Oh no, not the Veggie Monster again!

The same YouTuber who claimed Sesame Park wasn't a genuine Canadian production, also insisted that "they turned Cookie Monster into the Veggie Monster--LAME!" (I've read angry comments like that all over the site whenever someone posts recent Sesame material, in fact. The guy I'm quoting, though, is one of the few users who did it without spamming the comment section or using swearwords. :-) )

By now I'm tempted to have a form-letter response ready for everyone who brings up the false rumor about the "Veggie Monster" change; it'll probably look like what I sent this guy, though I'll have to send it privately because of the web links included as proof.

The Veggie Monster scare is just an urban legend. Sesame Workshop DID have Cookie Monster cut back on his trademark food and act more concerned about his health--but he has definitely not turned into the Veggie Monster. (In fact, a recent episode had Matt Lauer interviewing Cookie, who complained that the media blew everything out of proportion.) Check out these links if you need proof--

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_4115

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Cookie_Monster:_A_Cookie_is_a_Sometime_Food

and, from another site--

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/veggie.asp

More crazy Sesame Street rumors, eh?

When I checked my inbox on YouTube this afternoon, I noticed that someone had responded to my comments on a clip from Sesame Park (the Canadian production of the show). The user claimed that Sesame Park was not a foreign version, but a renaming inspired by parents' complaints that the original title tempted kids to play in the street. (Come on, was this fellow serious?) For one thing, Sesame Street hasn't lost the "Street" in 39 years, at least not here in the States. Only foreign versions have ever used a different title, and then only when CTW thought the original urban street setting didn't fit the new country. The Norwegian version, for instance, was moved to a railroad station and christened Sesam Stasjon; the version recently produced in Northern Ireland is called Sesame Tree, because its main characters live in a large hollow tree. Similarly, the Canadian version got its new name because "[t]here isn't a Canadian city where you can go more than about six blocks without finding a safe, green park" (according to Peter Moss, director of children's programming at CBC).

Furthermore, some elements of Sesame Park were so Canadian that it's hard to imagine them appearing on the US counterpart. A mail-delivering bush pilot, a French-speaking sea otter, and almost a dozen parody Muppets based on Canadian TV personalities? I doubt that American preschoolers could connect with those characters so easily. And why on earth would Sesame Street teach Americans that "the quarter has a caribou on it", when the only animal most of them have seen on quarters is an eagle?

NOT lost in translation!

I recently discovered this rare clip on YouTube, thanks to a user in Norway who uploads a lot of Sesame Street material. (The subtitles in this copy are my own, but still 100% accurate!) Judging by the style those numbers are written in, I'd suspect that Jim Henson was involved with animating this; even if I guessed wrongly, the cartoon is still funny 35+ years later. (Kids will be kids, in any country and language!)

Counting 1-10 and Back--Sort Of! (Norwegian/subtitled)

A Rare Big Bird Clip

Here is a clip of Big Bird in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Of Make-Believe. If anybody has this whole episode please let me know. I would love a copy of it. Also does anybody remember the winner of the Make-Believe art Contest Big Bird entered in this clip??

I was so glad when somebody posted this. I remembered this episode for years and finally got to see a part of it again.

A classic little number

Considering that Season 39 of Sesame Street is going to focus on teaching basic math concepts, it's a shame that Sesame Workshop would reject some of their best number/counting clips as too old. Here's a tricky little gem from late in Season 1; the characters don't look too dated, but the music might seem that way to some children. Many thanks to user cdkscully for posting it--

Sesame Street - As I Was Going to St. Ives

I miss the days when Sesame Street used that kind of intelligent humor to teach, instead of talking down to kids...and played original musical arrangements, instead of having celebrities parody their own songs. Unfortunately, that won't happen until the Workshop gets enough funding to stop running six minutes of ads in every new episode...*sigh*

The Magic Chain (a rare Bert/Ernie sketch)

Many thanks to NantoVision2 for posting this classic to YouTube; I liked this one so much as a girl that I sometimes acted it out with my mom. (Ernie's throwaway lines when he makes the square and the triangle are hilarious, too...)

Too new to be a classic, but...

I still can't resist posting Sesame Street clips about hugs whenever I can find one! :-)

Papa Gives a Big Bear Hug (song)