Sure, it seemed like after the years of hard drinking, petty crime, and run-ins with the law,
Elmo had cleaned up his act -- but a shocking report out of Tampa Bay, Florida, says otherwise. A two-year-old's life has been turned upside down by vicious talk coming from his favorite toy, Elmo Knows Your Name. It seems that after a recent battery change, the PC-interfacing doll began spouting death threats of "kill James" at the toddler, with seemingly no explanation as to how the new phrase entered his vocabulary. The situation came to a head when the boy's mother heard her son repeating the twisted suggestion. Of course, what she didn't hear was Elmo's other threat: that he would "cut anyone who crossed [him] end-to-end with a Bowie knife," and, "dine on their internal organs." Fisher Price says it has a team of experts working on the case, and enough tranquilizer darts to put Elmo down, "For good."
[Thanks, Jordan]
Read - Toddler's Elmo Doll Makes Death Threats, Family Says
Read - Video of Elmo making death threats
posted Feb 22nd 2008 11:48AM
I wonder if they will ever sell the Emo Elmo from MadTV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nRNYG_xM2U
TICKLE ME...
AND I'll CUT YOUR F*CKIN FINGERS OFF MUTHER****ER !
Man, I completely forgot about that clip. Freaking hilarious!
Wow. Elmo grew spine and he's not taking anyone's 5h1t anymore.
"Elmo Knows Your Name"
And the soon to be released "Elmo Knows Where You Live"
Wow... a MadTV sketch that doesn't suck and/or go on way too long.
Nah, I'll go with this Elmo one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B14_qvPrD00
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4024457809967804989&q=tickle+elmo+evil&total=14&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
Elmo meets Robert De Nero and the results are shocking....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoauOJCjBnY
Dude, that was hilarious.
Now THAT would screw you up.
reminds me of chucky
Elmo love killing! Tee hee hee hee hee! Tee hee hee hee hee hee! That tickles!
Evil spirits maybe? or maybe the elmo has an Evil/good switch like th e Krusty doll in that Simpsons Halloween episode?
With your avatar I can almost hear Homer saying that, haha.
Sounds like a money grab to me. They are going to try to sue.
I was just thinking maybe the kid's just crazy...
It said it was connected to a computer. That computer? Skynet. I saw that other Elmo video. Next thing you know it will be able to hold a 40 watt phase plasma rifle.
Sarah Conner is on watch.
"That's not a knife. *This* is a knife!"
No, that's a spoon.
I see you've played knifey---spooney before...
Fool. You know there is no spoon.
boys, that was bloody brilliant...
I knew this day would come.. attack of the killer Elmos! He kills you with a song and a smile
Video of death elmo on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrFmJIxg9Xg
So wait, this woman thinks it's horrible for her kid to hear the Elmo say "kill James" and is upset that her son is repating those words, and then goes on TV and makes the Elmo say "kill James" how many times with her kid running around right there??? Nice.
I don't know how this thing interfaces with the computer, but my money is on this being a lawsuit setup after someone used the computer to reprogram the doll.
My thoughts exactly. hypocritical white-trash Mommy feigns SO much distress about the impending psychological damage to her toddler while REPEATEDLY playing "Kill James" over and over while he's within 3 feet of the thing?
Watch out lady. Toy companies take defamation very seriously. If your concern is sincere, then why all the pomp and circumstance with the press and clear lack of concern while showing the reporter the offensive saying as your kid in sitting right there?
go piss away your ex husbands support check on 20 more Elmo toys- and if you win some tainted $$ from the toy mfr, well buy even more!!
I am that woman. Actually just for your information they have this great new invention called crop and edit. My son was never in the room when the toy was saying what it said. But thanks for the concern. Oh and you can't personalize the doll. There is a word bank to choose from. I can also assure you that kill is not one of the choices. So maybe next time you should do a little research before giving your opinion
We share your concern Melissa. We are deeply concerned about the gross lapse of parental judgement in purposely putting a buck-knife in the hands of an Elmo doll with the intent of amplifying the effect. Was that your idea too or just another case of your 'crop and edit' invention??
I sincerely hope your Son wasn't in eye shot of seeing his favorite toy holding a real knife. And believe me, Fisher Price will be even more displeased by the ill conceived attempt at either a warped sense of humor or just plain slanderous use of their product.
A knife? Really??? Let me guess- that was the News station's idea, not yours right?
@Melissa-
So the recliner is magically rocking itself at the 56 second mark when you play the doll?
Oh, and I guess that's an Oompah Loompah or something at the 1:43 mark of the video and not James standing there when you play the doll again.
Also, I clearly admitted that I've never used one of these Elmo's before.
But, no offense, this certainly does smell like you're setting up a lawsuit.
btw- I do see that Engadget apparently photoshopped a knife over the shot of you holding the doll so I do want to be big enough to retract that criticism. But, your credibility is still crap as Dan pointed out, the child is clearly there @ 1:43.
Come on Melissa, come clean and admit you made a little (BIG) lie there :)
man duke, thats funny, at least you noticed it was photoshoped eventually. its all good.
Huh, maybe I shouldn't have made that crack about the army of killer Elmo's in the Elmo live post....
Digg it!!
http://digg.com/gadgets/When_good_toys_go_bad_X_Elmo_makes_death_threats_to_toddler
That's nice for you. And Ryan Block is Digging articles from his own blog?
Umm, is it disturbing to anyone else that the name of the doll is "Elmo Knows Your Name"? Elmo also knows when you sleep.
Dag....looks like Elmo has been hangin out in Sesame Alley!....what's next tattos and flix with Brittney?
Anyone try A.L.I.C.E.?
Elmo would rock if it had the same level of A.I.
RE reference. Nice.
So if it's a toy you can hook up to the computer and teach it to say things isn't it possible that they/someone made it say that on purpose to get some publicity/money or something?
Kinda like the lady who sued Wendys for the finger in the chili. Come to think of it wasn't she from the Bay-area as well? Desperation because of the high cost of living? Or maybe it's something in the water, someone should sue!
Some lady needs to get off the drugs.
Actually, it sounds more like "tell James" than "kill James"
Also, I love how she didn't just reprogram it... Loser!
please, mrs. bowman, put this thing up on ebay.
They're really stretching it on that one. I think whatever the Elmo is saying could be interpreted as several different phrases.
I find it interesting that the child chose to interpret it as "kill."
What other forms of entertainment is two year old regularly exposed to, I wonder.
bogus, mom is looking for a date and a payday.
OK you cheap ass toy makers. Stop over compressing the audio! Spend the extra $0.15 on more cheap memory and use a less compressed audio format! Also use slightly better speakers. That would prevent this sort of misunderstanding from happening!
Yea it would cost them money upfront, but think of all the man hours that would be saved when this issue comes up! Nobody would have to be paid to investigate the issue. No parents would be on the news acting traumatized that their perfect little child was scared for life. They would not have to pay for any PR to fix their image!
I'm pretty surprised that Engadget didn't reference Skynet, killer robots, and progressing technology with a programmable Elmo who knows your name and sleeps in your bed!
"We'll be friends till the end..."
i heart this comment
First time I've actually been interested in buying a new elmo.
I just wish for an incredibly evil version of something cute like Teddy from AI. A harmless, psychotic fuzzy wuzzy is a win if you ask me.
Ha ha ha. I gotta get me a programmable Elmo.
Surprised no one mentioned the Twilight Zone episode with "Talking Tina" which is what the bad Krusty doll was based on from that Simpsons episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFHqMkvbaT0
"I'm Talking Tina and I'm going to kill you!"
This all happened after they changed the batteries? Hmm... maybe it's the batteries who are evil and not Elmo...
Mrs. Bowman? With a psychotic AI on her hands? Are you kidding me?
"Open the driveway doors, Elmo."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Melissa. KILL JAMES."
Just to clear a few things up I am that worthless mother... 1st of all I could care less what everyone though of my story. If it was so terrible then why did you take the time to watch and comment on it??? Next, that toy can't be programed to say whatever you want it to say. You have a word bank to choose from. Oh and one other thing, my son was never in the room while the toy was going off. For the ones that actually had a litte concern about what toys are teaching OUR children, Thank You
Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, not many people are likely to believe that you're really Melissa Bowman.
Sorry.
I'm more concerned with parents that feign outrage over a toy then using the incident as a cash grab and a way to get their 5 minutes on the local television broadcast.
Congratulations. You are saving the children.
The Elmo Doll is actually saying "Keir James", Keir is one of the names on the list and if you go online and listen to it you'll notice.
There is no wrong doing here other than a defective toy.
You should also find out where your child is picking up a word like KILL, a child that small should have interpreted that with some else like "Care James". The audio from the Elmo Doll is really bad, combined with Elmo's high pitch voice and you cant really "hear" what its saying which means its all interpreted from whatever your experience brings to mind. If KILL comes to mind, thats what you will hear, get what Im saying?
first off, toys should not be teaching children. take some personal responsibility for the way your child develops. next, why are you monitoring your media coverage if you don't care? for that matter, why alert the media to begin with. just dump the doll in the trash and move on (oh....that's right, a future settlement would be lessened if you actually did some thing about this oh so horrible toy). oh, and dont give me the line about the toy "can't be programed to say whatever you want", if he can be programmed then he can be reprogrammed.
So, what other phrases come to mind?
Maybe it just listened to that Arlo Guthrie song ;)
homer pulls string
evil krusty doll:"I'm Krusty the Clown and I don't like you"
evil krusty doll:"I'm Krusty the Clown and I'm going to kill you,"
Homer "I didn't even pull the string that time."
evil krusty doll:"I'm going to kill YOU, Homer Simpson,"
Homer:"with what?"
evil krusty pulls out butchers knife.
Mystery solved. One of the names in the database from Fisher Price is "Keir" somehow that got chosen as the name to say. It is exactly what this Elmo is saying.
It could be worse - at least Elmo didn't say "wang" or "vivia2" (sounds like "vulva" or he would be accused of sexual harassment.
Oh - and "clint" does NOT sound like Clint.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=8050&e=getProd&selCat=kyn_elmo&pid=34159
You beat me to it lol, the sounds are probably all compressed and stored in an internal rom, that way programming is just a matter of selecting the right switches.
If the unit is defective, the processor could get "confused" and say two names instead of just the intended one.
These things happen, firmware development is one of the trickiest software development types out there, trust me I know.
Slaughter is in the list of names too. Good thing that didn't get chosen.
(I'm serious, slaughter is there...)
It also has sister. I suppose "Slaughter Sister" might be a bit worse.
Its sounds like he's saying Cal James. It's just a firmware hiccup. If you go to the Fisher Price web page http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=8050&e=getProd&selCat=kyn_elmo&pid=34159
You can type the name and hear what it will sound like, if you type in "Cal", thats exactly what it sounds like.
Now that I listen to "Cal", it sounded nothing like kill, but "keir" is on the money.
EBAY!
Couldn't you achieve the same thing by entering the childs name as "Kill James"?
Nope, there a fixed list of names. All the names are programmed into the doll, they just activate which name the doll should say when you order it. A simple glitch could have it saying more than one name, like in this case.
oh. my. god.
My last name is Bowman.
My first name is James.
I'm seriously scared.. o.O
Ah, so that's it... Evil Elmo is indoctrinating young, two year old James Bowman to one day kill and replace you. Why? I don't know, but I would recommend against any job that puts you in an enviable position of power.
She does not want her son to hear it but she keeps playing it with the kid in the roomfor the news crew. My guess is that shile changing the batteries she damaged the speaker.
Am I the only concerned the kid is getting WAY too much commercialization? Seriously, kids that age shouldn't be watching tv or at least not enough to indoctrinate them into consumer culture this early.
Also it sounds like it's saying something innocuous and they are just interpreting it to be "kill." A lot of these cases of toys saying inappropriate things seem like parents with overactive imaginations.
Did Skynet finally become self-aware? Be afraid, be very afraid...
Jesus Christ........
Nope. That's not one of the name options. But "Bozo" is! : )
Why didn't she try changing the batteries again...
Although I think you people got it with the add two names together glitch, but I'm not so sure it's Keir. After listening to the video numerous times, I can clearly make out an "L" consonant. However, due to the compression, I guess "Keir" could be mangled enough to make it sound like Kill.
Could it be that the programing switched to the Spanish language? "Quero James"
(pronounced "kee-air-o")sounds similar to "kill" when spoken fast and in digitized voice. It's a thought.
I thought it sounded like it was saying Gayle King as in Oprahs best friend Gayle... Now that I think about it, Kill James is probably better.
Yeah Melissa...I'm not buying it. You won't change the batteries why??? What's the worst that could happen? It repeat the same thing? You sound money hungry and unless Michael Bay is editing the news these days you're lying about the video being edited so that your son only appears to be in the room. Have YOU watched the video?
Reminds me of that story a while back where Elmo ostensibly asked "Who wants to die?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av1HN5Vea7g
He was actually saying "Who wants to GO" but, you know, people want to hear evil things coming out of their innocent toys, so...
In psychology I believe this is referred to as projection.
Nightmare on Elmo Street
I, for one, welcome our ticklish, homicidal robotic overlords.
Okay, first of all, this:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=8050&e=getProd&selCat=kyn_elmo&pid=34159
Now, liten to two names. The first is Keir, which, I believe you would agree is what is bing said.
The second is Slaughter. That wasn't a joke. Scroll down to the S names, and you will find Slaughter.
The second link is this:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=8051&e=download&selcat=kyn_elmo&pid=34159
Those are instruction telling you how to DOWNLOAD NEW names the doll(in .rbf format, it would seem). However, you can only download the names provided on the site, but if I really wanted to I could probably add my own sounds(unless that format is a very closely guarded proprietary one).
I am definitely not claiming that is the case(I am claiming that the name "Keir" is being mistaken for kill. Which seems to me is more do to Elmo's voice than the compression). So, yeah, case solved. However, people who name their kid Slaughter seem like a bigger concern to me(I would really hope that the name is from a background that isn't English speaking... "Oh my god, that's your baby? What did you name her? -"Slaughter" "Oooooh, that's, um, very sweet. I have an appointment with my... Um... Butcher! Gotta go bye!).
There are a few other funny names you could find, that if you had acess to the order they were played in(again, not saying this happened. The fact that the bug began after changing the batteries would a imply some sort of short or something) you could make some pretty funny phrases. For one, if it was "Kill James, Amen" It would have been much creepier. In the downloadable list(which I assume is included in newer Elmos) the name Aamen is found, and is pronounced "Amen".
There is also Neeve, which sounds a lot like leave, and Loftin/Loften, which sorta sounds like laughing(with some sort of English accent, but still), and Monet, which sounds like how the Odd Todd guy says "money"(mun-eh).
Those are just a small list of a few I heared(from the even shorted "downloadable" list).
I'm hoping next for versus from the bible, Tarantino movie quotes, recipes, and a rapping Elmo, all homebrew. But alas, that is just hope... Or is it?
Well looks like I can't buy thus for my family. Does not have the names Satawat, or Mitwara in the list.
I am totally traumatized and offended by this prejudice against names of Thai origin. I think about $54 million dollars would help relive my families' embarrassment and disgrace.
More seriously a lot of people have mentioned what is the child been exposed to for him to think the word was 'KILL'? Hopefully Child Protective Services will investigate the mother.
Are you guys saying the mother may have programmed the doll to make threats against the child so she could sue? That's hideous.
Don't these idiots realize that stuff like that is checked out? Remember the incidents of the severed finger in the Wendy's chili and the drowned rat in a bowl of soup? Both were hoaxes to try and get a lawsuit.
I was playing around a bit and thought i would share at the website - http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=8050&e=getProd&selCat=kyn_elmo&pid=34159 -try the name "fakih" when followed by a "dick" (do people still name thier kids dick?) hilarity ensues i think i could spend hours trying to find a way to play with elmos vocabulary
That Elmo should be worth a lot of money. It's like that rare stamp with the upside down jenny (airplane).
poor kid, his favorite toy saying its gonna kill him. if it were me i'd have burned that elmo. god thats f*ckin scary. I bet i was so worker at the factory where they make the elmos tryin to get a luagh.... poor kid