Hello Kindertrauma,
I've been a fan of your site for a few months now. Name That Trauma is definitely my favorite section. I've had this on my mind for a while now, and finally broke down and decided to submit this one.
I think it came out in the early 1980s, and may have been an After-School Special, or maybe a kids show on HBO or Showtime. It didn't scare me or anything, but it stuck in my head for some reason because it was a little bit disturbing. I'm hoping this is an easy one:
There were two kids involved, a boy and a girl, maybe around 10 years old. They had a shrunken head and a pan flute, and I think there may have been bongo drums too. The kids would play these instruments and the shrunken head would come to life and talk to them. I have no idea what the plot was.
Please help me out here.
Thank you,
— Merk H.
UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Kudos to reader Barry Meyer for stepping up to the plate with THE BOY WITH TWO HEADS (aka CHICO THE RAINMAKER)!
There was a Brit kid show that aired for a while on PBS called The Boy with Two Heads (after looking it up, I see it was also named Chico the Rainmaker — both strange titles!!) Type either of those titles in on YouTube and you'll find some clips in English and in Spanish. I remember seeing ths in the 70s, myself, on PBS.
Great work Barry!
Chico looks pretty crazy! never heard of this one! Here are some clips….
Jeremy! Sorry you could not sign in!
You are correct about the top and bottom "Name That Trauma!" images being from the Tales of the Brothers Quay (1987)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093025/
Good eye!
"Phantom Museums: The short films of the Quay Brothers" is now on Netflix streaming and those shots are from the short "Street of Crocodiles"
HOLY SMOKES!!
You guys are too awesome. Yes, this is my trauma!
I thought it would not be as disturbing as I remembered, but it's worse. I'll be having nightmares tonight.
Thanks!
So how do you pitch an idea like that as a children's show?
"So, there are these kids with this shrunken head in a box… and the head, it comes to life and tells them stuff…"
Right up there with having a singing T-Rex dancing around with the kiddies "Don't worry, we'll replace his flesh-rending fangs with foam dentures."
Well, Knob, if this is from the 1970s, they were way braver back then with kid's stuff. Like some of the stuff from The Electric Company that you'd never get away with now.
http://youtu.be/gPwuC8Rrc1E
http://youtu.be/Iis4uh1xJ1o