List of animated Sesame Street characters

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

This is a partial list of the more well known animated characters appearing on Sesame Street. Some are animated versions of Muppet characters, others appear only in animated segments.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Name Animator(s) / Film Studio Voiced by Year(s) Description
Abby Cadabby Peter de Sève Leslie Carrara-Rudolph 2006–present Computer-generated version appearing in the stand-alone animation Abby's Flying Fairy School.[1]
Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes Ken Snyder Joan Gerber 1969–1973 Called by Sesame Street's early producers "an arrogant, sanctimonious know-it-all", she frequently opened her segments by announcing, "This is Alice Braithwaite Goodyshoes, the smartest girl in the whole world!"[2]
Alligator King Bud Luckey Turk Murphy 1972 A King of alligators who challenged his seven sons to cheer him up. He was created by Bud Luckey.[3]
Arnold Craig Bartlett 1990 A boy who demonstrates his imagination, visiting exotic lands without ever getting up from his chair. Originally developed by Craig Bartlett in clay-animation in several short films, Arnold eventually transitioned into cel-animation to star in his own show Hey Arnold!, on Nickelodeon.
Batman Filmation Olan Soule 1970 An animated version of the DC Comics character who appeared in Sesame Street's first season.[4]
Beetle Bailey King Features Syndicate 1974 An animated segment featuring Beetle Bailey and his company was seen during the 1970s on Sesame Street, demonstrating to young viewers the concept of "first" and "last".
Bellhop Michael Sporn Gregg Berger 1988-1989 A bellhop who would almost complete a task that his boss, the hotel manager, asks for - 2 lost kids in the lobby; 8 steamer trunks on level 8; walking 10 tiny terriers; 12 wake-up calls; taking an elderly man's two heavy bags to Room 14; carrying the bags to Level 16; bringing a phone call for Table 18; and going to the grocery store for 20 grapefruits. In later years, the manager's voice was re-dubbed by Camille Bonora.
Bert Misseri Studios Eric Jacobson 2008–present Clay animation version appearing in Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures.[5]
The Big Bad Wolf Jerry Nelson 2002 & 2007 A stop-motion paper-animated variant of the character of the same name, in a firefighter's gear, who sings "Get Out, Stay Out! Don't You Go Back In!", a song about fire safety and what you should do if there's a fire in your house, as he saves the Three Little Pigs from their own house fires, in an animated music video segment used in the 2002 video, Elmo Visits the Firehouse. The same music video segment was later reused in Episode 4145 in 2007.
Billy Jo Jive Ray Favata 1978-1979 A prepubescent African-American detective (self-described "super crimefighting ace") who, along with his partner Smart Susie Sunset, would solve crimes in his city neighborhood. Produced by Shearer Visuals and former Terrytoons animator Ray Favata and animated by his production partner Ed Seeman.
Blögg Peter de Sève Joey Mazzarino 2009–Present A troll/fairy creature who is one of Abby's classmates in the CGI-animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School, which was created by the animation studio SpeakeasyFX.[6]
Bob David Wachtenheim & Robert Marianetti 2006 An animated man designed by David Wachtenheim. He introduced each episode of Sesame Street that appears on Old School Volume 1. In his introductions, he starts to talk about the show, and slowly starts talking about himself before an off-camera voice tells him to start the show. Bob is originally based on one of Poverty Pictures segments from 1969 in the Letters X lecture.
Bubbles Martin Andrea Martin 2002–2006 Appearing on Elmo's TV in four animated segments of Elmo's World, she served a similar function as the Lecturer Lady, and was voiced likewise by Andrea Martin. She performed lively songs relating to the episode's subject. Her design is reminiscent of Betty Boop.
Bumble Ardy Maurice Sendak Jim Henson 1971 A young boy who invited 9 swine to his 9th birthday party in an animated short created by children's author Maurice Sendak.[7]
Bugs Bunny Warner Bros. Noel Blanc 1992 The classic Looney Tunes character makes a surprise cameo in the music video for Yakiety Yak (Take it Back). He was voiced by Noel Blanc, who had taken over the role from his late father Mel Blanc
Cecille Will Vinton Studios Michele Marianna 1990 A Claymation orange ball who turns into different shapes and sizes. He was created by Teresa Drilling and Barry Bruce.
Christopher Clumsy Cliff Roberts Jim Thurman 1972 A genial but clumsy character who debuted in a comic strip by Cliff Roberts. Situations frequently dealt with Clumsy's attempts to avoid falling into a hole. At other times, he attempted to demonstrate directional concepts or teach about shapes.
Computer Jim Martin 2001 From the Elmo's World segment. Crayon-animated, Computer replaced the "Elmocam" home video portion of the segment.[8]
Cookie Monster Frank Oz,
David Rudman 		1972 Cookie Monster appeared in some animated segments, including a cameo in Number Elimination (eating the number 17).
C.T. Wordsworth 1971 A presenter of words ("Big ones, small ones, fat ones and tall ones!")
Dash Karen Aqua 1991-1999 A white cartoon dog who appears in cartoons Dance to the Rhythm, Dancing with Elmo and Pass Along Alphabet.
Donnie Budd Bud Luckey Bud Luckey 1971-1972 A cartoon fiddler. Voiced, written and animated by Pixar's Bud Luckey.
Elmo Kevin Clash 2009 Elmo appeared in some animated segments including Clay animation version appearing as a cameo in Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures.
Ernie Misseri Studios Steve Whitmire 2008–present Clay animation version appearing in Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures which was created by Misseri Studio in Italy.[5]
Firefighter sand drawing 2002 A sand drawing of a firefighter, who is the primary character of the stop-motion animated sand drawing quiz segment in the 2002 video, Elmo Visits the Firehouse, and at the very end, springs to life and demonstrates his job by extinguishing a fire created by a fire-breathing dragon. His only line is "Just doin' my job."
Frances Fairy 1972 Frances Fairy, from the Land of Fork, makes the letter f do things that begin with f.
Frog Karen Aqua 1990-2003 A green frog who appears in cartoons Animals on Parade, Pass Along Alphabet and The Rhyme Time Song.
Fruta Manzana Irra Verbitsky / Don Duga Damaris Carbaugh[9] 1979 An animated Carmen Miranda spoof, she sang and danced, wore an oversized fruit hat, and also had a singing mirror. She was created by Irra Verbitsky and Don Duga.[10][11]
Gerald Len Glasser Len Glasser 1981 A boy who imagines his dog Sparky's shadow is an alligator's shadow.
Gloria Fred Crippen 1969 A young precocious girl who sang the alphabet (once in fast tempo with lower-case letters, and again in slow tempo, with upper-case letters) while continually being coached by an adult in voiceover (Bob Arbogast). Gloria later recited a poem about how to draw the letter W.
Gloria Globe Michele Marianna 1990 A cheerful globe who appears as a magician attempting to pull a rabbit out of her hat, but ends up pulling an animal from another country (e.g., a kangaroo from Australia, and many others). Another installment had Gloria being sick due to littering. And another featured Gloria Globe trying to get shot out from a cannon; when that failed, she sang a song about her body parts (which represent the various countries of the earth).
Gonnigan Peter de Sève Jeremy Redleaf 2009–present One of Abby's classmates in the animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School. Whenever Gonnigan disappears and Mrs. Sparklenose asks where Gonnigan is, Abby Cadabby and Blögg would quote "He's gone again."[12]
He, She and It Whitney Lee Savage 1978-1979 A series of animated segments featuring a boy, Heathcliff (whose shirt has the word "HE" written on it), a girl, Sheila (whose shirt has the word "SHE" written on it), and a bear, called the "IT" (who has the word "IT" written on its fur). These segments focus on how a common object functions, with Heathcliff and Sheila giving silly explanations before the IT talks about how the object really works.
Hero Guy David Rudman 2000-2007 Baby Bear's imaginary superhero friend brought to life by Baby Bear who draws a picture of him and sings his theme song. After springing to life as an animated character, he and Baby Bear embark on adventures together, but face unexpected challenges. Fortunately, Hero Guy never fails to save the day. Like Baby Bear, he is also a bear. His voice is nearly identical to Baby Bear's, which is perhaps to be expected given his status as Baby Bear's creation.
Jake Buzzco Associates Jim Thurman 1988 A green snake who demonstrates body parts.
Jasper and Julius Cliff Roberts Julius: Jim Thurman
Jasper: ? 		1972 Animated comedy duo that formerly appeared in a comic strip by Cliff Roberts. Julius is short, squat, and wears a hat; Jasper is tall and thin.[13]
Joker Filmation Casey Kasem 1970 An animated version of the DC Comics character who appeared in Sesame Street's first season.[4]
Jughead Filmation Howard Morris 1971 A comic strip character from the Archie Comics who demonstrates a story about himself with words beginning with the letter J.
King Minus Jeff Hale 1972 A parody of King Midas, who touches everything and makes it disappear, like magic subtraction; he demonstrates his ability with four dragons, in order to get into a castle and meet a fair maiden (who, alas, also disappears by his touch).
King of Eight Jim Henson Jim Henson 1971 A king, in a stop-motion animated short created by Jim Henson, who thought "8 is great".[14][15]
Krazy Kat King Features Syndicate 1974 An animated segment in which the comic strip character demonstrates the word LOVE by delivering a huge block of cheese to (or rather, on top of) his friend Ignatz Mouse; Ignatz later carves out the word "LOVE" from the cheese block.
The Lecture Lady Joey Ahlbum Andrea Martin 1998–2009 A woman in Elmo's World who originally looked and sounded like Edith Prickley from SCTV. In later episodes, she sounded more like Mrs. Falbo. She appeared on every channel on Elmo's TV during the Elmo's World segments which taught Elmo more about the subject.
Lillian Craig Bartlett 1990 A young girl who talks about her parents bringing a baby sister into her home. Created by Craig Bartlett, in the same medium (clay-animation) as his character Arnold.
Luxo Jr. John Lasseter 1991 An animated moving lamp created by John Lasseter from Pixar Animation Studios.
Martian Beauty Bud Luckey 1971 A female martian with 9 hairs on her head (all tied up with "ribbons of red"), 9 eyes, 9 nostrils, 9 arms and 9 toes (on a single foot). Lyrics sung by Turk Murphy
Marty Craig Bartlett Martin P. Robinson 1986 A blue chair with bad vision keeps on bumping into things, until he finds his eyeglasses. He grabs a book and waves at us as he says "See ya later!" before exiting his home.
Marvelous Martha 1969 A girl who knows words that begin with "M".
Mrs. Sparklenose Peter de Sève Jessica Stone 2009–present A fairy who is Abby Cadabby, Blögg, and Gonnigan's teacher in the animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School.[16]
Nancy Tee Collins 1971 A young nanny goat who makes a "nincompoop" of herself by nibbling on her nails & noticing noodles.
Niblet Peter de Sève Tyler Bunch 2009 A Gerbilcorn (a gerbil that has a unicorn horn) who is the class pet in the animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School.
Noodles & Nedd John R. Dilworth 1997 A series of animated segments, which involved pantomime slapstick, featuring an eccentric man named Nedd, and his somewhat more intelligent cat named Noodles.
Number Guy Loring Doyle Jerry Nelson, Matt Vogel 1991 A man sitting on a chair playing guitar, asking how many of a specific animal would perform a task, to the tune of Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan.
Operatic Orange Jim Henson 1971 A stop-motion animated orange who sings "Habanera" from Carmen. Created by Jim Henson.
Peck Peter de Sève Tyler Bunch 2009 A fairy chicken who appears in minor roles in the animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School.
Pink Panther Friz Freleng 1971 An animated segment featuring the Pink Panther demonstrating karate making the Letter K out of huge block of stone.
Pronunciation Guy (or Sign Man) Don Arioli 1978 An animated guy, looking a lot like Mr. Boffo, who is always coming across a sign with a word that is either jumbled up or separated, and he goes about making it right and trying to pronounce it. Occasionally the sign has two words on it spelled correctly and he just goes about trying to pronounce it. Once he pronounces it right in triumph, something funny happens afterwards relating to the sign.
The Ringmaster Jeff Hale 1979-1980 An animated circus ringmaster who, with the swing of his whip, choreographs the change of visual numeric patterns in various groups of animals; in the case of two snakes (from out his own hat), the ringmaster produced a saxophone.
Robin Filmation Casey Kasem 1970 An animated version of the DC Comics character who appeared in Sesame Street's first season.[4]
Rocket countdown announcer Floyd Norman 1968-69 An announcer who counted down from 10 to 1 for a rocket launch, with spectators watching from behind. The launch was frequently beset by failure (falling over, spouting water, premature take-off, or either the announcer or spectators blasting off themselves).
Sand dragon Stephanie D'Abruzzo 2002 A sand-animated green-spined fire-breathing dragon who appeared at the end of the stop-motion animated sand drawing quiz segment in the 2002 video, Elmo Visits the Firehouse to provide fire in order to help demonstrate how firefighters do their jobs. Its only line is "Thanks... for the drink."
The Simpsons Matt Groening Dan Castellaneta,
Julie Kavner,
Nancy Cartwright
and Yeardley Smith 		1991 The Simpsons family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie) made a surprise cameo appearance inside the picture frame among many celebrities in the celebrity version of "Monster in the Mirror" singing "Wubba Wubba!" In the end of that segment, Bart Simpson said "Hey! Wubba, Man!" to Grover.
Smart Susie Sunset Ray Favata 1978-1979 sidekick to Billy Jo Jive, kid detective.
Solomon Grundy 1969 Washes one part of himself each day, and still winds up half dirty by the end of the week. Appeared in the premiere episode of Sesame Street.[17]
Sparky Len Glasser Len Glasser 1981 A white dog who keeps his owner Gerald awake, dances, sings and pretends to be an alligator whenever Gerald's parents close the door.
Spot Peter de Sève Leslie Carrara-Rudolph 2009 A spot who is the class pet in the animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School. Whenever the students have a problem, they call on Spot for an answer. They tell him "Fetch, Spot. Fetch!" The answer is shown inside him as a series of brief videos. He has dog-like behaviors such as barking and licking the students uncontrollably.
Superman Filmation Bud Collyer
/ Lennie Weinrib 		1969-1970 An animated version of the DC Comics character who appeared in two animated inserts (test show #1, voiced by Bud Collyer, and episode #184, voiced by Lennie Weinrib)[18]
Suzie Kabloozie Mo Willems Ruth Buzzi 1994–2002 A young girl who appeared in many Sesame Street inserts by Mo Willems.
Sweet Adeline Maurice Sendak Maddie Page 1971 Bumble Ardy's "put upon mom" in the series of short animations created by Maurice Sendak. Writer Louise A. Gikow further describes her as "sweet but addled".[7]
Teeny Little Super Guy Paul Fierlinger Jim Thurman 1982 A typical problem solver created by Paul Fierlinger, this adult human character and his tiny kid friends lived in a live-action, regular sized kitchen setting, in which their traditionally animated 2-dimensional images existed on plastic cups, allowing them to interact with their environment stop-motion style, and deal with problems likewise.[19]
Thelma Thumb John Korty Judith Kahan 1978-1979 The secret alter-ego of Marcia Middlewell, a seemingly average girl. Whenever impending trouble was afoot, Marcia would use her magic phrase, "Zapper jiffy squincher scrum, make me into Thelma Thumb!" to shrink down to a salt-shaker-sized superhero, who could fly to the rescue. Her size of choice enabled her to examine objects and places from a unique perspective.
TJ and Bernie the Dog Magnetic Dreams 2004–2010
The Three Little Pigs Various actors 2002 & 2007 Stop-motion paper-animated variations of the characters of the same name, who are shown being saved from house fires by the Big Bad Wolf, in a firefighter's gear, as he sings "Get Out, Stay Out! Don't You Go Back In!", a song about fire safety, and what you should do if there's a fire in your house, in an animated music video segment used in the 2002 video Elmo Visits the Firehouse. The same music video segment was later reused in Episode 4145 in 2007.
Tiger King Features Syndicate 1973 An animated version of the comic strip character, explaining to young viewers the concept of "school" (and how to write the word).
The Typewriter Guy Jeff Hale 1975–1976; 1990s An animated typewriter (with eyes, arms and wheels) who demonstrates letters of the alphabet by typing them out on his paper feed, then spelling out a word describing an object or action revealing itself. He also appears in Sesame Street: Old School, Volume 2, in which each episode features a special introduction by the Typewriter. He is known for his famous sung phrase, "Nooney-Nooney-Noo."
Uncle Edgar Buzzco Associates 1987 A banjo-playing turtle who performs songs that he and the kids would easily sing. Animated by Buzzco Associates.
Velvet Leslie Carrara-Rudolph 2012 A computer-animated front curtain that appears in the Elmo: The Musical segments.
Wanda Tee Collins 1969 A witch who demonstrated several uses of the letter "W". Appeared in the first episode of Sesame Street. Comedian Carol Burnett would often appear after Wanda's segment and state, "Wow, Wanda the Witch is weird!"[17]
Willie Wimple Abe Levitow 1973 A careless, destructive youth who would throw garbage, chop down trees, and leak oil into the waters, with the jaunty "Flora Song" in the background. The chorus always pointed out how "if every kid did it, can't you see what an icky, messy, no-fun world it would be (yuck)," typically ending with a shot of a ruined earth. Willie's purpose was to demonstrate how one person's actions can harm the planet, since in fact individuals are seldom alone in their waste.
The Yakity Yak Al Jarnow 1971 A talkative yak repeatedly lecturing about the words "yak," "you" and "yes" all beginning with "Y." After he is called a "yakity yakity yak," the yak goes nuts and charges toward the camera with frenzied eyes, smashing the screen. (Later reruns of this segment in the late 1990s modified the ending so the glass would shatter to reveal the next segment instead of a black screen.)
Zork Mike Christy (aka ArtistMike) 1990 A green alien who lands on Earth and meets various people & animals (slick agent in California, kangaroo in Australia, etc.)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Gikow, p. 234
  2. ^ Lesser, p. 125
  3. ^ Alligator King & His 7 Sons (video clip). Sesame Street.org. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "Batman Crosses the Street", in Old School, Volume 1 (Disc 1) [DVD] (2006), Children's Television Workshop
  5. ^ a b Moody, Annemarie (28 July 2008). "Original Bert and Ernie Claymation Series Debuts on Sesame Street Season 39". Animation World Network. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  6. ^ Gikow, pp. 234–235
  7. ^ a b Gikow, p. 156
  8. ^ Whitlock, Natalie Walker. "How Elmo Works: Behind the Scenes of Elmo's World". Discovery.com. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  9. ^ Williamson, Dana (March 2003). "Carbaugh finds 'fame' in serving God". Connection Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  10. ^ "ASIFA-East presents an evening of animation by Irra Verbitsky and Don Duga of Polestar Films!". ASIFA-East. 25 January 2011.
  11. ^ Laffey, Kelly (11 February 2012). "Who's Here: "Frosty the Snowman" artist Don Duga". Dan's Papers. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  12. ^ Gikow, p. 235
  13. ^ Episode 0406 (1972-11-27), in Old School, Volume 1 (Disc 3) [DVD] (2006), Children's Television Workshop
  14. ^ King of Eight (video clip). Sesame Street.org. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  15. ^ Borgenicht, p. 45
  16. ^ "Sesame Street: First Animated Muppets Made with Autodesk Softimage". Computer Graphics World. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  17. ^ a b Episode 0001 (1969-11-10), in Old School, Volume 1 (Disc 1) [DVD] (2006), Children's Television Workshop
  18. ^ "S - Superman", in Old School, Volume 1 (Disc 2) [DVD] (2006), Children's Television Workshop
  19. ^ Gikow, pp. 242–243
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