated accent is supposed to be a reference to the way Lugosi played the character. There wasn't an accent in the book, but Lugosi gets the credit for establishing the silly voice that everyone spoofs. —Scott (talk) 21:26, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

The Lugosi Dracula differs greatly from the book version, and indeed is the popular image. The book's Dracula is physically unattractive and hairy-knuckled and dressed only in black, and the issue of accent is largely ignored. Lugosi's portrayal added the voice, the hair (the Count's is identical to Lugosi's, but that specific pattern, while used by Lugosi in other non-Dracula vampire portrayals, was seldom used by anyone else except as a reference to Lugosi and the Universal movie), and the cape and evening dress, and the whole "children of the night" and "ah ah laugh" are part of the image (the latter, as with spoofs of Joe Friday from Dragnet, exaggerated beyond anything Lugosi actually did, but has become a part of the "Lugosi Dracula" image). In fact, for contrast, here's the book's description:

“face was a strong - a very strong - aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples, but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale and at the tops extremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.”

None of that can be found in Lugosi and in very few of any other interpretations, with the sole exception of the teeth and pallor. Later interpretations, including Christopher Lee in the Hammer movies, specifically tried to move away from Lugosi, which by then had already become a pop culture icon as a cartoonish exaggeration (see also Count Chocula and just about any depiction of a vampire in a 60s non-Scooby Doo cartoon). So there's no question at all as far as Count von Count's cultural pedigree and inspiration. Jerry Nelson's vocal portrayal doesn't just have an accent but is specifically modeled after a mixture of Lugosi and the popular idea of the Lugosi voice (sounding especially similar to the Paul Frees version used in cartoons and record albums). Oh, and the hypnosis, the "look into my eyes" bit used in some early Count segments, is also taken from Lugosi (to some extent from Dracula but perhaps even moreso from his reprisal of the role in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which truly cemented Lugosi as the popular image of Dracula and was the first step towards the subsequent cartoon caricatures and parodies). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:05, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Wow, well said. —Scott (talk) 02:37, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

no more laugh

I took out the bit about SW discontinuing The Count's laugh that followed his counting and thunder. There's no source, but also it's very much still in use in season 37 when he teaches Abby Cadabby to count to ten. She even does the same and it's what causes her wand to break, creating a big plot point for the story. —Scott (talk) 18:46, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Cite

"He also has grandparents; in contrast to his counting summoning thunder and lightning, his grandmother can make it rain, and his grandfather can make it snow." What's the source for this? A book? An episode? Did they appear or were they just mentioned? -- Andrew Leal (talk) 01:02, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

I read it on Wikipedia's page for the Count. --Wile e2005 00:00, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah. Wikipedia's not a good enough source for us. If we have to rely on second hand information, we privilege sources such as Jim Henson: The Works and other like books, interviews, TV Guide listings, but not Wikipedia. I'm going to yank it out for now. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 00:02, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Count's brother

Count's brother

Does he have a name? -- Scott Scarecroe 02:29, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Girlfriend Confusion?

The supporting pages for this entry are confusing. This article states that Countess_von_Backwards is the Count's former girlfriend, implying that they have either since broken up or the Count has a new girlfriend. However, no new girlfriend is mentioned or a reason (Real Life or fictitious) given as to why such a break-up occurred. Her page indicates that she is the Count's recent girlfriend, indicating no such break-up has occurred.

This page states that Countess_Dahling_Von_Dahling is the Count's recent girlfriend but her page states that she was the Count's first girlfriend. So, what is the order of the Count's friends? Does it go "No One, Von Backwards, Von Dahling," "No One, Von Dahling, Von Backwards," "No One, Von Dahling, Von Backwards, Von Dahling" or some other combination not previously clarified? -Sbartok 02:45, 28 January 2006 (UTC)-

According to both the Sesame Street Unpaved bookand the Sesame Encyclopedia website, Von Dahling was the first one, in the 1970s, and Von Backwards was added in 1996. So the order should be corrected, but to the best of my knowledge, no real discussion of the replacement was given, especially considering how much time had passed. --Andrew, Aleal 02:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

No More Lightning?

I had read somewhere (years ago, at this point) that they had gotten rid of the lightning whenever the Count had finished counting. They said that they had found that the lightning was scaring the children. Is this actually true? -Sbartok 02:45, 28 January 2006 (UTC)-

I thought they had for a while, but there was lightning in this past season. So either it never left, or it left and then came back. GrantHarding 06:27, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Are there new or newer stories with the count? In Germany the stories (when they bring one) with Graf Zahl (that's his German name) are very old, because Alf Marholm (the German voice) died (long time before his death he was too ill or too old) and I believe he will not be replaced. He was too unique.