Interview with Robert Dennis, composer of “Milk” (Sesame Street, 1975)

“Milk” is one of the most strange and powerful episodes to come out of the Children’s Television Workshop. It is impossible to imagine this film being made now. Here’s the pitch:

Yeah…Jim. Look, I thought we would show how milk gets made with no script and no dialogue. Yeah. Let’s just go shoot footage of farmers and the milk truck, maybe throw in a crying baby and some weird, monotone music crafted by some composer who likes jazzy stuff played by a chamber ensemble. Sunny day? Nah. Let’s not make it cheerful or happy. We should make it gloomy and unsettling. Oh, and Jim? To do it right, we need some crane shots, a huge decal for the truck, and about four and a half minutes running time.