Big Bird

Since Sesame Street began, the world's most famous 8 foot 2 inch big yellow bird, Big Bird, has entertained millions of pre-school children and their parents with his wide-eyed wondering at the world.

Related Topics:
Sesame Street - Yellow - Bird - Pre-school

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Originally performed by Caroll Spinney, this big yellow bird can roller skate, ice skate, dance, sing, write poetry, draw and even ride a unicycle -- pretty talented for a character described in the TV show's writer's guide as a 6-year-old. But despite this wide array of talents, he is prone to frequent misunderstandings, on one occasion even singing the alphabet as one big long word, pondering what it could ever mean (see ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ). He lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street Apartment and he has a teddy bear named Radar.

Related Topics:
Caroll Spinney - Roller skate - Ice skate - Dance - Sing - Poetry - Unicycle - ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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This character helps children feel okay about not knowing everything because he himself does not know everything, and encourages them to enquire: a common Big Bird phrase in recent years has been: "Asking is a good way of finding things out!". He also teaches other life, alphabet and numerical lessons: "I guess it's better to be who you are. Turns out people like you best that way, anyway."

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For many years his best friend Mr. Snuffleupagus ("Snuffy" for short) was deemed as imaginary by the human cast. Every time Snuffy would visit, he would coincidentally leave just before the adults arrived. Despite not being believed by the adults, Big Bird continued to assert that Snuffy was real. In the early 1980s a string of high-profile child sexual abuse cases caused Sesame Workshop (then The Children's Television Workshop) to eliminate this running gag, fearing that children would take to heart the message that, if adults don't believe something out of the ordinary, they'd be just as well off to remain silent.

Related Topics:
Mr. Snuffleupagus - 1980s - Sesame Workshop

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Big Bird took center stage on Sesame Street in the early 1980s, when the show dealt with the death of storekeeper Mr. Hooper (necessitated by the death of Will Lee, the actor who played the role). Big Bird's realization that Mr. Hooper wasn't just gone temporarily, and Big Bird's acceptance of Mr. Hooper's death, have been hailed as a milestone in children's programming.

Related Topics:
Mr. Hooper - Will Lee

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As Muppeteer Carroll Spinney has aged, the show has gradually started to train new performers to play Big Bird. These apprentices include both Rick Lyon in the opening theme song of the show's 33rd season, and Matt Vogel in the show's regular new Journey to Ernie segment.

Related Topics:
Muppet - Carroll Spinney - Rick Lyon - Theme song - Matt Vogel - Journey to Ernie

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The Big Bird performer is completely enclosed within the costume, and extends his right hand over his head to operate the head and neck of the puppet. The muppeteer's left hand serves as the Bird's left hand, while the right hand is stuffed and hangs loosely from a fishing line that runs through a loop under the neck and attaches to the wrist of the left hand. (For some of the Journey to Ernie segments, a second puppeteer controls Big Bird's right hand.)

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Big Bird starred in the PBS pledge drive special Big Bird's Birthday Celebration, in which he turned six. Previous to this, Big Bird was referred to on the show as being four years old. The exception to this is the feature film Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird, in which the Bird is six.

Related Topics:
Pledge drive - Big Bird's Birthday Celebration - Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird

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Big Bird starred on the big screen, in the feature film Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird, in which, he at first is sent by a bird social worker to live with a foster family of dodos, he soon runs away from his new home to get back to Seame Street and he is kidnapped and dyed baby blue by two ratty circus-owners.

Related Topics:
Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird - Kidnapped - Baby blue - Circus

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Big Bird also had a role in the feature film Elmo in Grouchland and several other movie-length features such as Big Bird in China and Big Bird in Japan.

Related Topics:
Elmo in Grouchland - Big Bird in China - Big Bird in Japan

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While Big Bird is generally deemed as a canary, when he visited The Land of Make Believe on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Big Bird shared with X the Owl that he is in fact a "Golden Condor." On the same program, when King Friday XIII asked him if he was related to the cassowary, Big Bird replied. "I'm more of a condor." One nature sketch compared and contrasted Big Bird with "The Noble Ostrich."

Related Topics:
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - X the Owl - Golden Condor - King Friday XIII - Cassowary - Condor - Ostrich

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Animal Planet program The 50 Greatest TV Animals at number 16 in their list.

Related Topics:
Animal Planet - The 50 Greatest TV Animals

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