When I worked at Mashable, I got to meet Mr. Spinney in 2013. I was direct off a redeye and came straight from JFK to the office so I could meet him (it was a closed set and we were doing a collab with Sesame Street/Oscar the Grouch and Grumpy Cat, I was one of like 4 employees they let observe and I’m forever grateful for that opportunity). I cried like a a baby meeting him and thanking him for all he did for children all over the world.
As a kid, Sesame Street was extremely important to me. I loved it as much as I’ve ever loved anything and Big Bird was just so wonderful. The first movie I ever saw in the theater was Follow That Bird in 1985, and even at 2 years old, that experience left an indelible mark that influenced the rest of my life.
I think I loved Sesame Street and the muppets so much because it was a TV show and characters that felt like they understood what it was like to be a child. It educated without pandering and it encouraged creativity and learning.
Spinney said in interviews that he thought his success with Big Bird was because he never forgot what it was like to be a child. That came through with the work.
And Oscar, though not a character I loved as much as Big Bird, was always a favorite. He was mean and he liked nasty things, but he was always kind to children and his pets. It was proof all types of people can exist and be friends, even when they don’t have a lot in common.
The Museum of the Moving Image had a Jim Henson exhibit last year that was really fantastic - and seeing all the stuff from Sesame Street and beyond really made me grateful people like Henson and Spinney and Frank Oz and so many others existed.
Oscar was without a doubt one of the most influential characters of my childhood. I was completely obsessed with him, and to this day he holds a special place in my memories.
Now that I have my own kids it makes me incredibly emotional (in a good way) to see they have the same adoration for Sesame Street (and Play School) that I did. It’s a powerful thing reliving your childhood through your own kids and having them love things you loved.
I grew up in Rural Southeastern Ohio, where PBS was the only thing that came in clearly. I vividly remember watching Sesame Street, in black and white, every day -- along with Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Square One -- and that's what started my love of numbers and math.
Through PBS, Jim Henson and Fred Rodgers helped shape me to who I am now -- which is why I'm so apprehensive (and honestly, quite upset) when they talk about cutting the funding to PBS.
If you haven't seen it before, Fred Rogers' 1969 testimony before the Senate in defense of PBS funding is very moving. He was able to prevent a $10M cut to their $20M funding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy7ljRr0AA
Don't forget 3-2-1 Contact and the Canadian Acme School of Stuff.
I remember reading a comment years back when someone smugly proclaimed that PBS was a waste of taxpayer money and that "Discovery" and "History" channels had better content. Now have a look at the garbage that's on those channels. PBS is a beacon of knowledge the cesspool pockmarked wasteland that is "Entertainment". God help us all if it dies.
Oscar and Big Bird are two of the most opposite characters I can imagine. When I was a kid (70's and 80's) I had no idea it was the same person.
I heard and old interview where he said he couldn't see out of big bird and had a little tv attached to his chest so he could see out. He could remove feathers too, but the bird didn't look so good. (its in the article too). This is where miniturization would be a huge help...
When Mr. Hooper died and they tell a confused Big Bird, he's not coming back is one of the saddest moments in TV.
Something both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch had in common was that they normalized and humanized personalities that were usually disparaged in our culture.
It's a stretch to say that Big Bird was gay, but Big Bird was certainly an effete, gentle character despite being bigger than anyone else. Big Bird's character let a lot of young boys know that it was ok to be gentle and kind.
And Oscar the Grouch... He was a homeless person, living in a garbage can, with some kind of anger issues. This is a character that society tries to hide to this very day. And once again, he was normalized. We learned to see him as a person, not a stereotype.
When Sesame Street was good, it was very, very good, and these two characters weren't just good, they were great.
Mr. Spinney narrated the audiobook of Street Gang, a book about the creation of Sesame Street. While listening I realized that his "regular" voice sounds almost but not quite like Big Bird's. With Oscar though he disguises his voice very well.
I was 5 when Mr Hooper died. I can still remember not being able to understand what it meant and Big Bird's irrational response just made me feel upset and confused. I think they knew exactly what they were doing.
Sesame Street was just beautiful at dealing with these complex subjects in a way that was both easy to digest for kids and nuanced. Portrayed all emotions, highlighted things that you, as a child, wouldn't learn from adults as those might be things they're ashamed of, scared of, etc.
I think Sesame Street is up there with Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as one of the kindest and most influential shows on television, not in terms of influencing the medium and other shows but in terms of influencing viewers. Each of them brought up thousands of good people who went on to do more good. Caroll Spinney has, undoubtedly, played a huge part in that. RIP to a great man from a great show.
I grew up watching SS, Mister Roger's and 3-2-1 Contact on analog OTA KQED ch. 9 on my grandparent's HeathKit TV. About 8 yo, I figured out the ultrasonic remote receiver would change channels by rattling house keys on a keychain.
PS: I'm curious if the Waze cookie monster voice is actually Mr. Spinney.
Funny, we discovered our TV's remote was ultrasonic when we could turn it off with a Slinky. "Rolling" the Slinky back and forth fast enough between two hands created a high metallic sound and we figured the remote must be emitting ultrasound for that to work--we just didn't think about how it worked before. I guess the off frequency was the lowest because we could never get it to do anything else, just turn off.
My honest Sesame Street story: before we had a TV (my parents didn't want one in the house) I was allowed to go to a neighbor's house on Saturday morning to watch with them. One time when I was about 5 years old, I showed up early (7am, 8am?) and just let myself in and turned on the TV before they got up. They would watch Sesame Street, but I never really liked the characters, I just didn't get why there were muppets and monsters living with people in a real city, it just seemed so made up (of course, now I see it as a race/not-race thing). Maybe it was too urban and didn't relate to my suburban upbringing. But I loved the pinball animation (except for the repeated counting and numbers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk
Sad. I tried to find classic SS for free a few years ago and came up short. What’s available today at a reasonable price? I don’t understand why pbs is stingy with its shows like frontline on Netflix either.
As a kid, Sesame Street was extremely important to me. I loved it as much as I’ve ever loved anything and Big Bird was just so wonderful. The first movie I ever saw in the theater was Follow That Bird in 1985, and even at 2 years old, that experience left an indelible mark that influenced the rest of my life.
I think I loved Sesame Street and the muppets so much because it was a TV show and characters that felt like they understood what it was like to be a child. It educated without pandering and it encouraged creativity and learning.
Spinney said in interviews that he thought his success with Big Bird was because he never forgot what it was like to be a child. That came through with the work.
And Oscar, though not a character I loved as much as Big Bird, was always a favorite. He was mean and he liked nasty things, but he was always kind to children and his pets. It was proof all types of people can exist and be friends, even when they don’t have a lot in common.
The Museum of the Moving Image had a Jim Henson exhibit last year that was really fantastic - and seeing all the stuff from Sesame Street and beyond really made me grateful people like Henson and Spinney and Frank Oz and so many others existed.