Little James here loves Elmo. In fact, his entire house is filled with every Elmo toy you could possibly imagine and even a few you can’t. One of these beloved Elmos is a model that you can program with your computer to say your kids name. Recently, James’ mother replaced the batteries in “Elmo Knows Your Name” and is now convinced that the doll is homicidal.
You see, James’ mother thinks that Elmo is saying “Kill James.”
We watched the clip before we knew what the doll was “supposed” to be saying and thought it sounded like “Carol Kane,” but James’ mother in convinced Elmo is more into Charles Manson than Scrooged.
Fisher-Price has agreed to replace the toy. Feel free to tell us what you think the doll is saying in the comments.
Toddler’s Elmo Doll Makes Death Threats, Family Says [TBO] (Thanks, Everyone!)
Video [TBO]
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@marsneedsrabbits: I agree. This kid is a furry in the making. Not to completely fault mom for taking the easy way out and just giving in to what the kids wants, but how about trying to branch him out into something NOT Elmo?
She “doesn’t want to reprogram the doll because she’s afraid it will do it again”
Lady, you an probably fix the damn thing by just resetting it. And Hasbro has said they’ll replace it. Just send them the defective doll.
What’s the problem here again?
@chiieddy: You know the mos hilarious thing? It’s not even defective!
@UpsetPanda: Shound read most*
Poor kid, with such parents… His mom is much more creepy than the elmo. I’m suspecting the toy is ”saying” something else, but since the speakers are so cheap, the word gets distorted.
@chiieddy: His mother probably was traumatized by Chucky in her time
They forgot to report about the dad in the computer room rolling on the floor laughing at his insipid wife and the idiot news people.
@greatgoogly: I’m glad someone said it. I was getting antsy.
This is like “Paul is dead,” you hear what you expect to hear.
BTW, My friend’s four-year-old despises Elmo and thinks he’s “so mentally challenged.” I think the kid in the clip isn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
The story should have been about the Mom’s obsession with Elmo and how it’s harming her son. I’m willing to bet a mental evaluation would prove the mother is reliving her childhood and views her son as a “friend”, thus the addictive personality the son will develop due to not having proper parental guidance.
@JMB: that’s one of my favorite episodes
To me it sounds like “cowl Jane’s”, but I can see her hearing “kill James”.
What are these people smoking… and where can I get some?
The babysitter probably reprogramed it, and laughing off their ass right now.
I could see Kill James, but I also heard, Carol Kane, Carol King, King James (WITNESS!), or King James (It’s a biblical reference). Perhaps we could view this as a Rorschach test. The mother is the Manson Family’s Most Likely, since she’s hearing Kill Kill Kill. Clearly, she needs the help, not the doll.
Hey! You’re talking to my guy all wrong…
+ Watch video
@Tzepish: Ditto. It’s pretty clearly “Kill James.” If you listen at the end, you can clearly here the “s” in “James.”
Someone watched too many episodes of The Twilight Zone.
@Tzepish: I’m still hearing “kell james” or “yell james” which I determined before I saw zouxou‘s post about hearing ‘yell james’.
@utensil42: The ‘s’ at the end is pretty clear, but the kill vs. kell vs. tell vs. carol cake isn’t too clear. I can see how kill and kell or kill and tell might be similar, but just because you know the doll is saying ames doesn’t mean it is definitely, for sure, saying kill.
frick! *carol kane.
I’m Rick James, Bitch!
remind me of the teletubie that would say “i got a gun i got a gun” instead of “again again”.
program it to say Tickle my hairy nuts again again hah hah ha thats right come to daddy Elmo
“Whoa, here’s your problem…Elmo is set to ‘Evil’”
(Reference = Evil Talking Krusty)
@BugMeNot2: Terrorist teletubby?
The Twilight Zone.
It was an ooold Twilight Zone, one from long before you were born. Back when color was considered a distraction from the drama. So long ago, Telly Savalas still had hair. (Of course, now everyone’s going to ask “who the heck was Telly Savalas?” and make me feel really old.)
Anyway, the line was:
“My name is Talky Tina and I’m going to kill you.”
Here’s a review of that episode with a link to YouTube
The sardonic side of me thinks that is absolutely awesome.
I can understand the woman’s concern and she even did the right thing by going to Fisher Price with the issue. But how deprived of attention is that woman? And why on earth did that network deem the story worthy of two-and-a-half minutes of their broadcast?
Nice tag. Expect to get a lot of mileage out of that one?
My daughter has a similar toy, but it is a Dora the Explorer doll. The doll really is not that smart, you select your child’s facorite color, food, pet name etc from a list in the software, plug a USB cable in Dora’s butt, upload the data from the PC to the doll, and the doll plays back pre-recorded messages, and inserts the information that you input on the computer…like “Do you like (sister’s name)? Me Too!, or “Let’s eat some Cherry Pie”
To me, it sounds like Elmo is only saying the last sylable of the word “Tickle” (Tickle James). When Elmo pronounces the word Tickle, he pronounces it “Ti-Kell James”, or in this case “Kell James”.
My guess would be that either the batteries might not have been brand new, or she just needs to reset the doll.
@Rachacha: That might be it. It does sound amazingly like “Kill James”, so at least this one isn’t as absurd as some others.
Thanks for the explanation, too; it makes a lot of sense…
@badfad: Three words…. Slow News Day.
HELLO, I’M CHUCKIE. WANNA PLAY?
It amazes me, not so much anymore, what qualifies for Local Broadcast NEWS these days. Watching the repeaters (reporters) makes me cringe, until I think about what they get paid and I lose my guts. Weathermen/women … they take the cake.
@missdona: Or just take the batteries out of it. “Ahhh, looks like Elmo won’t talk any more. Sorry!”
Not like a two-year-old has much idea of what the phrase would mean, anyway. He still seems to be laughing it up. It’s the mother who’s been traumatized. (I use the word lightly… I wouldn’t particularly enjoy death threat toys, but I’d also fix it myself [see Tip #1, Battery Removal, above] instead of calling the news and the toy maker.)
@jfischer: Telly Savalas had hair? I thought he was born bald
What disturbed me was that she refused to try to reprogram the doll. It should be simple procedure, and it would possibly stop the unintelligible phrase. But that would destroy her chances of getting on TV news, wouldn’t it?
I’m surprised nobody mentioned this toy can be hacked to say whatever you want it to say:
[www.hackmyelmo.com]
Wouldn’t be surprised to find out the mother did it herself. Just wait for the lawsuit!!
It could be glitch that makes it say two names in a row or something. It’s kind of messed up that the lady thinks it’s saying “kill.” With the low quality compression and Elmo’s high pitched squeaky voice, it could be saying “care” or “hello” or something. The fact the kid is saying “kill james” sounds like he’s exposed to too much tv. Also the kid is getting way too much exposure to advertising. Seriously, a kid that age shouldn’t be watching that much television.
Fisher price will gladly replace the doll…
With a Zuni Fetish Doll of equal value. Chain not included.
Well, to be fair, James is a terrible name.
@DarrenO: Hehehe… actually I’m now wondering whether Little James has a naughty older sibling who knows how to reprogram the toy…
Anyone else remember Chucky?
I distinctly heard, “What’s the frequency, Telly?”
I don’t know… kind of sounded like “Tell James” to me…
Hmmm, they should make a movie out of that…. oh wait…