Cookie Monster is a live-hand puppet originally performed by Frank Oz and currently performed by David Rudman. In a live-hand puppet, like Cookie Monster, one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing. Cookie Monster is one of the main characters on Sesame Street. He is covered in blue fur with large googly eyes. He constantly eats anything and everything, but cookies are his favorite.
In a 2005 episode of Sesame Street, Hoots the Owl sings Cookie Monster a song about healthy eating, teaching him that “A Cookie is a Sometime Food,” part of a Sesame Workshop educational program launched in response to the obesity epidemic. Though Cookie Monster didn’t stop eating cookies, the episode generated controversy and conversation, with some commentators bemoaning that “woke” Sesame Street producers were robbing the series of its innocent joy.
Cookie Monster evolved from a monster created by Jim Henson for a General Foods Canada commercial in 1966. This character advertised the snack foods Wheels, Crowns, and Flutes along with two other monsters and was known as the Wheel Stealer. The Wheel Stealer continued to evolve as he appeared in an IBM commercial and on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. He eventually made his way to Sesame Street after losing his teeth. Once there, he gained his love of cookies and the name Cookie Monster by the second season.
This puppet is the original Cookie Monster puppet created in 1969 for Sesame Street. He is able to feed himself because his hands are simply gloves for the performer’s hands, and he has a hole in his mouth that runs down the performer’s sleeve. The cookies that are eaten by Cookie Monster are rice crackers that are made to look like cookies because the oils from actual cookies would damage the puppet.
Bert is a hand-rod puppet originally performed by Frank Oz and currently performed by Eric Jacobson. In a hand-rod puppet, like Bert, the performer’s dominant hand goes into the puppet’s head and operates the mouth and sometimes other facial features. The less dominant hand controls the arm rods, which are thin rods connected to the puppet’s hands. Bert lives on Sesame Street with his best friend and roommate Ernie. He has a serious personality and a pet pigeon named Bernice. Bert, with Ernie, has been a part of Sesame Street since the first test pilot episodes and the premier in 1969, and this puppet is the original Bert used for those pilot episodes.
This original Grover hand-rod puppet was built in 1967 as one of several monsters used by Jim Henson and other performers on television variety shows and was first seen in his current design on a 1970 Christmas Eve episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. This darker, green-furred puppet appeared throughout the first season of Sesame Street as a generic monster and was named Grover by the end of the season. The character of Grover was rebuilt for season 2 and was then covered in his now signature bright blue fur. This puppet was later used as Grover’s mother in a skit about Grover having trouble sleeping because he is afraid of the dark, though in later appearances Grover’s mother has bright blue fur similar to Grover.
The character of Grover is a loveable, furry, and thoughtful monster who has many different roles and professions. He loves to help people but is sometimes frustrated by miscommunication, worries, and clumsiness. Grover has a unique voice and manner of speaking, generally avoiding contractions. Grover was originally performed by Frank Oz and is currently performed by Eric Jacobson. Grover is a hand-rod puppet which means that the performer’s dominant hand goes into the puppet’s head and operates the mouth and sometimes other facial features. The less dominant hand controls the arm rods, which are thin rods connected to the puppet’s hands.
Ernie is a live-hand puppet originally performed by Jim Henson and currently performed by Peter Linz. In a live-hand puppet, like Ernie, one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing.
Ernie lives on Sesame Street with his best friend and roommate Bert. He enjoys taking bubble baths with his rubber duck, and singing the song “Rubber Duckie” about his beloved bath toy. It was released as a single and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 26, 1970. Ernie, with Bert, has been a part of Sesame Street since the first test pilot episodes and the premier in 1969, and this puppet is the original Ernie puppet used for those pilot episodes.
This Rowlf puppet is one of the earliest made to perform this Muppet character, a genial, cool, and musically gifted dog. Rowlf became the first nationally-known Muppet star when he joined Jimmy Dean as a wisecracking sidekick on the popular country singer's comedy and variety show, The Jimmy Dean Show, from 1963-1966. Since then, Rowlf has been a featured member of the cast of The Muppet Show, Muppet movies, and other Muppet productions.
Rowlf was first designed by Jim Henson and built by Don Sahlin for Purina Dog Chow commercials in the early 1960s. Rowlf was also used as a 'spokesdog' in films made for IBM in the 1960s. Henson made a meeting film discussing the IBM Model D called "Rowlf 100% Club - IBM Confidential" in 1967.
This Rowlf is a live-hand puppet made of brown synthetic fur with a black plastic nose. In a live-hand puppet like Rowlf one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing.
Ernie, one of the main characters of the children’s television program Sesame Street, enjoys taking bubble baths with this rubber duck toy. He often sings the song “Rubber Duckie” about his beloved rubber duckie. The song was released as a single and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 26, 1970.
Sesame Street (1969-present) is the longest-running children’s television series in American history, and one of the most influential and impactful programs in the history of the medium. First developed by producer Joan Ganz Cooney to use all the entertaining tools of commercial television to teach preschool aged children, the series was also a notable effort to use public television to reach minority and low-income communities who otherwise lacked educational opportunities. The series combines live action sequences set in a Harlem-like neighborhood of urban brownstones and small businesses with animated segments, catchy modern music, popular culture parodies, and integrates Jim Henson’s Muppets, a memorable mélange of entertaining scenes that have made Sesame Street a favorite of children and parents alike. Sesame Street is a production of Sesame Workshop (known before 2000 as the Children’s Television Workshop) and premiered on the National Educational Television (NET) network in 1969 before that early educational broadcaster transitioned to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1970. Since 2016, Sesame Street has aired new episodes on HBO although reruns still air on PBS.
Storyboard for a Wilkins Coffee commercial featuring the characters Wilkins and Wontkins, created by Jim Henson. The storyboard is made of series of four consecutive pencil drawings on custom-printed and perforated paper, with four dialogue boxes beneath. In the commercial, the puppet character Wilkins is hanging wallpaper. When the Wontkins puppet enters the picture and says that he doesn't drink Wilkins Coffee, the Wilkins puppet then pastes Wontkins on to the wall, behind the wallpaper, stating "The place here looks a lot better with all the bad spots covered up!"