The Real Stories Behind The Sesame Street Muppets
Posted by KeriF at 4:30 PM on February 12, 2009
Were Bert and Ernie named after characters in It’s a Wonderful Life? Was the Swedish Chef based on a real Swedish chef? And what exactly is Gonzo, anyway?
Stacy Conradt at Mental Floss has found the answers. She compiled a list of the secret histories of 20 popular Sesame Street characters (sorry, Big Bird was too boring to make the list).
Here are some highlights:
Telly Monster: Why do you think Telly Monster worries so much? Too much TV! Apparently Telly began his life as the Television Monster, complete with whirly hypnotized eyes whenever he saw a television. Producers soon realised the folly (hey, if watching too much TV causes that… maybe I shouldn’t let my kids watch this!) and changed him to Telly the worrywart.
Cookie Monster: nee the “Wheel Stealer,” Cookie Monster began his life in a series of commercial drawings by Jim Henson. He was used in a 1967 IBM training video and 1969 Fritos commercial before taking up permanent residence on the Street.
Elmo: According to those familiar with the show, the red fuzzy puppet was just lying around the set for years
before finding the perfect voice and personality with puppeteer Kevin Clash. Elmo as we know him was born in 1984.
Statler and Waldorf: These two grumpy judges first appeared in the 1975 Muppet Show pilot and were fixtures
ever since. They take their names from the NYC hotels (Hotel Pennsylvania was originally the Statler Hotel) and Waldorf’s wife is named… Astoria! Who, by the way, looks a lot like Statler… Maybe that’s why Waldorf has had a pacemaker for 30 years?
You can read the whole list here.
The Mental Floss list is about all kinds of Muppets from various productions, not just the ones from Sesame Street. For example, Gonzo and Statler & Waldorf never appeared on Sesame Street… just The Muppet Show.