"High 12"
High Noon is a 1952 Western film starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, in which a marshal faces a confrontation at noon and finds the cowardly townsfolk have all deserted him. Meanwhile, his new bride waits for him. The movie's theme song, "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling," won the Academy Award for best song. The film itself has become one of the most iconic Westerns and ripe for parody and referencing.
References
- The Muppet Movie heavily alludes to the film when Kermit the Frog arrives in the Ghost Town, waiting to meet Doc Hopper at high noon. Kermit finally confronts him in a cowboy hat and spurred boots.
- The Miss Piggy Calendar 1982 parodies the film, with Kermit as Gary Cooper and Miss Piggy in the Grace Kelly role. A group of rats represent the villains.
- Sesame Street has referenced the film in multiple Old West sketches. One involves the arrival of Bad Bart when the cow moos four times, instead of high noon as tradition decrees.
- "High 12," another Sesame skit, is a more elaborate parody of the film, with Forgetful Jones in a costume similar to Gary Cooper's, waiting at the train station for a perceived adversary. The clock chimes are counted off until they number 12, signaling high noon. A horse sings a variation of "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling," and Clementine waits anxiously in a bridal dress, on what should have been their wedding day.
- A Western segment in the video game You're the Director is titled "High Ruin."
- "High Moon" is one of several films playing at a cinema for cows in Ernie's Joke Book.
- The film's title was also used for a Sesame Street Online Story on Sesameworkshop.org.
- In the Elmo's World episode "Eyes," the Eyes Channel advises viewers to stay tuned for "Eye Noon."