Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Elmo is a Muppet on the children’s television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster with googly eyes and an orange nose. He currently hosts the last full segment on Sesame Street, titled Elmo’s World, which is aimed at toddlers. He is accompanied by his goldfish Dorothy, and by silent Charlie Chaplin??“like characters named Mr. Noodle and Mr. Noodle’s Brother Mr. Noodle. His puppeteer is Kevin Clash, who uses falsetto to produce his voice.

A slate of human regulars pull the zaniness of the Muppets back to reality, and serve different pedagogical functions, showing literal integration and tolerance rather than metaphorically through colorful Muppets, and representing different personalities and adult “roles” and occupations.

Music teacher Bob has been on Sesame Street since its inception. For several years, he had a close friendship with Linda, the local librarian, who was the first regular deaf character on television. The Robinsons are an African-American family that includes schoolteacher Gordon, nurse Susan, and adopted son Miles. Maria and Luis Rodriguez are a Hispanic couple who run the Fix-It Shop. Maria gave birth to daughter Gabi in 1989, and her pregnancy was covered on the show.

Candy store operator Mr. Hooper was a mainstay at Hooper’s Store during the show’s first decade. Actor Will Lee died in 1982, and when the producers opted to help their young viewers deal with the death of someone they loved rather than cast a new actor in the role, the character’s death was discussed in a landmark 1983 episode. Afterwards, Mr. Hooper’s apprentice David inherited the store, and was assisted by Gina. Next came Mr. Handford, who ran the store for several seasons before turning it over to Alan, the current proprietor of Hooper’s, in 1998. Gina stopped working at the store in the 1990s to earn a degree, and is currently a veterinarian.

Mr. Noodle and his brother and sister, who appear only in Elmo’s World are meant to provide a vaudevillian perspective on subjects, contrary to most of the show’s current human characters (though reminiscent of such earlier insert characters as Buddy and Jim, Larry and Phyllis, and The Mad Painter).

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street is an educational television program designed for preschoolers, and is recognized as a pioneer of the contemporary standard which combines education and entertainment in children’s television shows. Sesame Street also provided the first daily, national television showcase for Jim Henson’s Muppets. More than 4100 episodes of the show have been produced in 37 seasons, making it one of the longest-running shows in television history.

Sesame Street is produced in the United States by Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW). It premiered on November 10, 1969 on the National Educational Television network, and later that year it was moved to NET’s successor, the Public Broadcasting Service.

Because of its widespread influence, Sesame Street has earned the distinction of being one of the the world’s foremost and most highly regarded educators of young people. Few television series can match its level of recognition and success on the international stage. The original series has been televised in 120 countries, and more than 20 international versions have been produced. In its long history, Sesame Street has received more Emmy Awards than any other program, and has captured the allegiance, esteem, and affections of millions of viewers worldwide.

In 2005, Sesame Street launched its Healthy Habits for Life programming, to encourage young viewers to lead more active and nutritious lifestyles. A major catalyst for this was data published by the US Centers for Disease Control regarding obesity in children.

Health content has existed on Sesame Street for years, but to a limited extent. In one instance press kits for a project were made available, news wires latched onto the story, and literally hundreds of newspapers touted that Cookie Monster was “going on a diet”. In actuality there was no change to Cookie’s character. The new season featured a new segment with rapper Wyclef Jean singing the praises of fruits and vegetables, similar to the 1990s segment “Healthy Food”, with a rapping Cookie Monster backed by a healthy food chorus.

According to people from Sesame Workshop, “Health has always been a part of our Sesame Street curriculum, therefore we will always be committed to ensuring kids are given information and messages that will help them become healthy and happy in their development. For season 36, we have turned up the dial in health, but it will always be part of our curriculum.”

The Workshop formed an Advisory Board consisting of experts like Woodie Kessel, M.D., M.P.H., the Assistant Surgeon General of the United States. This board examines the research of other organizations, and also conducts pilot studies to determine which areas of research should be expanded, based on social, ethnic and socio-economic sections of the population.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

The show is broadcast worldwide; in addition to the U.S. version, many countries have locally-produced versions adapted to local needs, some with their own characters, and in a variety of different languages. One hundred and twenty countries have aired the show, many of which partnered with Sesame Workshop to create local versions.

In the late 1990s, versions popped up in China and Russia as these countries shifted away from communism. There is also a joint Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian project, called Sesame Stories, which was created with the goal of promoting greater cultural understanding.

The show has also spawned the spin-off series Play with Me Sesame, and the “classic episodes” show Sesame Street Unpaved, both seen on the Noggin cable network; as well as the segment-only series Open Sesame. Elmo’s World and Global Grover, both segments on Sesame Street, have been distributed internationally as individual series.

Big Bird, an eight-foot-tall yellow bird, lives in a large nest on an abandoned lot adjacent to 123 Sesame Street, located behind the building’s garbage heap. A regular visitor to Big Bird is Mr. Snuffleupagus, known simply as Snuffy. Oscar the Grouch and his pet worm Slimey live in a garbage can in the heap. Friends Ernie and Bert room together at the basement apartment of 123 Sesame Street, where they regularly engage in comedic banter. Ernie’s flowerbox, though seen less often in recent years, is the home of the Twiddlebugs, a colorful family of insects.

The bear family from Goldilocks and the Three Bears resides on Sesame Street. The family, headed by Papa Bear and Mama Bear, recently welcomed their second child Curly Bear. Their son Baby Bear is a good friend of monsters Telly, Zoe, Mexican-born Rosita, and Elmo. Beginning in 1998, Elmo was given his own segment, “Elmo’s World”, occupying most of the show’s second half, as viewers explore topics in a crayon-drawn, imaginary version of Elmo’s house.

Currently, Grover’s regular segment, Global Grover, follows the self-described “lovable, furry pal” around the world, exploring local cultures and traditions. Cookie Monster fights with his conscience daily during Letter of the Day, as he tries to control his urges to eat the letters, drawn in icing on cookies. Prairie Dawn often attempts to help Cookie refrain from eating the letters, but always leaves frazzled. Count von Count has fewer problems during the Number of the Day segment, where he indulges in counting until the mystery number is revealed by his Pipe Organ.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street is an educational television program designed for preschoolers, and is recognized as a pioneer of the contemporary standard which combines education and entertainment in children’s television shows. Sesame Street also provided the first daily, national television showcase for Jim Henson’s Muppets. More than 4100 episodes of the show have been produced in 37 seasons, making it one of the longest-running shows in television history.

Sesame Street is produced in the United States by Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW). It premiered on November 10, 1969 on the National Educational Television network, and later that year it was moved to NET’s successor, the Public Broadcasting Service.

Because of its widespread influence, Sesame Street has earned the distinction of being one of the the world’s foremost and most highly regarded educators of young people. Few television series can match its level of recognition and success on the international stage. The original series has been televised in 120 countries, and more than 20 international versions have been produced. In its long history, Sesame Street has received more Emmy Awards than any other program, and has captured the allegiance, esteem, and affections of millions of viewers worldwide.

Sesame Street uses a combination of puppets, animation, and live actors to teach young children the fundamentals of reading (letter and word recognition) and arithmetic (numbers, addition and subtraction), as well as geometric forms, cognitive processes, and classification. Since the show’s inception, other instructional goals have focused on basic life skills, such as how to cross the road safely and the importance of proper hygiene and healthy eating habits.

There is also a subtle sense of humor on the show that has appealed to older viewers since it first premiered, and was devised as a means to encourage parents and older siblings to watch the series with younger children, and thus become more involved in the learning process rather than letting Sesame Street act as a babysitter. A number of parodies of popular culture appear, especially ones aimed at the Public Broadcasting Service, the network that broadcasts the show. For example, the recurring segment Monsterpiece Theater once ran a sketch called “Me Claudius”. Children viewing the show might enjoy watching Cookie Monster and the Muppets, while adults watching the same sequence may enjoy the spoof of the Masterpiece Theater production of I, Claudius on PBS.

Several of the character names used on the program are puns or cultural references aimed at a slightly older audience, including Flo Bear (Flaubert), Sherlock Hemlock (a Sherlock Holmes parody), and H. Ross Parrot (based on Reform Party founder Ross Perot). Over two hundred notable personalities have made guest appearances on the show, beginning with James Earl Jones in a December 1969 broadcast, and ranging from performers like Stevie Wonder to political figures such as Kofi Annan. By making a show that not only educates and entertains kids, but also keeps parents entertained and involved in the educational process, the producers hope to inspire discussion about the concepts on the show.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

The character is self-described as three and a half years old, and characteristically refers to himself in the third person. For example, “Elmo has a question” rather than “I have a question”.

Sesame Street staff writer Nancy Sans once described Elmo’s origins: “There was this extra red puppet lying around and the cast would pick him up sometimes and try to create a personality, but nothing seemed to materialize.”[citation needed] The puppet was performed by Caroll Spinney in the early-1970s, Brian Muehl from 1979-1981, and the late Richard Hunt from 1981-1984. Sans continues that “…one day [in 1984], Kevin Clash, a talented puppeteer, raised him up and brought energy and life into Elmo and from that day forward we would all write for Elmo. Kevin’s performance inspired the writers to develop Elmo’s character. The lesson here is never think you’re unimportant because you never know what is going to happen.”[1] John Tartaglia, Matt Vogel and Jim Martin have all been secondary performers for the character, providing movement for Elmo’s arms and legs, particularly in green-screen shots.

A popular doll called the Tickle Me Elmo was manufactured in his likeness, and became the must-have toy during the Christmas season in 1996. Other Elmo toys include Hokey Pokey Elmo (”Hokey Cokey Elmo” in the United Kingdom), Limbo Elmo and Let’s Pretend Elmo. Another version, Elmo Knows Your Name, comes with a CD that allows parents to program Elmo to say the child’s name and other personalized phrases.

After becoming a regular guest on The Rosie O’Donnell Show (June 28, 1996, December 24, 1997, February 16, 1998, November 5, 1998, November 5, 1998, January 28, 1999, September 21, 1999, December 6, 1999, January 4, 2001, September 21, 2001, February 6, 2002, May 2, 2002), Elmo began touring the talk-show circuit. He has appeared on Martha Stewart Living and Martha (September 13, 2005), The Tony Danza Show (October 11, 2004, April 11, 2005, November 10, 2005), Rove Live (March 20, 2001, September 24, 2002, 2004 and July 11 2006). Elmo and a developmental expert gave babysitting tips on the June 18, 2005 episode of Teen Kids News.

Elmo was the star of the 1999 full-length, theatrically-released motion picture Elmo in Grouchland. He also starred in the film Elmo Saves Christmas.

Elmo also appeared in a fifth season episode of The West Wing. In the March 3, 2004 episode “Eppur Si Muove”, Elmo receives a medical checkup from Abbey Bartlet, the First Lady, and cheekily questions her about the validity of her medical license.

Elmo is the only Muppet ever to testify before the U.S. Congress. At the request and with the assistance of Rep. Duke Cunningham, he testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education in April 2002, urging support for increased funding in music education.

Emeril and Elmo’s Healthy Start was a special featuring Elmo and Emeril Lagasse, that aired November 4, 2005 at 8 pm. Aired as part of the Food Network’s second annual “Cook With Your Kids Week”, the special was produced in conjunction with Sesame Workshop’s Healthy Habits for Life program.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street has maintained a rigorous research standard since its foundation, to ensure that the programming is addressing the needs of its viewers. The Education and Research (E&R) department of Sesame Workshop is currently headed by Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D. and Jeanette Betancourt. Truglio states that the level of interaction between E&R, Content, and Production is “intimately hand-in-hand. They are not creating anything without our knowledge, our guidance and our review. We are involved in content development across all media platforms.” This close-knit organizational structure has been an integral part of Sesame Workshop since it began.

Writers create plots for Sesame Street scenes and segments, and the content is reviewed by the E&R team. They have authority to reject a script and force rewrites if the content is not acceptable. When a script is factually correct, but includes gray areas that may not be comprehensible to children, the writers and E&R work together to tweak everything. “A balance between content and humor” is always maintained, according to Truglio.[2]

Since 1998, Sesame Workshop has provided extensive content on its website and others such as Random House [1]. Content ranges from birth to school-age, and includes information on dozens of topics, such as appropriate parenting techniques, dealing with children’s fears, development of literacy, and maintenance a good health.

Research is funded by government grants, corporate and private donations (including, recently, The Prudential Foundation for the Sesame Beginnings program), and the profits gained from the sale of Sesame Workshop merchandise.

A popular doll called the Tickle Me Elmo was manufactured in his likeness, and became the must-have toy during the 1996 Christmas season. A tenth anniversary edition, T.M.X. Elmo, was released in 2006. Other Elmo toys include Hokey Pokey Elmo (”Hokey Cokey Elmo” in the U.K.), Limbo Elmo, Chicken Dance Elmo and Let’s Pretend Elmo.

Elmo was the star of the full-length, theatrically-released motion picture The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. He also made a cameo in Follow That Bird, and appeared at the wedding in The Muppets Take Manhattan. He also made a silent cameo appearance in A Muppet Family Christmas.

Elmo has appeared in several Monsterpiece Theater sketches, including “Me, Claudius” and “Waiting for Elmo.” He can be seen in the home videos Elmo’s Sing-Along Guessing Game, The Best of Elmo, Elmocize, and Elmo Visits the Doctor, and has also appeared in many other videos, including Play-Along Games and Songs, We All Sing Together and A Celebration of Me, Grover. Elmo has also starred in specials such as Elmopalooza and The Street We Live On.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street is known for its multicultural elements and is inclusive in its casting, incorporating roles for disabled people, young people, senior citizens, Hispanic actors, black actors, and others. As recalled by CTW advisor Gerald S. Lesser in his book Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street, This integration initially led the Mississippi State Commission for Educational Television to ban the series, as did other states, though it was eventually reinstated. Mutual tolerance and cross-cultural friendship is also conveyed through the Muppet characters, who come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, and range from the humanoid Anything Muppets to various animals to monsters, Grouches, and Honkers, all of whom, especially the Grouches, have their own unique perspectives and ways of communicating with their neighbors. Yet they all manage to live in relative peace and harmony, setting an example for child viewers not to prejudge others.

Tying in with its multiculturalist perspective, the show pioneered the idea of occasionally inserting very basic Spanish words and phrases to acquaint young children to the concept of knowing more than one language. This was expressed as early as the show’s second season, with Susan and Gordon speaking a second language or learning phrases from newer Hispanic characters such as Antonio, Rafael, and Luis and Maria. One 1973 storyline involved the opening of a bilingual library, while other segments taught French or sign language. The recently revamped format gives Rosita, the bilingual Muppet who joined the cast in 1991, more time in front of viewers, and also introduced the more formalized Spanish Word of the Day segment in every episode. French phrases were used very occasionally during the 1970s, and sign language has played a major role throughout the years, through Linda and visits from the National Theatre of the Deaf.

Many of the Muppet characters have been designed to represent a specific stage or element of early childhood, and the scripts are written so that the character reflects the development level of children of that age. This helps the show address not only the learning objectives of various age groups, but also the concerns, fears, and interests of children of different age levels.

There are either eight or nine Elmo puppets currently available. Kevin Clash told Channel Newsasia that: “This one [on my lap] is rodded. There’s a full radio-controlled Elmo, there’s one for the blue screen, etc. They do different things.”[6]

Additionally, dozens of Elmo variants have been created by the Muppet Workshop (now, Jim Henson’s Puppet Workshop) almost exclusively for use in Tickle Me Land as figments of Dorothy’s imagination. These creations build on the basic premise of the Elmo puppet, to create a unique design which displays a variation of Elmo as anything from a rock to an elephant.

At the Muppets, Music & Magic event at The Cinema Arts Centre in August 2007, Elmo joked that the reason he speaks in the third person is that he gets paid for each time he says “Elmo”.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street uses a combination of puppets, animation, and live actors to teach young children the fundamentals of reading (letter and word recognition) and arithmetic (numbers, addition and subtraction), as well as geometric forms, cognitive processes, and classification. Since the show’s inception, other instructional goals have focused on basic life skills, such as how to cross the road safely and the importance of proper hygiene and healthy eating habits.

There is also a subtle sense of humor on the show that has appealed to older viewers since it first premiered, and was devised as a means to encourage parents and older siblings to watch the series with younger children, and thus become more involved in the learning process rather than letting Sesame Street act as a babysitter. A number of parodies of popular culture appear, especially ones aimed at the Public Broadcasting Service, the network that broadcasts the show. For example, the recurring segment Monsterpiece Theater once ran a sketch called “Me Claudius”. Children viewing the show might enjoy watching Cookie Monster and the Muppets, while adults watching the same sequence may enjoy the spoof of the Masterpiece Theater production of I, Claudius on PBS.

Several of the character names used on the program are puns or cultural references aimed at a slightly older audience, including Flo Bear (Flaubert), Sherlock Hemlock (a Sherlock Holmes parody), and H. Ross Parrot (based on Reform Party founder Ross Perot). Over two hundred notable personalities have made guest appearances on the show, beginning with James Earl Jones in a December 1969 broadcast, and ranging from performers like Stevie Wonder to political figures such as Kofi Annan. By making a show that not only educates and entertains kids, but also keeps parents entertained and involved in the educational process, the producers hope to inspire discussion about the concepts on the show.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Sesame Street is an educational television program designed for preschoolers, and is recognized as a pioneer of the contemporary standard which combines education and entertainment in children’s television shows. Sesame Street also provided the first daily, national television showcase for Jim Henson’s Muppets. More than 4100 episodes of the show have been produced in 37 seasons, making it one of the longest-running shows in television history.

Following an initial proposal by Joan Ganz Cooney in 1966, titled “Television for Preschool Children,” an eighteen month planning period was set aside, and with a grant of 8 million dollars from multiple government agencies and foundations, the proposed series would test the usefulness of the television medium in providing early education for young children. Apart from Cooney and the original planning crew included several veterans of Captain Kangaroo, such as executive producer David Connell, producer Samuel Y. Gibbon, Jr., and writer/songwriter Jeff Moss, as well as head writer Jon Stone, and producer/writer Matt Robinson (who later originated the role of Gordon). At Cooney’s suggestion, Jim Henson and the Muppets were brought in, and composer Joe Raposo followed. The CTW research crew included Harvard professor Gerald S. Lesser as head of the board of advisors and Edward L. Palmer as director of research, tracking and observing how child audiences responded to the programming.

The puppet that would eventually be used for Elmo has been around since the early 1970s. During this time, he was referred to as Baby Monster, and had a number of performers ranging from Caroll Spinney to Jerry Nelson for background scenes. Elmo first appeared on Sesame Street specifically as “Elmo” in Season 12 where he was performed by Brian Muehl until 1984. Richard Hunt performed him for a year, and later turned him over to Kevin Clash in 1985, choosing Clash because he was the only other person in the Muppeteer lounge at the time. Around that time, writer David Korr took a liking to the character, and backed up with the positive research, started using it regularly.

Hello anybody! On this foto I with my friend and my favorite cartoon hero! I hope you know him.

I recieved it unexpectedly! I just fill the form, and after two weeks they sent me this wonderful Elmo!

Elmo is a furry red Muppet monster with an orange nose. He is three years old. He currently hosts the last full segment on Sesame Street, called “Elmo’s World”, which is aimed at toddlers. On “Elmo’s World”, Elmo is accompanied by his goldfish, Dorothy, and the Noodle Family — Mr. Noodle, his brother (known as Mr. Noodle’s brother, Mr. Noodle), and his sister (known as Mr. Noodle’s sister, Ms. Noodle).

The character is self-described as three-and-a-half years old, and refers to himself in the third person. As with many children of his age, he is seen somewhat infrequently with a favorite toy of his: an orange monster-like doll named David. Elmo lives with his mommy, his daddy, and in some storybooks, a sister named Daisy.

Early years

Elmo sings along in Elmopalooza.

The puppet that would eventually be used for Elmo has been around since the early 1970s. During this time, he was referred to as Baby Monster, and had a number of performers ranging from Caroll Spinney to Jerry Nelson for background scenes. Elmo first appeared on Sesame Street specifically as “Elmo” in Season 12 where he was performed by Brian Muehl until 1984. Richard Hunt performed him for a year, and later turned him over to Kevin Clash in 1985, choosing Clash because he was the only other person in the Muppeteer lounge at the time. Around that time, writer David Korr took a liking to the character, and backed up with the positive research, started using it regularly.