Open Sesame’s Fluffy Golden Monster Points Children in the Right Direction

Here’s a testament to how well Australian children relate to the furry golden Open Sesame Muppet Ollie: They think he’s real. When the Nickelodeon Australia production team did an improvisation exercise with Ollie and a three-year-old girl, she was deep in conversation with Ollie when she discovered Muppeteer Mal Heap controlling the puppet’s voice and movements. “Hey, there’s a man down there,” she squeaked, not understanding why a human would be controlling the puppet.

“She was so convinced of Ollie being a real, living being that she couldn’t understand why there was a funny looking man sitting underneath him,” Nickelodeon Australia executive producer Mick Elliott chuckled.

Ollie becomes a Muppet host

Ollie (Nickelodeon Australia)

When Nickelodeon Australia decided to bulk up its Sesame Street presence on its Nick Jr. channel in 2004, they partnered with Sesame Workshop to make a radical choice. Rather than altering the already successful 30-minute program Open Sesame, the Australian version of Sesame Street that was then airing, the producers decided to experiment with adding short snippets of programming that would appear around the clock in between longer programs. The idea was to offer short bursts of high quality pre-school programming without encouraging any prolonged viewing -- and while keeping in mind that television is just one of many elements that make up a child’s routine.

“Between exercise, meals, reading, play-groups, bath time, visits to the park, grandparents, friends and so on, television is just one element that compliments all of their daily activities,” Elliott says.

While Open Sesame is already a part of Australian programming, it doesn’t have any Australian Muppets, so the Nick team hit on the idea of having a single Muppet act as host for the short bursts of Sesame programming that would be sandwiched between other Nick shows. The result – a four-and-a-half-year-old fluffy golden monster who talks and behaves just like an Australian preschooler.

“Ollie is someone kids can relate to instantly,” Elliott says. “Ollie is equally capable of illustrating joy, excitement and enthusiasm as much as confusion, disappointment, or sadness,” adds Elliott. “His view on the world is naive and sweet without ever being cheesy or patronizing.”

For the team, this spells success.

Defining what it means to be Australian

Elliott explains that creating Ollie’s winning personality required him to take a step back and think about what it means to be Australian. The idea was to create an honest representation of an Australian child while steering clear of a shallow cultural stereotype.

“Most Australians do not hunt crocodiles, throw boomerangs or say ‘G’day mate.’ These are all stereotypes born out of popular culture. And we absolutely didn’t want to go in that direction.”

Ollie’s character development began with his accent, and extended to his love of outdoor sports, the beach, surfing, and swimming.

“While these are pastimes that are popular throughout the world, they are especially relevant to an Australian preschooler’s life,” Elliott says.

The team decided to make Ollie a four-and-a-half-year-old character, so that he would be verbally and developmentally advanced enough to host the segments by himself.

The decisions didn’t end there. Elliott explains that deciding on scenery was another element that took a lot of thought. The team decided to rely heavily on the ocean and the beach as a backdrop, since this environment is such an integral part of the Australian lifestyle.

“Much of Australia’s population lives within driving distance of the coast, so the beach is a big part of most Australian kids’ lives. We felt it was important therefore to frequently depict Ollie at the beach and make it a favorite pastime for him,” Elliott explains.

Building a set that represents Australia

Ollie on set.

Elliott says that the team was willing to take on extra work in order to achieve a truly Australian aesthetic in the scenery.

“Many of these segments could have been staged in simpler settings, but it made sense for us to portray Ollie in a seaside environment quite frequently,” he says.

The team also worked hard to design Ollie’s backyard so that it represented one typical of suburban Australia. This came right down to the design of Ollie’s clothesline, which is an iconic Australian “Hills Hoist” design. These intricate details all work together to help Ollie represent an Australian child’s perception of the world.  

The coastal setting also gives Open Sesame the opportunity to cover important topics like water and sun safety. The Nickelodeon team has also introduced topics such as exercise, task persistence, littering, and seasons.  

Similarly, the content often refers to issues particular to Australia. For example, while water conservation is important everywhere, it is on Australians’ minds because the country has been undergoing a drought for many years. The Open Sesame producers took the opportunity to reinforce the importance of saving water, creating an Ollie segment about how important it is to turn the tap off properly after using it.

“We’ve embraced the entire Sesame curriculum and have made the content specifically relevant to Australian pre-school audiences by placing them in intrinsically local settings and situations,” says Elliott.

Ollie as a “signpost” for a healthy routine

All-day programming makes it possible to cover a range of educational themes throughout the day while acting as a “signpost” for key parts of a child’s daily routine, such as mealtimes, bath time, and bedtime. There are also segments geared toward special days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, as well as segments that welcome a new season. Kids can also participate with Ollie as he brushes his teeth, exercises, and carries out a host of other activities that model healthy behavior.

“Parents are particularly grateful for this, as it gives them a cue for their kids to follow Ollie’s behavior,” Elliott explains.

Kids greet Ollie with immediate trust and comfort, spontaneously holding his hand, patting his hair, and cuddling him as they talk to him, Elliott says. He attributes Ollie’s appeal to his vulnerable, gentle character. He also credits Heap, the talented Muppeteer who expresses Ollie’s many nuanced emotions.

A certain little girl might disagree with Elliott on that point. For her, it’s all about Ollie.

Production Partners
Nickelodeon Australia

Broadcasters
Nick Jr. Australia