Global Thingy

Curious Creatures Find Common Ground on a Diverse Planet

It’s not always easy for people to get along. Now imagine a world where every animal, mineral, and vegetable must also get along. Welcome to the world of Global Thingy, the animated series about a tiny planet where even inanimate objects like a cell phone and a sippy cup must learn to work out their differences.

Cartoon Pizza’s series of one-minute animated segments for Sesame Street tells the story of an imaginary planet where creatures called “Thingys” get into disputes. For advice and mediation on their disagreements, the Thingys turn to the planet’s wise guardian – “Global Thingy” -- who helps them work out their differences through simple, squeaky commands.

Thingys can resemble anything from animals and everyday objects to Cubist paintings and literary characters. For example, “Ringy Thingy” looks like a tiny cell phone while “Boo Thingy” looks like a purple Frankenstein.

Each Thingy communicates with its own distinctive sound. They rarely speak, but when they do, they use simple expressions such as “thank you,” “let’s dance,” and “uh oh.”

The show’s educational themes include social reasoning, empathy, cooperation, and conflict resolution. Rather than focusing on the needs of an individual, Global Thingy suggests solutions that will benefit all the planet’s wacky creatures.

In the episode “Harmony,” an argument breaks out over which Thingy has the right to sing when several of them want to sing at once. Thingys don’t use words to communicate, but it’s clear from their squeaking and squealing that there’s a disagreement going on! Global Thingy soon trundles in to offer a solution: Sounding out a single note, he gathers a crowd of Thingys who begin to sing together in harmony.

Developed for Sesame Street’s 34^th season, Global Thingy was one of several new shows to emerge in response to the events of September 11, 2001. Dr. Rosemarie T. Truglio, vice president for education and research at Sesame Workshop, explains, “We did four shows in reaction to September 11. One was about inclusion and cultural diversity, and that really got us to thinking about the importance of that message. The United States is comprised of so many ethnicities and cultures. We want to show children the importance of developing friendships with people who don't look like you.''

Sesame Street’s Global Thingy alternates with Global Grover, a recurring five- minute segment that features live-action video clips of children from all over the world. While Global Grover is designed to expose children to differences and similarities between cultures, Global Thingy aims to provide solutions to the conflicts that these qualities can present.

Global Thingy’s short, simple stories of collaboration provide valuable strategies for all people, creatures, and Thingys. Whether that harmony needs to be found on a tiny planet or a great big one, Global Thingy makes its many voices heard.

Trivia

The animation studio Cartoon Pizza, co-founded by Jim Jinkins and David Campbell, also creates Pinky Dinky Doo.
The episode “Sneeze of Peace” parodies the movie Braveheart.

Episode Runtime

One minute

Format