Sesame Street/Wizard of Oz Crossover Is So ‘Scary’ That It’s Been Pulled From Syndication

The episode opens with a strong wind blowing across Sesame Street; a broom falls from the sky in front of Mr. Hooper’s store and David (North Calloway) picks it up. Then the Witch peeks out from around the corner. “I know I’m not in Oz anymore,” she says, a joke clearly intended for parents watching with their children.

Show how the witch tries to get the broom back from David and is confronted by the many puppet inhabitants of Sesame Street. She threatens to turn Big Bird into a feather and attracts Oscar’s attention when she hides behind a trash can at home. (Even a wicked witch can glow as giddy as a schoolgirl when young Grouch calls her beautiful.)

In the end, the Witch disguises herself as a sweet, ordinary-looking old lady (the real Margaret Hamilton, that is). David, realizing the deception, makes her say “please” before handing over the broom.

So yeah, not exactly a horror story, even if the Witch is left wondering at times, Hamilton plays the part like she just walked off the set of The Wizard of Oz; she even gives out her witch’s horn several times. Apparently, this was enough to make the children scream and cry, causing the parents to write complaints. If angry parents can bring Optimus Prime back to lifethey can defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.

Hamilton, so famous for scaring little kids, was a teacher before becoming an actor – which may actually help explain why she’s so good at scaring kids. Given her background in education, it also makes sense that she would want to guest star on Sesame Street. She previously appeared on an episode of Mister Rogers’ District, which was aimed at teaching kids that acting is fiction and that playing a mean character doesn’t make them a mean person. In an interview with Mister Rogers, Hamilton recalled the role of the witch in The Wizard of Oz and the legacy she received:

“Sometimes, Mr. Rogers, I’m a little unhappy because a lot of kids are really scared (of the Wicked Witch) and it makes me feel a little sad because I don’t think any of us thought, you know, that it would be as scary as it sometimes seems, but if you understand her and understand that it’s just a look and that anyone can do it, you can do it.”

To get the message across in a way that kids can totally relate to, Hamilton mentioned that she dressed up as a witch on Halloween when she was a child. Her pretend performance is never filmed during the Witch’s Sesame Street appearance, so children who no need realize that acting is “just pretending” that their terror will not subside. After the episode was pulled from the air, the kids had to wait to meet the wicked witch Miss Hamilton until they were old enough to watch The Wizard of Oz.