20+ 'Sesame Street' Facts That People Would Never Expect - Copy

Speaking of counting, when you think about the work Sesame Street did for vampire awareness, Count von Count is a character that cannot be forgotten. But most people don't know that the character has a cruel past that was even written into his lines! Among other offenses, he was adept at hypnotizing and stunning other innocents!

We feel like the exact nature of Bert and Ernie's relationship has been discussed for years, and sometimes without even a mention of Sesame Street! Once and for all, this duo is not in love. “All that stuff about me and Bert? It’s not true. We’re both very happy, but we’re not gay," said Ernie's performer Steve Whitmire.

Cookie Monster is one of those characters whose legacy outlived the show itself, but most people don't know that it was a legacy built on lies! Well, just one lie: his real name is actually Sid! It was revealed in a 2004 episode that everything changed after he became obsessed with cookies. 

What happens when one successful franchise collides with another on air? Well, in 1980, at the height of Star Wars fever, C-3PO and R2-D2 paid the set a visit. They had a blast by playing games, singing songs, and, for just R2-D2, getting romantic with a fire hydrant!

Does anyone remember Snuffy? Officially known as Aloysius Snuffleupagus, he was one of the main characters of the show and Big Bird's best friend. For the first many episodes, only Big Bird could see Snuffy, which explains how everyone was convinced that he was just an imaginary friend.

At some point, the issue about Snuffy's existence made it to the upper ranks of Sesame Street producers. If the kids could see it, they wanted adults to as well. But the adults carried on, and producers became concerned about whether they were supporting a culture where adults don't believe kids. 14 years after his debut, they officially introduced the real Snuffy to the wider world!

Why let a good idea stay local? That's what the people who adapted Sesame Street for Afghani audiences probably thought when they wrote up, Baghch-e-Simsim. This version featured the same ethics and some of the same characters, but the spoken language was all in Afghan!

Even though the show made it to Afghanistan, not every aspect of Baghch-e-Simsim was allowed to stay the same. For example, this version did away with Oscar the Grouch and Count characters, because they signified trash and vampires, which were cultural taboos in Afghani culture. But it still stuck to the fundamental Sesame Street mission.

When the show was first thought up, its creators wanted the location's address to be 123 Avenue B, which was a real location in New York City, right across from the then-notorious Tompkins Square Park. Thinking the setting was too real, they changed it to Sesame Street.

You may know him from The Muppet Show, the several Muppet movies that were made after, and many cameos in between, but Kermit the Frog would be nowhere without Sesame Street. That's where he got his showbiz start! He'd go on to do great things, but always remembered where he came from.

Speaking of Kermit, have you heard of Jim Henson? He was a famed American puppeteer, animator, inventor, actor, and, well, the list truly goes on. The man of many talents created Kermit, who was widely believed to be Henson's alter ego. He also played Ernie on Sesame Street for a time.

From their pilot episode and onward, Sesame Street played host to many guest stars. "I didn't know anything about [Sesame Street] when they asked me to be on," said the first-ever guest and famed actress Carol Burnett. "All I knew was that Jim Henson was involved and I thought he was a genius."

Oscar the Grouch became a beloved character on the show despite his snappy exterior. In keeping with the real-life inspiration of the show, his creators were keen on modeling him after a New York City taxi driver. His voice actor, Caroll Spinney, said she based him specifically on one from the Bronx!

Speaking of Oscar the Grouch, are you aware that before he had that green coat, he was actually orange? That's how his creators first drew him up. But it ended up being short-lived. The show's explanation was that he vacationed in Swamp Mushy Muddy, which turned him green!

Sesame Street is a show intent on educating its viewers. It tended to shy away from explicit political campaigns, but that didn't stop it from once hosting Ralph Nader, a famed activist for the environment and consumer protection. In 1988, he came to the show and sang, "a consumer advocate is a person in your neighborhood."

Did you know that one of the show's main characters has a completely separate career as a pop star? In 1970, none other than Ernie made it to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His song of choice was called "Rubber Duckie," and it took the world by storm!

"Do you think [television] can teach anything?" was the question that birthed the legacy of Sesame Street. It happened at a dinner party hosted by Joan Ganz Cooney, a public television producer. Her guest who asked it, Lloyd Morrisett, was an educator at the Carnegie Corporation. The rest is history!

Big Bird measures in at 8 feet and 3 inches. It's no small number, even for this giraffe-like creature. Most people don't know that the way its puppet master operates the character is by using the length of his arm to fill out the neck!

When Sesame Street was adapted for a South African audience, they introduced a character named Kami who was HIV-positive. This raised awareness and reduced stigma around the disease, but in the United States, some Republicans thought it wasn't appropriate and wrote letters to congress banning Kami in the US!

Speaking of Congress, Sesame Street made headlines in 2002, when the famous Elmo character testified before congress. Duke Cunningham, a Republican congressman from California, invited him to speak on more funding for music in schools. Wasting no time, Elmo asserted that "when Elmo goes to school, there will be the instruments to play."

You can’t exactly major in puppeteering (at traditional colleges at least), so the training is usually fairly, well, hands-on. According to Elmo puppeteer Ryan Dillon, a lot of trainees will operate just the right hands of the puppets, an apprenticeship that lasts for years. 

In fact, operating the right hand even has a term: “right handing.” Dillon worked as a right-hander for over ten years before he became Elmo’s main puppeteer. Most characters require at least two puppeteers to move around correctly!

Making the characters move is one thing, but having them emote is another entirely. According to Ernie’s puppeteer, actions like having the character’s head look down and opening the character’s mouth convey sadness and happiness, all with just one movement.

Ernie’s puppeteer, Peter Linz, finds that crafting a character’s personality “takes some finessing,” but over time, the audience ends up projecting their own feelings onto the puppet. The best example of this is with our favorite fashionista, Miss Piggy!

Miss Piggy hardly ever bats her eyelashes, but people often seem to think she does because of her flirtatious personality. Clearly, puppeteers can convey a Muppet’s personality with just a few choice actions and tone of voice.

There are three kinds of puppets used on Sesame Street: the full body puppet, like Big Bird, the “bag” puppets with two articulated hands, like Cookie Monster, and hand-and-rod puppets with hands controlled by thin rods, like Elmo.

The different types of puppets mean they all have different abilities, especially when it comes to their hands. Cookie Monster can easily pick things up, but if Elmo wants to pick up a crayon, the crew has to attach it to his hand before filming.

Jim Henson designed the Sesame Street characters with a very special ability: to focus their eyes. To that end, “All the characters are ever so slightly cross eyed,” Linz revealed. This small illusion means that they can appear focused without moving their eyes. 

What do all puppeteers have in common? Sore backs and knees. “It engages your whole body,” Dillon said of puppeteering. For hours at a time, performers are either on their knees, on their backs, or hunched over to do a scene without being, well, seen.

In the Sesame Workshop — yes, it’s a real place! — there’s a puppet factory that houses “Anything Muppets,” or blank designs that members of the cast are permitted to work on for future characters. This is how Rosita, the first bilingual Muppet, was born!

Sesame Street is a well-oiled machine, but the performers still flub takes once in a while. Bloopers happen most often when characters have to do complicated actions like pouring something into a glass or writing a letter.

Sesame Street is passionate about maintaining a cast of “dedicated performers” — AKA, each Muppet having just one sole puppeteer for as long as possible, with the exception of the right-hander. For instance, Caroll Spinney played Big Bird for nearly 50 years!

Even the Muppets need a bath now and then. Sweat and body oils from performers and “Muppet wranglers” (the people who deliver the characters from set to set) can give the puppets a dirty look, so they’re often cleaned in the Sesame Workshop. 

If you have dreams of being a Sesame Street puppeteer, prepare to get cozy with your co-workers. The puppets stand so close to each other on frame that the puppeteers are sometimes literally on top of each other to get the right angle. 

Don’t be embarrassed for getting star-struck around Elmo; according to Dillon, it happens to everyone...even celebrities. “Most everybody who visits us talks to the character like they’re alive,” Dillon said. They take it as a compliment!

No matter how well maintained they are, even Sesame Street puppets have a shelf life. They’re made of foam, so when enough sweat and oils get inside the puppet, it’s “toast” — a term used because the material starts to look like toast crumbs. 

Still, just because the inside foam needs replacing doesn’t mean the entire Muppet is trashed. Linz uses an Ernie puppet with the exact same mouth plate that was used by Jim Henson all the way back in 1982!

One of the most complicated parts of being a puppeteer is how characters move backwards for the entire scene. “When you move your arm to the right, the arm on the monitor moves to the left,” Linz explained. “You’re seeing the image the audience sees.”

How does Snuffleupagus get that distinctively “snuffly” tone of voice? Puppeteer Martin P. Robinson speaks through a long plumbing tube that wraps around his head, resulting in the unique voice we know and love. 

If you’re confused about the terms “puppet” and “Muppet,” don’t be. According to Dillon, they’re both the same thing. Any Henson-created puppet is also a Muppet, whether they’re associated with Kermit and Miss Piggy or not!