If Sesame Street characters doing impressions of each other doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will.

The cast of 'Sesame Street' test out their best impressions of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Rosita and The Count.

'Sesame Street' is celebrating its 50th anniversary of helping kids everywhere grow up smarter, stronger and kinder. The 50th season is currently running on HBO and will premiere on PBS in the summer of 2020.

Previously, and definitely worth a watch: "Start Wearing Purple" as sung by Sesame Street's Count

Thanks, Mark! Read the rest

As a way to promote a movies and other projects, Vanity Fair sometimes puts celebrities through a jokey lie detector test (see: Jennifer Lawrence). The polygraph itself is real but the questions are humorous. This time Big Bird is in the hot seat and he gets grilled on on all sort of things by the interviewer and a few of his Muppet pals. In short, we learn the 8-foot-tall Sesame Street icon cannot lie.

Which Bird is better at basketball? Big Bird or Larry Bird? Does he ever Google himself? Is Oscar the Grouch a good neighbor? Who is Big Bird's best friend? Does Big Bird have it in him to tell a lie?

Sesame Street is celebrating its 50th anniversary of helping kids everywhere grow up smarter, stronger and kinder. Sesame Street’s 50th season is currently running on HBO and will premiere on PBS in the summer of 2020.

(The Awesomer)

screengrab via Vanity Fair Read the rest

The Sesame Workshop is reporting that long-time Sesame Street puppeteer Caroll Spinney has announced his retirement, noting that he's performed on the program since its 1969 premiere. Spinney has played the roles of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for nearly 50 years!

After five decades as the heart and soul of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, it’s impossible to entirely separate the man from the characters he so vibrantly brought to life. Big Bird visited China with Bob Hope in 1979. He’s danced with the Rockettes, and with prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory. He’s been feted with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrated with his likeness on a U.S. postage stamp, and named a “Living Legend” in 2000 by the Library of Congress. Performing Big Bird has taken Caroll to China, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has performed on hundreds of episodes of television, starred as his big yellow avatar in the feature film Follow That Bird, and conducted symphony orchestras throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada. Spinney even met his wife of 45 years, Debra, on the Sesame Street set in 1973.

Not to worry, Big Bird and Oscar are not going anywhere. They will be played going forward by puppeteers Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobson, with Spinney's blessing.

Also, if you haven't seen the 2014 documentary about Spinney titled I Am Big Bird, I urge you to do so. It's a truly beautiful portrait of a deeply creative man who chose to live his most authentic life. Read the rest

This is the Beastie Boys and Big Bird mashup we never knew we were waiting for.

Thank you, Mylo the Cat aka Adam Schleichkorn, for editing this for our viewing enjoyment.

He writes:

About 3 years ago, I spent a Sunday editing a video of the Muppets rapping “So What’Cha Want”, which ended up being a total game-changer for me. The original “Sabotage” music video is without a doubt, one of the greatest of all time, so I knew I couldn’t do a regular old lip sync video, I had to bring it! RIP MCA.

(Dangerous Minds, Nerdcore) Read the rest

A puppet march to support public broadcasting has its own theme song.

In this Pecha Kucha presentation from Christchurch, New Zealand, Zoologist Mike Dickison talks about where a certain large, yellow, flightless bird fits into the tree of life.

Via Erin Kane Read the rest