Electric Company Cast Meets Young Girl on her Make-A-Wish Day

By Graydon Gordian

For years Sesame Workshop has been working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help fulfill the wishes of young children with life-threatening illnesses. That’s why, when we found out that it was the dream of 8-year-old Isabella Icatar to meet the cast of The Electric Company, we were honored to make that dream a reality.

On Sunday, January 29 Isabella and her family came from their home in Connecticut to New York City, where they had lunch with Jenni Barber, Priscilla Diaz and Josh Segarra, who play Lisa, Jennifer and Hector on the show. Jenni, Priscilla and Josh were so excited and humbled to get to know such a brave young girl as Isabella.

Isabella’s father Roneil wrote about the day on her family’s blog. From the sounds of it, they had a pretty wonderful time:

The most exciting time of the lunch was when the three of them made Isabella an actual member of the Electric Company!  She had to first agree to the terms of becoming a member, then they presented her a certificate to prove her membership!  Afterwards, they serenaded her to one of her favorite songs “Silent E”.

As lunch wound down, we took a bunch of pictures with them and they also signed a bunch of things for us.  We said our goodbyes, and although our time with the Electric Company was done, our Make-A-Wish day was not done yet.

Isabella and her family spent the rest of the day taking a carriage ride through Central Park and filling up on tasty treats at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Read about the rest of Isabella’s Make-A-Wish day on her blog and check out the slideshow her parents made from all the photographs they took that day.

The Making of a Sesame Street Comic

By Mark Magner

Ed. Note: Mark Magner is a Design Director at Sesame Workshop. His team released a new comic strip today in conjunction with the release of our newest home video, “Elmo’s World: Favorite Things!” Mark wanted to take a few moments to tell you just how he and his creative team go about conceiving of and creating a comic strip.

Our mission here at Sesame Workshop is always at the forefront of our mind. We want to educate children, to prepare them for school, to help them better understand the world and each other. We want them to think, dream and discover, to reach their highest potential. Sesame Street‘s home videos are already effective tools for helping and inspiring children. Alicia Durand, who handles public relations for Sesame Street, approached the creative team about creating some activity or artwork to accompany the release of the home videos, and we were excited by this new challenge.

For the first video, “Bye Bye Pacifier,” Diana Leto, an artist who creates visuals for everything from our apparel to style guides to web elements, and I created spoofs of old propaganda posters, which were a big hit. The second video released was “Iron Monster,” and because of its cartoonish nature Evan Cheng, associate art director of character design, created a comic strip that would parody the story in the video, another idea that proved popular.

We realized that comic strips were the perfect way to connect parents and children while encouraging literacy. That’s why we’ve created another comic strip for our newest home video release, “Elmo’s World: Favorite Things!”

We start our process by watching the Sesame Street home video that we plan to feature in the comic strip. We choose a section of the video that lends itself well to a comic strip, and then discuss how to tell the story in a few frames. We decided it would be fun to spoof a famous comic strip. In this instance, a spoof of Calvin and Hobbes worked perfectly. The layout and design pays homage to Bill Watterson, the author of the comic, and features dinosaurs, a perennial favorite of Calvin’s.

At this point, Evan Cheng starts to sketch out his ideas using pencil on paper. Evan does several small sketches until he knows what the final comic strip will look like. Evan then sketches the final illustration, refining each frame to tell the story. Evan scans his final artwork into Photoshop and passes the file onto Diana Leto.

Diana takes Evan’s illustrations and digitally applies color, texture and halftones to the artwork, bringing it to life. In this instance, the color palette and texture was chosen with the style and tone of Calvin and Hobbes in mind. Using Photoshop, Diana layers the color and textures, fine tuning the look until it’s perfect.

We always work to ensure children engage with a story or a lesson in as many mediums as possible. That’s why, in addition to the home video and comic strip, Diana also created a coloring activity based on the comic. Our hope is that, if the child watches the video, uses the coloring activity and is read the comic strip by their parents, they’ll not only have lots of fun but they’ll learn a little something too.

This Week in Sesame Street: Elmo’s Birthday

By Graydon Gordian

It’s birthday season here at Sesame Street. For the second week in a row we’re celebrating the birthday of one of our beloved Sesame Street Muppets^TM. Last week we celebrated Ernie’s birthday. Now it’s Elmo’s turn to have cake and open presents.

Performed by Kevin Clash, Elmo has gone from being an unheralded baby monster to one of the most popular furry friends Sesame Street has ever had. Elmo turns 3^½ this year – Elmo always turns 3^½ on February 3rd. In honor of his birthday, here are 3^½ fun facts about Elmo you might not know:

1. Elmo is the only non-human to ever testify before the U.S. Congress. In 2002 he was invited to testify before the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee to urge more funding for music research and music education in schools.
2. Elmo also appears on Sesame Workshop co-productions in China, Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan and South Africa.
3. Elmo’s favorite food is wasabi, which is why his eyes are so wide open when he’s awake.
3^½. Elmo loves you (but you already knew that).

OK Go and Sesame Street Team up to Teach Primary Colors

By Graydon Gordian

Between performing a dance routine on a group of treadmills and setting up an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine, the rock band OK Go has produced some of the most imaginative and refreshingly fun music videos of the last few years. So when Sesame Workshop decided to make a new video explaining the primary colors to young children, we knew exactly who to ask.

Today we released the music video for the “3 Primary Colors Song,” in which Damian Kulash, Tim Nordwind, Dan Konopka and Andy Ross of the band OK Go help kids learn the colors red, blue and yellow and which colors they make when mixed together. We also released a game, created by Plug-In Media starring OK Go that allows kids to mix the colors however they want and make a painting of their own.

Sesame Workshop has a long history of working with musicians, actors and other celebrities, going all the way back to James Earl Jones’ appearance on Sesame Street in 1969. But with todays’ release of the OK Go song and game, we have broken the mold in a few different ways: The online game is the first game we have made that does not include an appearance by a Sesame Street Muppet^TM; and this is the first video we have produced in which learning the primary colors is the primary educational goal.

Although the video, directed by Al Jarnow , is simple – nothing more than the band, some colored jumps suits and colored sheets of paper – an elaborate team here at Sesame Workshop was needed to make the video and game a reality: research and education, digital media and show production all played a large role in making sure the video and accompanying game are inventive, vivid and enriching.

The video and game are an excellent example of our firmly held belief that children learn more effectively when taught lessons using multiple mediums. In this instance, children have the potential to retain the information about colors the music video teaches if they also play the game. It’s just one example of the many ways we here at Sesame Workshop are combining fun, education and innovation.

To watch OK Go’s “3 Primary Colors Song,” click here. To play the 3 primary colors game, click here.

This Week in Sesame Street: Ernie’s Birthday

By Graydon Gordian

One of our favorite things here at Sesame Workshop is celebrating the birthdays of our beloved Sesame Street Muppets^TM. That’s why we’re so excited for this Saturday, January 28: It’s Ernie’s birthday!

Ernie and his best pal Bert are some of our oldest friends on Sesame Street. They’ve been living in the basement apartment of 123 Sesame Street since the show’s premiere in 1969.

Aside from providing us with some of the show’s funniest moments – who could forget the classic “banana” sketches – Ernie teaches us all a very important lesson: it’s possible for two people who don’t have much in common to be great friends. Ernie and Bert don’t have many similar interests: the excitable and mischievous Ernie enjoys playing tricks on Bert and taking baths with Rubber Duckie, while Bert, always the lovable curmudgeon, loves his pigeon Bernice and collecting paper clips and bottle caps. But despite those differences, they’re still best friends.

Given that Ernie’s been a part of the show for over 30 years, he’s been played by more than one performer. Originally Jim Henson did both the voice and puppeteering for Ernie. He last played Ernie in the 1989 episode, “Don’t Throw That Trash on the Ground.” Nowadays Ernie is performed by Steve Whitmire.

To Square One TV, With Love

By Dan Lewis

Twenty-five years ago today, my life changed for the better. Twenty-five years ago today, Square One TV debuted.

Square One was a thirty minute delight featuring short sketches about math. There was Mathman, a math-parody of Pac-Man, who would go around the game board looking for tasty numbers to eat — but only ones which met the rule of the day. (Fans of the show can probably hear the voice in their head: “Mathman, Mathman, multiples of three, multiples of three, Mathman.”) The show had miniature game shows, like Piece of the Pie and But Who’s Adding?, featuring regular children as contestants. It had math-teaching music videos like Nine, Nine, Nine (“times any number you can find, it all comes back to nine”) and Less Than Zero (“a certified, nationwide klutz”). There was Dirk Niblick, Blackstone, Mathcourt, and more.

And of course — of course! — there was MathNet, which closed every episode with a piece of a week-long story. Be it the kidnapping of Steve Stringbean or the complicated confidence scam perpetuated by the mysterious swami, these MathNet memories are ingrained deep in my psyche. Trying to figure out how George Frankly and Kate Monday (or Pat Tuesday!) would solve the case became an obsession; tuning in on Friday to have the answer revealed became a core part of my week.

It was math. And it was wonderful.

The nine year old me did not know it at the time, but like everything else we do at Sesame Workshop, Square One was designed to address an educational need of children. In this case, Square One‘s goal was to address the “math crisis” of eight to 12 year olds in the United States, using media to help teach mathematical concepts in an enjoyable fashion. And while writing this blog post for the organization which created the show appears self-serving, if you’ve spoken to me about Square One, you know that I can still sing significant parts of 8% Percent of My Love (and have also reserved 10% of my love for the New York Football Giants; sorry Patriots fans) while reciting esoteric plot points from series of MathNet. Does anyone else remember the kid who tried to sell George the $50,000 pencil? He only needed to sell one!

Happy birthday, Square One TV. And may you avoid Mr. Glitch.

Augmented Reality Technology Brings Sesame Street Characters to Life

By Graydon Gordian

Having been around for over 40 years, here at Sesame Workshop we understand that there are some time-tested ways children learn and play – there’s no need to reinvent the playset. But we believe that, as new technologies emerge, there are ways to enhance and support the tried and true ways children use their imagination to make sense of the world.

That’s why we have partnered with Qualcomm to explore how augmented reality technology can encourage learning and emotional growth in young children. Our CEO Mel Ming, Innovation Lab team member David Glauber and Grover demonstrated the Vuforia^™ augmented reality platform at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 10th. By merely holding up a tablet to a traditional playset, children can interact with their favorite Sesame Street characters while developing socially, emotionally and cognitively.

Quite simply, when a child points a tablet or smart phone at these toys, the camera recognizes the objects and they come to life on screen. The camera on the tablet recognizes 3-D objects – in this instance specially designed versions of Bert and Ernie as well as a television, a bathtub, a racecar and other toys for Bert and Ernie to play with. (The characters are designed with special code-infused clothing so the camera can identify them. But developers at Sesame Street’s Innovation Lab are confident that, someday soon, the camera will be able to recognize any of the plush Sesame Street characters children own.) T-shirts, books and countless other items also have the potential to “come to life” when viewed through the app.

When Ernie is placed onto the playset, the camera recognizes the floor and triggers a response on screen, creating “walls” around him.  In the prototypical version of the technology presented at CES – the app is not yet available for purchase – Ernie says hello to the user and asks for another Sesame Street character to play with. But in future, more developed versions of the technology, Ernie and the other Sesame Street characters will have a wide range of reactions to any given scenario. This will allow for both a more guided form of pretend play, as well as child-directed experiences.

Both kinds of play – guided and child-directed – are important for fostering social confidence and a children’s ability to manage their own behavior and emotions. As children move toys in and out of the playset, they choose what kinds of social situations they would like to experiment with. Meanwhile, the app provides the structure necessary for them to learn more advanced forms of narrative construction, such as telling stories with a beginning, middle and end.

It was important to our Innovation Lab team that, in the words of team member Jason Milligan, the use of the augmented reality technology not be “gimmicky.” Milligan and the rest of the team wanted it to genuinely support and enhance the well-established ways children already play with their toys. So they reimagined the ways information can be input into a digital tool like a tablet.

For instance, when children play, they physically move their toys in and out of the playset. That’s why, instead of using a mouse or touch screen as an input device, the toys themselves are the input device. It’s also why all it takes to “activate” the toy’s digital rendering is to point the tablet at it. Directing the camera at the jukebox causes music to play; directing it at the TV turns it on, and causes whatever Sesame Street scene is playing to fill the tablet screen.

Because it comes in the form of an app, the technology is very malleable. As new characters are created and new storylines for them imagined, the software can be automatically updated like any other app. This is just the first generation of a new technology that has almost limitless possibilities.

The future is a fun place to play.

This Week in Sesame Street: Big Bird’s First Visit to Hollywood Squares

By Graydon Gordian

Welcome to This Week in Sesame Street, a new feature in which we’ll revisit all the funny, touching and memorable moments Sesame Street has produced since it was first aired in 1969. This week we’re taking a look back at the first time Big Bird appeared on the classic game show Hollywood Squares.

Hollywood Squares has had countless famous guests over the years, but none quite like Big Bird. On January 19, 1976, Big Bird was a guest on the show for the first time. Plopped down next to Broadway star Carol Channing, best known for her work in Hello Dolly! and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Big Bird answered questions on birds (an expertise of his), Broadway musicals and even chimed in to help out Channing a time or two.

It would hardly be the last time Big Bird appeared on the now-defunct show: Between 1979 and 2001, Big Bird would appear on the show 14 times, most coming during the years in which Peter Marshall (whom Big Bird lovingly referred to as “Mr. Marshmallow”) was host. He also wasn’t the only Sesame Street character to appear on the show: Oscar the Grouch and Elmo have both been guests as well.

For video of Big Bird’s appearance, click here.

Sesame Street Monsters Swing by Good Morning America to Bake Some Treats

By Graydon Gordian

Cookie Monster has been obsessing over his beloved cookies since 1969. But if you happened to try the ones he actually eats on set, I’m not sure you’d love them as much as he does. At least Good Morning America’s Josh Elliott didn’t after accidentally tasting one when Elmo and Cookie Monster stopped by Good Morning America on Thursday, January 5.

The Sesame Street Muppets were there last week to teach George Stephanopoulos and the rest of the GMA crew a few recipes from Sesame Street’s new cookbook B is for Baking. While everyone was trying some of Elmo’s red velvet cupcakes – made with healthy, hot pink beat puree instead of food coloring – Elliott came onto set and tried out a cookie. He was surprised to find that the cookies weren’t Bert’s lemony oat sugar cookies, Ernie’s All-American snickerdoodles, or any of the other tasty treats that can be found in B is for Baking. Instead it was the prop cookies that Cookie Monster devours during each episode of Sesame Street.

Although children watching at home think they’re real cookies, the performers have always used cookies that include no sugar and as little oil as possible. Real cookies are avoided because the oil could discolor or damage Cookie Monster’s fur.

Sesame Workshop Statement on Breastfeeding Petitions

By Sesame Workshop

Sesame Street is a research-based educational program for preschoolers. Each new season is designed to teach a specific curriculum; this year’s curriculum is science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  Sesame Street does not have a mandate against breastfeeding, and the show never made a switch to portray bottle-feeding only.  We have depicted breastfeeding in the past, and would include it again in the future if it was a natural part of the storyline.