pico and sepulveda … pico and sepulveda … pico and sepulveda

Even the best day can be improved by a little Pico and Sepulveda …

(Of course, a day which requires me crossing the intersection at the actual Pico and Sepulveda is usually a very bad day, indeed.)

I took my first visit to the Forbidden Zone a few months ago, and though I Twittered the hell out of it, I don't recall if I wrote about it on my blog. Alas, maybe one day there will be a way to search the online universe for things we wish to find.

I love this movie so much, and I wish I'd seen it when I was younger. If I had a litmus test for friends, "loves Forbidden Zone" would certainly be on it.

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62 thoughts on “pico and sepulveda … pico and sepulveda … pico and sepulveda”

  1. I love this movie, though I almost didn’t make it through. I nearly bowed out when the Kipper Kids came on, thinking, “what in the hell is this?” but I’m so glad I stuck it out. So far I’ve converted one friend and hope to gather more into the fold.

  2. This. Is. Amazing. And I am now forever grateful to an alignment of fates that brought me to the computer and onto Twitter at that exact moment where you tweeted a link to this video… This is exactly the kind of thing I love and cannot believe I’ve never heard of it before. I must now watch this in its entirety. And thank you!

  3. Okay, now I got it. Dr. Demento. This is where my father picked it up from. For my very Catholic Republican parents they loved Dr. Demento. Forbidden Zone is on my list now to see.

  5. I just peed a little.
    I did not know about this, but you can bet your Kipper Kids that I'm going to attend at least one showing.
    Thanks for the link!

  6. I’m no expert, but this has GOT to be the influence for the candy lab scene in Willy Wonka, right? Starting at 1:35…or am I crazy?

  10. It looks like it’s completing the circle back to the original Mystic Nights of the Oingo Boingo shows.
    Did you also know that Richard Elfman recently(ish) released a colorized version of the movie? – “…to present the film as I always intended it — in vivid, glorious, mind-boggling color!”

  11. Every time you post clips from Forbidden Zone I am compelled to watch them. Then I feel like I’ve taken the most delightful drugs ever. It makes me happy. I am convinced that I need to rent this movie and watch it in its entirety. To the local video shop!

  12. OMG. I can’t believe you were a Forbidden Zone virgin until a few months ago. I keep describing this bizarre little movie to friends and they want to certify me. 😀 Our first copy was videotaped off the tv because we couldn’t find it Anywhere!
    When we visit LA and run into Sepulveda, we frequently break out in song. 😉
    Richard’s released a color version? I must go looking for it.
    Silly fact – This is the First Movie Danny wrote the film score. *giggle*
    But when I saw Beetlejuice, I Knew who wrote the score before I saw the credits.
    PS Danny’s IMDB says he’s working on Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy.

  16. I personally love to see how so much from Forbidden Zone made it into other Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo projects. His movie music certainly shows the DNA going back to Forbidden Zone and one of the coolest things in the Dilbert cartoon was the use of the Forbidden Zone music as the main theme.

  17. I hadn’t know of Forbidden Zone until you mentioned it recently. I also don’t think Oingo Boingo really made it to Europe so they were new to me, too, with the obvious exception of Danny Elfman whose film and TV soundtracks I love. I rented this bizarre piece and I think I need to watch it a few times more because I couldn’t make heads nor tails of it, it was so weird. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, I just didn’t get it.

  18. I can so totally see you and Paul & Storm doing a live version of this – possibly a Trololo mashup in the works!

  19. I love the ‘Pico & Sepulveda’ part of Forbidden Zone, but some of the rest of it makes me want to pull a pillow over my head. If I’m willing to re-watch it for my favorite bits, can I still be your friend? 😀

  21. YKYBHTLW…
    …you wonder why someone would attempt to use an editor on some LA roadway…
    Could cleaning up the streets really be that easy?

  22. It would have to be the other way around, the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory predates the Forbidden Zone by eleven years.

  24. I have the honor of playing Pa and performing Pico in the stage version (not to mention the jock strap clad “Keepers” of the Sixth Dimension)over at The Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood …opening in a week! So, if you’re a fan of the film, get yourself over there and be present for the insanity! Wil, looking forward to having you in the audience and thanks for posting about us! We even have an old mutual connection…my college friend Shannon Fill (Ensign Sito). Small town…

  26. They're also both pretty clearly inspired by the old Max Fleischer and really early Looney Tunes cartoons, too, I think.

  27. I didn't know about your show until about 12 hours ago. I'm traveling a lot for work during your run, but I'm *so* coming to see you guys when I'm home.
    Break your legs, and please tell Shannon I said hi!

  28. This movie was a big cult hit when I was in highschool (graduated in ’87) and we (I introduced my now-husband to it years later when we met) STILL use lines from it. “AND I’M STILL WAITING!” said in that exact tone, whenever impatient for something, is one of them.
    And “I’LL HELP!!” (Squeezit, when he is in the garbage can) is another.
    Totally normal words to use, of course, but even now 20 some years later I think of that movie every time I say them.

  31. I never knew that the Dr. Demento theme song came from “The Forbidden Zone.” Thanks for the memories. Now I’m going to be singing “Fish Heads” all day.

  32. Clearly I need to go find a copy of this and dive into the madness. Does anyone else get a distinct Fritz Lang’s Metropolis vibe from this sequence?

  33. My bad gustavsnapr, I thought Willy Wonka was first – thanks for the correction. But I guess Wil gets the 1up with this good point.
    Either way, I’m not doing my best to dig into as much Forbidden Zone as I can right now, since I totally missed out the first time!

  37. Actually, Dr. Demento’s version was recorded before “Pico and Sepulveda” was used in The Forbidden Zone. It (the song) actually dates from 1947 (can’t remember original recording artist, though….)
    And now YOU’ve stuck me w/the “Fish Heads, fish heads….took them to a movie….didn’t have to pay to…get them..in!” earworm! Thanks…thanks a bunch

  38. I have sung that song every time I pass that intersection for years. It was really hard when I was passing it every day for work…

  40. Watched this before bed last night and literally the first thing that ran thru my mind when I opened my eyes this morning was ‘pico & sepulveda…pico & sepulveda’ over and over and over till I didn’t know whether to curse the day I set eyes on this blog or dance along with it. I’m kind of a fan of Wil’s so decided to go with the latter. Now the guy fixing the ceiling in my bathroom thinks I’m coo-coo.
    Who’da thunk that ‘Sepulveda’ would be pronounced ‘suh-PUL-vi-dah.’ Not me, that’s for sure.

  41. I only came here to say: Damn you, Wil Wheaton, for making “Pico And Sepulveda…Pico And Sepulveda” drone on and on in my mind all through this friday, preventing me from doing any work!The only way I see to forgive you is for you to do another D&D podcast with Krahulik and Holkins. *folds arms*

  42. I have been reading you Wil for a long time but I have never responded til now!
    I have been watching Forbidden Zone since 1996. Back then it was watched exclusively with mind altering drugs… but I have seen it since then as well on a more sober keel and I have to say that drugs are not needed if you want your mind blown.
    I have this on DVD, in fact all my friends in Tulsa have it on DVD because we distribute it with our group membership. I have always wanted to be your friend and now I know why.

  43. Aw, I live near Pico and Sepulveda. It’s no Pasadena, but…
    What was actually sad was that first when I saw the name of the song, I was happy (it’s rare for me to actually know where streets are in L.A., even though I’ve lived here for a few years), then during the song I was confused, because they kept mentioning the La Brea Tar Pits, and they’re not around here. I was almost convinced that I was wrong, or that there was some other Pico and Sepulveda over by the Tar Pits. I really need to learn my local geography better.

  45. A lot of us who live in Los Angeles say "say-puhl-VEE-dah" just to be contrary. I also pronounce "Los Feliz" "Los Feh-leez" instead of "Los Fee-liz" for the same reason.

  46. My husband and I say “Los Feh-leez” just because the other pronunciation bugs us. Not to mention that “Los Feliz” is grammatically incorrect anyway so that makes it even more annoying to me. Kind of like “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.” Grr. But I digress…

  47. So, let me get this straight – they pronounce ‘Sepulveda’ ‘suh-PUHL-vi-dah,’ ‘Los Feliz’ as ‘los FEE-liz,’ but somehow ‘La Jolla’ gets ‘la hoy-a’ rather than ‘la jawl-a?’
    I think I would be contrary too.

  49. Curse you, Wil Wheaton! It’s in my head and I can’t get it out. For four straight days now. It just won’t stop. Every moment that my brain is not completely occupied all it does is say: “Pico and Sepulveda. Pico and Sepulveda. Pico and Sepulveda.” How do I make it stop? “Shut up brain or I’ll stab you with a Q-Tip”

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