The Elusive Legend Of ‘Clock Man’

The search for "Clock Man" started onBungie.netSpecifically, on a defunct forum called "The Flood." On January 12, 2012, userCommander Santaasked Bungie users to help him find an animated short that aired on the Nickelodeon showPinwheelduring his childhood.

Commander Santa said the short was terrifying; it stayed burned in his mind 28 years later. He could not recall the short's real title, but since it involved a child taken by a man climbing out of a clock, he called it the "Clock Man."

Other forum members soon accused Commander Santa of trolling or trying to trick everyone with acreepypastaThis is a fictional scary story presented as fact online. Forum members felt suspicious because Commander Santa's postdescribed Pinwheelas "hypnotic." This wording reminded many of the hypnotic effect of the scary children's showCandle Coveon SyFy'sChannel Zeroa horror anthology series based on a popular creepypasta.

Despite criticism, Commander Santa insisted he was being honest. In an interview withThe Animation Warehousethe forum user said he just wanted to watch the short again to see if it still caused the same unease and fear he felt as a child.

Even though the short aired 28 years prior, Commander Santa still held clear memories of it and could giveThe cartoon gives a detailed description:

It shows a young boy sleeping in his bed. A ticking clock sits above his bed. All room lights are off and it is very dark. Suddenly, the clock slows its ticking and stops at midnight. When the clock stops, a greenish/bluish man climbs out of the clock. The boy wakes up just in time to see this man in black grab him from bed and pull him out through a window. The "Clock Man" takes the boy on a scary trip and brings him back to bed before sunrise.

Commander Santa also gave adrawingof the scene, based on his memory.

Another key detail from Commander Santa's memory was that the "Clock Man" cartoon appeared on a Nickelodeon show calledPinwheel, which actually came before Nickelodeon.Pinwheel began as a cable network in 1977, offering educational content for kids.

In 1979, Pinwheel became Nickelodeon, and the channel made a TV series version ofPinwheelits first original show.Pinwheelfeatured two human characters, Sal and Smitty, and several puppet characters. Production ran until 1984, when the show ended after 260 episodes. Reruns aired until 1989.

Pinwheelshowed animated shorts from Europe and Canada, introducing American viewers to international animation. Today,Pinwheelis not on DVD, but VHS copies sometimes appear on eBay. This lack of availability made hunting for "Clock Man" even harder.

Commander Santa faced skepticism, but he was already a Flood community member. Forum members quickly shared his story. Over 800 comments appeared on Commander Santa's initial post.

One early piece of proof came from an anonymous 4Chan user.This user also saw the "Clock Man" short.The user also saw the "Clock Man" short. Commander Santa's post jogged the user's memory; this prompted them to reply.The user provided their own description.:

The animation looked like claymation with bad dolls. The movement was stuttery. The scene began with the kid's mom saying goodnight and closing the door after turning off the light. Then the door slowly [creaks] open with an eerie wind sound. The camera cuts to the kid's room at the foot of his bed. He fights to open his eyes, which droop slowly. He finally gives in and sleeps.

The scene cuts to the clock. The second hand ticks to 12:00. A low bell rings then. The camera returns to the foot of the bed. The "Clock Man's" head peeks into the room like a window. Unlike the OP's image, the Clock Man's head pulls back. His arms emerge and push the clock open like a door. A big dark hole shows behind the clock. Clock Man hops out of the hole. The kid wakes up and stares at Clock Man with wide eyes. Clock Man then starts doing a strange Irish river dance.

The Clock Man looked different in the picture. He wore an all-black turtleneck sweater and a black bowler hat. His skin was green. I don't recall a beard, but he had a big toothy smile and two large eyes with tiny pupils.

I did not watch much after that. However, I clearly remember Clock Man saying his name was "Benjamin" and ringing an elevator to the kid's window.

Commander Santa pointed out two main differences between his version and the 4Chan user's: the missing bushy beard and the boy's name being Benjamin. Still, the similarities were strong enough that Commander Santa updated his original post to include the 4Chan user's description.Commander Santa updated his original post.Commander Santa included the 4Chan user's description in his original post.

An even stronger piece of information appeared early in the search: an online forum post about the possible "Clock Man" short. This post appeared in 2004, eight years before Commander Santa's query.The post appeared on the forum AnimationNation.com, a site for animation industry professionals.AnimationNation.com is a resource for animation industry professionals.

During a talk about scary moments in children's animation, forum user Michael W. Howe shared scary shorts from Pinwheel episodes.Michael W. Howe shared scary shorts from Pinwheel episodes.One of his descriptions matched "Clock Man" closely.

A story about a girl who lost her red shoes asks a local wizard for help. The wizard appears and disappears. He helps her but tells her to tell her mom. The girl goes home and keeps quiet, hoping the wizard forgets. Then the music sounds eerie as the narrator says, "But the Wizard... did not, forget." The wizard appears and disappears along the house floors. He pops out of her clock and takes her away, demanding to know why she did not tell her mom. She fixes it by sewing stars into the night sky. The next day, she returns home and tells her mom the truth.

The story resembled Commander Santa's account of "Clock Man," but differences exist. The main character is a girl, not a boy. The girl has red shoes. The antagonist is a wizard.

For four years, Commander Santa and others searched the internet and the physical world for clues about the mysterious short. They appeared on Bungie.net and the 4Chan /x/ board.Stories about "Clock Man" started appearing on websites like the World of Warcraft.Stories about "Clock Man" began popping up on websites like the World of Warcraft.Stories about "Clock Man" appeared on TV Forums, Hippotank, and Minecraft Forums.Stories about "Clock Man" appeared on TV Forums, Hippotank, and Minecraft Forums.Stories about "Clock Man" appeared on Minecraft Forums, Yahoo Answers, and the BioWare Social Network.Stories about "Clock Man" appeared on Minecraft Forums, Yahoo Answers, and the BioWare Social Network.

Another Flood community member, pawn leo, contacted several scholarly resources. This included the National Film and Television School (Prague and London campuses), Vancouver Film School, UCLA, Arizona State, Cornell, BYU, and the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany. None offered any insight.Pawn leo reached out to several scholarly resources for help, including the National Film and Television School (Prague and London campuses), Vancouver Film School, UCLA, Arizona State, Cornell, BYU, and the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany. None could provide any insight.The search for 'The Search Continued Across Countless Internet Forums For Years With No Results' reached out to scholarly resources. These included the National Film and Television School (Prague and London campuses), Vancouver Film School, UCLA, Arizona State, Cornell, BYU, and the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany. None offered any insight.

Commander Santa offered a $1,000 reward for information about the cartoon.

Commander Santa described "Clock Man." This story resembled multiple European folklore tales. This made the search harder; many of these stories also became animated shorts. Several candidates appeared, but everyone was rejected.

Other candidates were rejected, including "The Clock Store," a 1931 Silly Symphonies short where store clocks come to life after hours.Other candidates were rejected, including "The Sandman," a 1992 stop-motion short about a boy menaced by a bird-like boogeyman.Other candidates were rejected, including "L'Hiver, ou Le Bonhomme Sept Heures," or "Winter, or The Seven O'Clock Man," a mid-'80s short based on a Quebecois folktale about a boogeyman who takes children if they go to bed after 7 pm. This cartoon was considered similar due to its storylines and the "Seven O'Clock Man" character having a beard and trench coat.folktaleThis is about a spoiled rich girl who gets red shoes and won't take them off. A curse makes the shoes dance while on her feet, stopping only when her feet are cut off. "The Red Shoes" shares many similarities with the Howe post from 2004. It became an animated short in 1960 by Mel-O-ToonsThis was not "Clock Man."

Other candidates also failed. These included "The Clock Storea 1931 Silly SymphoniesThis short shows clocks in a store coming to life after hours; "The Sandmana 1992 stop-motion short about a boy menaced by a bird-like boogeyman; and "L'Hiver, ou Le Bonhomme Sept Heuresor "Winter, or The Seven O'Clock Man," a mid-'80s short based on a Quebecois folktale about a boogeyman who takes children if they go to bed after 7 pm. Similar storylines, plus "The Seven O'Clock Man" character having a beard and trench coat, made this cartoon seem The closest match.Several similar animated shorts were found, but none matched "Clock Man."

In September 2016, over four years after Commander Santa's original post, Dycaite, founder of the Lost Media Wiki, helped the search for "Clock Man."Lost Media WikiThe Lost Media Wiki tracks lost and hard-to-find media.

Dycaite released a video.and an infographic.The infographic detailed the search and where Dycaite and other Lost Media Wiki members would look next. Dycaite focused his efforts on viewing all available recordings.Dycaite focused his efforts on viewing all available recordings.Dycaite focused his efforts on viewing all available recordings of Pinwheel episodes and trying to locate lost ones. Dycaite also started contacting people involved in the show's production.Dycaite began reaching out to several people involved in the show's production.Dycaite managed to track down Michael W. Howe, the Animation Nation forum user who posted the description of the Pinwheel episode in 2004.

Dycaite tracked down Michael W. Howe, the Animation Nation forum user who posted the description of theHowe confirmed many details and added new ones. These included the wizard turning buildings into skyscrapers to scare the girl and the girl's mother forgiving her after she admitted her lie.episode back in 2004. In their email exchange, Howe gave a moreHe also remembered seeing the episode between ages five and seven.With a better description, Dycaite kept contacting people who worked on Pinwheel.

When Dycaite finally searched for "Clock Man," twenty years passed since the episode aired. Finding people who knew the truth proved very hard.South ParkKarp vaguely recalled a short about a wizard taking a girl. He guessed it aired in the 1980/81 season, one year before Karp joined the show. Karp then connected Dycaite with one of Pinwheel's executive producers, Tippi Fortune.

Dycaite contacted Fortune, who did not remember the short. However, she recalled most Pinwheel animated shorts came from Coe Films. Coe Films owned international short films and sold them to cable networks in the 1980s. By the time Dycaite spoke with Fortune, Coe Films had closed, and the trail stopped.Over five years after Commander Santa's original post, Lost Media Wiki user nitratenerd published an excited forum post claiming to find the original short.Nitratenerd linked to a YouTube video of a Czechoslovakian animated short called "O Parádivé Sally," which means "About Dressy Sally."

Dycaite started searching for "Clock Man." After about twenty years, finding people who knew the truth proved very hard.

Dycaite first managed totrack downa formerPinwheelwriter Michael Karp vaguely remembered a short about a wizard taking a girl. Karp guessed it aired in the 1980/81 season—one year before he joined the show. Karp then connected Dycaite with someone fromPinwheel's executive producers, Tippi Fortune.

Dycaite contacted Fortune. Fortune did not recall the short, but she remembered most ofPinwheel's animated shorts came from Coe Films. Coe Films owned a library of international short films and sold them to cable networks in the 1980s. By the time Dycaite spoke with Fortune, Coe Films had closed, and the search stopped.

Over five years after Commander Santa's original post, Lost Media Wiki user nitratenerdpostedan excited forum post claiming to have found the original short. Nitratenerd linked to aYouTube videoof a Czechoslovakian animated short called "O Parádivé Sally," which means "About Dressy Sally."

Sally loses a glove. A wizard offers a replacement if Sally tells her mother she lost the original. Sally keeps quiet, so the wizard takes her to his palace at night.

This short shares many traits with "Clock Man" posts. It features a wizard with a bushy black beard and the wizard emerging from a clock. Sally sews stars into the night sky to fix her mistake. Sally loses a yellow glove, not the red shoes Howe remembered, but fans of the "Clock Man" story usually blame a bad memory.

Commander Santa confirmed this short matched what he remembered shortly after nitratenerd's post.

Commander Santa saw this short; it was an English dub of an animated short called "O Parádivé Sally.," which communist Czechoslavia produced in 1976. It is based on a This is the story of the same name.by Jan Vladislav, Dagmar Doubkova directed the short, and Jasoň Šilhan handled the art direction. After earning an honorable mention at the Gottwaldov Film Festival in 1977, "O Parádivé Sally" gained a license from the Learning Corporation of America (LCA). LCA dubbed it into English and released it under the title "Sally."

AAA Studios, the short's current owner, posted the The English dub exists.on its YouTube page. Several differences exist between the Czech and English versions.The Czech version uses a male narrator. The English version uses a female narrator. The Czech version calls the wizard a "small, black sorcerer." The English version names him "Mr. Kadabra." The English version includes a moral; the Czech version omits it. Opening titles in the English version were translated, but the ending credits remain in Czech.The Czech version uses a male narrator. The English version uses a female narrator. The Czech version calls the wizard a "small, black sorcerer." The English version names him "Mr. Kadabra." The English version includes a moral; the Czech version omits it. Opening titles in the English version were translated, but the ending credits remain in Czech.

Vladislav's short story comes from an older English folktale called "The Old Man at the White House." This story first appeared in an 1897 collection of folk stories by S.O. Addey, titled It uses folklore..The English version is nearly the same as Vladislav's version, with small changes.

Sally loses a pair of yellow gloves her mother gave her, just like in "O Parádivé Sally." Sally gets help from an old man instead of a wizard. The old man finds her glove too, but he does not want Sally to tell anyone. Sally tells her mother later, and the old man comes for her at midnight. He does not come from a clock; he simply climbs the stairs to her room.