Some friends and I are considering making a film and using a spooky version of Teddy Bears’ Picnic on the soundtrack. We may end up composing our own version, but if there’s an existing spooky, slow, dark, perhaps discordant, version out there already I’d love to hear it for inspiration.
Anybody know of any?
Admittedly the song is already kind of creepy, I think it was intended to be a little bit nightmarish, in a Roald Dahl kind of way, so that may hinder or help matters.
Any instrumentation is fine, though I’m hoping for something sort of Danny Elfman-esque.
Isn’t it plenty creepy already? I mean, the opening chords… the disturbing falsetto… toys that come alive (possessed by Satan, no doubt)… the theme of “for the love of god, don’t go down to the woods”… and what, exactly, are they the bears going to eat on their picnic?
“If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a quick demise…”
Just popping in to mention the old radio show Big Jon and Sparky which i made it a point to listen to every Saturday morning in my pre-TV years. That was their theme song, but I don’t recall a spooky version.
Danse Macabre
Night on Bald Mountain
Fingal’s Cave Overture
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Wow, I am freaking out. I have been discussing with my brother for several years making a dark and creepy version of Teddy Bear’s Picnic.
My plan was to have it over muffled industrial percussion and bass, quietly tinny piano, and a really deep croaky voice reciting the verse in a menacing style; druing the chorus a voice would join in in the background, screaming the words as if in pain.
I remember it being performed/sung a few times in the movie A Zed and Two Naughts…I don’t know if it was specially creepy, but the movie itself certainly was. Check that out if you are able to.
Well, my time on the board has circled in on itself.
My very first post on this board was in a thread about the TV show Angel where I asked if there was any significance to the evil vampire singing “Teddy Bears’ Picnic.” I got no response then, but this thread has answered the question for me: Because some people find it creepy. I never thought of it as anything but a happy song about frolicking teddy bears. Now I know.
Permit me to share your sense of closure on such a thing. All things come to those who wait. If only some of those dead threads of mine from back then (2003, too) would find themselves answered. It makes me wonder once again at what percentage of questions asked and issues raised go unresolved and unanswered.
The number of “0 Replies” threads continues to amaze me.