This season on Sesame Street, Elmo is starring in a brand new segment: Elmo The Musical! During the creation of the segment, we went behind the scenes to show you how this rollicking, music-filled math adventure got made.
Since the 1980s Sesame Workshop has been working to provide children ways to not just watch but genuinely interact with our educational content. Over the years VHS and CD-ROM games offered limited interactivity, but nothing approaches what the Workshop and Microsoft have partnered to create.
Starting today “Kinect Sesame Street TV,” a groundbreaking 2-way television, Xbox-based experience that has plenty of educational potential, is now available for purchase. Read More
Congratulations to the Sesame Workshop team for receiving an Emmy for Growing Hope Against Hunger, a special focusing on the invisible crisis of food insecurity in the United States. Food insecurity is a difficult issue for parents and children to discuss, and Growing Hope Against Hunger sought to present personal stories about food insecure families that would help raise awareness about hunger as well strategies that have helped these families grow stronger and more secure. Congratulations to Executive Producer Carol-Lynn Parente, Supervising Producer Melissa Dino, Senior Producer Mason Rather and Producer Kevin Clash.
On Wednesday Elmo, Grover, Rosita, Cookie Monster, and Katie, a Muppet created especially for Sesame Street‘s USO tour, stopped by an Arizona Diamondbacks game in Phoenix. Elmo even got to throw out the first pitch. Check out the photos from their trip to the ballgame.
A few years ago, Wandy Hoh was at home, playing with her three young daughters, when she noticed something.
“It was very obvious that the things they were most interested in were various gadgets and computers,” she said. But she felt that there weren’t enough children’s books available digitally. Instead of waiting for them to come along, Hoh took the initiative and in 2010 founded MeeGenius, of which she now serves as CEO.
Two years later, MeeGenius and Sesame Workshop are happy to announce that we’ve formed a partnership that will bring six Sesame Street e-book titles to web, iOS and Android platforms. Beginning today with Celebrate School: First Day, the new titles will debut every Wednesday throughout the month of September.
Elmo is the man… err, monster these days! Headlines all across the nation are giving him credit for making apples more appealing. A new study published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine conducted by researchers at Cornell University found that children ages 8 to 11 were 65 percent more likely to add an apple to their lunch in their school cafeteria when Elmo stickers were placed on the apples compared to when the apples had no stickers. Sesame Workshop had no input or knowledge into this study until it came out in the press, but it reconfirms our own and others’ research on the power of beloved characters in influencing food choices and other behaviors.
When Jerry Nelson passed away on Thursday, August 23, everyone at Sesame Workshop — especially those who had worked with Jerry for not just years but decades — was deeply saddened. However, the outpouring of emotion regarding Jerry’s loss spread far beyond the walls of the Workshop. Across the country his fans began penning moving tributes to the artistry and care with which he portrayed iconic Sesame Street characters such as Count Von Count, Herry Monster and Sherlock Hemlock. There were many lovely pieces written about Jerry, too many to read them all. But we wanted to introduce you to a few that the Sesame Workshop family found especially touching.
James Wood, author of the blog Go Jimmy Go, wrote a wonderful piece about why, as a middle-aged man, he found the death of Jerry Nelson so moving.
On Taking Note, the New York Times editorial page blog, Lawrence Downes fondly remembers a scene in which Count Von Count provides some comic relief.
At Tough Pigs, a site for “Muppet fans who grew up,” they are dedicating an entire week to the remembrance of all the great work Jerry Nelson did not just for Sesame Street but on a number of iconic television shows.
At Muppet Mindset, another Muppet fan site, there have also been a number of thoughtful tributes to Jerry Nelson and his puppetry.
At Just Plain Something, a film blog, the author reflects on how big a hole the loss of Jerry Nelson leaves in the world of puppetry, even for those who did not immediately recognize his name.
Our furry friends on Barrio Sésamo: Monstrous Supersanos are going to learn a lot about how to lead a healthier lifestyle now that there’s a new doctor in town. The Spanish version of Sesame Street is getting a brand new character, “Dr. Valentin Ruster.” Dr. Ruster is inspired by the Director of New York City’s Mount Sinai Heart Center, Dr. Valentin Fuster.
Dr. Fuster, who hails from Barcelona, Spain, is the former president of the American Heart Association and the World Heart Foundation. As the Chair of the Committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease for the Institute of Medicine (IOM), he is a prominent advocate for cardiovascular health around the globe. Read More
The cast and crew of Sesame Street and the staff of Sesame Workshop deeply mourn the loss of cast member and creator of dozens of Muppet characters, Jerry Nelson. A member of the Sesame Street family for more than 40 years, he will forever be in our hearts and remembered for the artistry in his puppetry, his music, and the laughter he brought to children worldwide through his portrayal of Count von Count, Herry Monster, Fat Blue, Sherlock Hemlock, the Amazing Mumford and many other beloved characters. We will miss his extraordinary spirit and the joy he brought to our Street.
On Tuesday, August 14, Sesame Street released “Elmo’s Alphabet Challenge,” our latest home video. In it, Elmo, Abby and Telly get sucked into an animated video game world and have to defeat A.B.C.-more at a number of alphabet-based challenges in order to escape.
The challenges are all spoofs of iconic video games: Pac-man, Guitar Hero and Super Mario Brothers, among others, inspired the levels Elmo and his friends must traverse. The animation was created by Magnetic Dreams, an animation company Sesame Street has been working with for almost a decade. Read More
