Big Bird

Big Bird is a character on the long-running PBS/HBO children's television show Sesame Street. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow anthropomorphic bird,[6][7] he can roller skate, ice skate, dance, swim, sing, write poetry, draw, and ride a unicycle. Despite this wide array of talents, he is prone to frequent misunderstandings, on one occasion even singing the alphabet as one long word (from the song called "ABC-DEF-GHI," pronounced /æbkədɛfgi:dʒɛkəlmɪnɒpkwɜrstu:vwɪksɪz/), pondering what it could mean. He would refer to grocer Mr. Hooper as "Mr. Looper", among other mispronunciations. He lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street brownstone and right next to Oscar the Grouch's trash can and he has a teddy bear named Radar. In Season 46, Big Bird's large nest is now sitting within a small, furnished maple tree, and is no longer hidden by used construction doors.

For other uses, see Big Bird (disambiguation).

Big Bird
Sesame Street character
Big Bird with Abby Cadabby (left) and Elmo (right) at the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors
First appearanceEpisode 0001 (November 10, 1969)[1]
Created by
Voiced byCaroll Spinney (1969–2018)
Matt Vogel (2002–present)
Performed byCaroll Spinney (1969–2015)
Daniel Seagren (1969–1970)[2]
Matt Vogel (1998–present)
BirthdayMarch 20[3]
In-universe information
NicknamesGrandsonny, a nickname given to him by his Granny Bird
Bird, by his best friend, Mr. Snuffleupagus
SpeciesMuppet bird
GenderMale[4]
FamilyGranny Bird (grandmother)
Eight foreign cousins[5]

Caroll Spinney originally performed Big Bird from 1969 to 2018. As of 2020, Big Bird is performed by Matt Vogel who began in 1998 as an understudy before becoming the character's full-time performer in 2018.

In 2000, Big Bird was named a Living Legend by the United States Library of Congress.[8]

Performing Big Bird

Big Bird was originally performed by Caroll Spinney starting in 1969. In the later years of Spinney's career, the show gradually started training new performers to play Big Bird. The apprentices included both Rick Lyon in the opening theme song of the show's 33rd season, and later Matt Vogel in the show's "Journey to Ernie" segment. Vogel became Big Bird's primary performer after Spinney's retirement.

Spinney was sick during the taping of a few first-season episodes, so Daniel Seagren performed Big Bird in those episodes.[2] He also performed Big Bird when he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 and on Hollywood Squares in the 1970s.[2] According to The Story of Jim Henson by Stephanie St. Pierre, the costume was built for Jim Henson to perform, but when Henson tried it on, Kermit Love, who had built the costume, did not think that Henson was walking like a bird is supposed to walk, and so Henson decided not to perform Big Bird. Frank Oz was offered the part, but since he disliked performing full-body characters, he turned down the job.[9]

Director Jon Stone, in the 1994 documentary The World of Jim Henson, revealed that the Big Bird costume actually did not have any openings that would allow the actor to see; a small television was strapped to the actor's chest to allow him to navigate.[10] The camera was set up for Spinney by technician Walt Rauffer, on the suggestion of director Bob Myhrum. Rauffer rigged the camera to a harness strapped to Spinney's chest; Spinney reported that they called the camera "the electronic bra".[11]

When Big Bird's performer is performing on location and cannot get a video feed, a small hole is made in the costume to allow him to see. In such cases, Big Bird must wear a necktie to cover the hole. This can also be seen in the Sesame Street Live shows. When Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch (both were performed by Spinney) were in a scene together with Spinney performing Big Bird, Jim Martin operated Oscar. When Vogel was operating Big Bird, Oscar was performed by Spinney as usual until 2015, when Eric Jacobson replaced Spinney as Oscar. In 2015, due to being diagnosed with dystonia, Spinney no longer puppeteered the bird suit full-time, with Vogel taking over the bird suit on-set the majority of the time, with Spinney looping the dialogue later or having Vogel do the voice himself. Vogel also performs Big Bird (voice and puppetry) in live appearances, Chrysler commercials, The Furchester Hotel, and started voicing Big Bird in new material in Season 48 of Sesame Street after Spinney's semi-retirement. On October 17, 2018, Spinney announced his full retirement from the character beginning the very same week as he planned to finish his final recordings on the following day. His final performance as Big Bird (and Oscar the Grouch) aired in 2019 for the series' landmark 50th anniversary.[12]

Costume and portrayal

Big Bird was originally designed by a drawing from Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love in 1969. The design was based on a previous Henson creation, a seven-foot-tall dragon that the puppeteer created for a La Choy advertising campaign.[13] The Big Bird performer is completely enclosed within the costume, and extends his right hand over his head to operate the head and neck of the puppet. The Muppeteer's left hand serves as the Bird's left wing, while the right wing is stuffed and hangs loosely from a fishing line that runs through a loop under the neck and attaches to the wrist of the left hand. The right hand thus does the opposite of the left hand: as the left hand goes down, the right hand is pulled up by the fishing line.

Henson's original sketch for Big Bird. Left: the puppet's exterior appearance. Right: Cutaway image showing how the puppet is operated.

For some of the "Journey to Ernie" segments, a second puppeteer (usually Jim Martin) controls Big Bird's right wing. He is concealed by dressing in a body suit the same color as their chroma key background (which cannot be done on the main, non-chroma-key Sesame Street set). Big Bird's body suit weighs ten pounds, and his head weighs four pounds. According to writer Louise Gikow, the heat inside the suit is "unbearable, and it's extraordinarily difficult to hold Big Bird's head."[14]

Different versions of Big Bird are portrayed in some international versions of Sesame Street. For example, the Dutch version has a blue bird named Pino. In the Latin American version (Plaza Sésamo), Big Bird's parrot cousin, Abelardo Montoya, is featured. He appears similar to Big Bird, but he is green.[15]

Big Bird's appearance has changed over the years, as has his personality. He originally had very few feathers on top of his head; his body feathers were also more shaggy and unkempt, and his body was not as rounded and full as it is now. His personality was more dopey and "bird-brained" than it later became. He gradually got more feathers on top, giving his head a more rounded appearance, and developed a blaze-like crest of lighter yellow feathers above his eyes. His body got fluffier, rounder and more well groomed as well. His personality developed over time from being a dim, slow-witted character into the childlike innocence he is known for today. Although all the Sesame Street Muppet characters are technically ageless, Big Bird is psychologically written to represent a six-year-old.[16]

The costume is partially assembled by company American & Fancy Feather, using the tail feathers from turkeys; as the feathers are rarely clean, company owner Anthony Trento calls the Big Bird costume his "toughest customer". Sesame Workshop is said to reject roughly 90 percent of all the feathers selected for use on the costume.[17]

International Versions (Adaptations)
Country / Region Big Bird's Cousin Description Performer
 Brazil Garibaldo Original version was bright blue, with a long pointed beak and blue-striped legs; 2007 introduced a yellow version identical to the American Big Bird Laerte Morrone (1972–1977)
Fernando Gomes (2007 - 2014)
Hugo Picchi (2009)
Falcon Mantovani (2019)
 China 大鸟 (Da Niao) (Big Bird) Identical to American version Zhu Ming
 France Toccata Grey-white with brown brows, resembling a seagull or albatross Lucien Morisse
Claude Sonneville (singing voice)
 Mexico Abelardo Montoya Bright green with a pink throat, red face and parrot-like beak Alberto Estrella (1981–1992)
Héctor Marquez (1992–1995)
Eugenio Bartilotti (1995–2004)
Héctor Loeza (2004–present)
 Netherlands Pino Pale blue with yellow rings around eyes and multicolored feathered "sprigs" from top of head. Dirk Grijspeirt (1976)
Theo Joling (1977)
Bert Plagman (1979)
Erik J. Meijer (1980 - 1984)
Leo Dijkgraaf (1984–1991)
Renée Menschaar (1991–present)
 Portugal Poupas Orange with white and brown on face Luís Velez
 Spain Caponata Primarily orange and yellow feathers on body; red-and-white striped legs, red shoes with bows. Wears a curly pink wig. Emma Cohen
 Turkey Minik Kuş Orange with pink feathers on face Hakan Odabaşı

Species

The book “G” is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street cites a producer of Sesame Street who refers to Big Bird as a canary.[7] In an episode of Sesame Street, Big Bird was asked if he was related to the cassowary; he replied, "I'm more of a condor." On the January 23, 1976 episode of Hollywood Squares, Big Bird was asked what kind of bird he is and said he was a lark, causing host Peter Marshall to crack up.[18] In the film Don't Eat the Pictures, Osiris calls Big Bird an ibis. Big Bird appeared in a series 11 episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, in which he declares he is a "golden condor". Zoologist Mike Dickison suggested in his popular Pechakucha talk that Big Bird represents a unique species that evolved from the whooping crane.[19] Big Bird is always described as being flightless.

Use of Big Bird in the 2012 US presidential election

During the first presidential debate on October 3, 2012, Mitt Romney used Big Bird as an example of spending cuts he would make to reduce the federal budget deficit. Romney told the moderator, Jim Lehrer, "I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to – I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That's number one."[20]

Barack Obama’s campaign later released a satirical advertisement in which Romney described Big Bird as an "evil genius" and "a menace to our economy", and depicted Romney as more concerned with cracking down on Big Bird than on white collar criminals such as Bernie Madoff and Ken Lay.[21]

Sesame Workshop subsequently asked that both campaigns remove Sesame Street characters from campaign materials, stating on their website: "Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns."[22]

Big Bird did, however, appear on the October 7, 2012 episode of Saturday Night Live during the show's Weekend Update sketch. During his appearance, he made light of the situation with the segment's host, Seth Meyers, including bird-related jokes such as, when asked how he found out that his name had been mentioned in the debate, Big Bird replied, "I got a million Tweets". When asked if he had any political statement he would like to make, Big Bird replied, "No. I don't want to 'ruffle any feathers'".

Other appearances
Big Bird is one of two Muppets to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
A walk-around character of Big Bird, at a theme park.

Follow That Bird (1985)

In 1985, Big Bird was the star of his own film, Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, alongside the cast of Sesame Street. The plot focused on him being moved away to live with a family of dodos by a meddling social-worker (voiced by Sally Kellerman). He is not happy with his new home and he runs away and embarks on a cross-country adventure. Along the way, he finds help from a friendly truck driver (Waylon Jennings) and two farmer kids (Alyson Court and Benjamin Barrett). But on the bad side, there are two unscrupulous carnival-owning brothers (Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty) who want to kidnap him and make him perform in their carnival for their own profit. In the meantime, his friends Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Count von Count, Telly and Oscar the Grouch are in pursuit of him to find him and bring him back home safely. Also joining them are their human friends, Gordon, Maria, Olivia and Linda with Bob aiding them from Sesame Street.

1970s and 1980s

In the mid-late 1970s, Big Bird made several appearances on The Hollywood Squares. As with Mr. Hooper, Big Bird frequently mispronounced host Peter Marshall's name, calling him "Mr. Marshmallow" or "Mr. Masher". In another episode, when asked by Marshall what kind of bird he was, Big Bird replied "I'm a lark", which broke Marshall up.

Barbara Bush participates with Big Bird in a taping of the children's television show Sesame Street at United Studios, 1989.

He appeared in a series 11 episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segment, in which he enters the "Draw the Neighborhood" contest.

He made an appearance as a guest star on the third season of The Muppet Show. A portrait of Big Bird also appeared in the pilot The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence.

Big Bird also made brief appearances in The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan.

He appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas holiday special, in which he dissuades the Swedish Chef from cooking him for Christmas dinner by offering him a gift of homemade chocolate covered birdseed. They then sing a duet of "The Christmas Song".

Henson memorial service (1990)

On May 21, 1990, Big Bird appeared at Jim Henson's memorial service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, singing Kermit the Frog's signature song, "Bein' Green".[23] Performer Spinney nearly broke down several times during the deeply touching performance, which was later described by Life as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event".

21st century

Big Bird made a non-speaking appearance in The West Wing Season 5 episode "Eppur Si Muove". During a visit by The Muppets to the White House, Big Bird sat down on a bench next to C. J. Cregg, who had complained during the episode of past comparisons to Big Bird due to her height.

He appeared briefly at Qualcomm's CES Keynote on January 7, 2013 to show off Sesame Workshop's newest app, 'Big Bird's Words', due in Summer 2013.[24]

He appeared in the final episode of The Colbert Report along with Cookie Monster and dozens of other celebrities singing "We'll Meet Again".

Michelle Obama participates in a Let's Move! and Sesame Street public service announcement taping with Big Bird in the White House Kitchen, 2013.
Big Bird with Michelle Obama on Billy on the Street, with host Billy Eichner.

On February 16, 2015, Big Bird appeared alongside Michelle Obama on Billy on the Street, a comedy game show hosted by Billy Eichner.[25] Before the quiz, Michelle Obama talked about "eat brighter", a campaign to promote healthy food in kids which she and a number of Sesame Street characters, including Big Bird, participated in.[26][27] The short was nominated for an Emmy Award later that year.[28]

Big Bird appeared with Caroll Spinney in a spoof of the Academy Award-winning film Birdman.[29] Published on YouTube on February 19, 2015, the video shows Spinney sitting in a dressing room with a poster of Big Bird behind him. Spinney hears the voice of his alter ego, just as Michael Keaton's character Riggan hears his alter ego Birdman in the movie. He uses telekinesis to throw a box of tissues at the Big Bird poster. The spoof uses similar music to the Birdman film. The Big Birdman spoof appears as if it were shot in one long take, mimicking the long scenes of the movie.[30] It follows Spinney out of the dressing room, down hallways, through doors, and out onto the sidewalk, where he is joined by Big Bird.[31]

In an advertisement for AT&T/DirecTV, Big Bird and other film/television personalities such as David Hasselhoff (as his Knight Rider persona Michael Knight) and the Oklahoma Sooners football team appear interspersed with the daily workings of a major city as someone walks around using the service's TV Everywhere initiative.[32]

At the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors, which was filmed on the day Spinney died, Vogel made an appearance as Big Bird for the event to celebrate Sesame Street being honored by the Kennedy Center.

References
  1. Footage of this episode, including Big Bird's debut, was seen two days earlier on This Way to Sesame Street
  2. "TV's Original SPIDER-MAN Breaks His Silence". July 11, 2019.
  3. @BigBird (March 20, 2017). "Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I can't wait for my party on Wednesday at @CB_TimesSquare!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. "Muppet Bio: Big Bird". July 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008.
  5. Big Bird [@BigBird] (February 5, 2021). "I heard my friends on Twitter were asking about my cousins around the world! It's true, I have a lot of bird cousins in different countries. Here's a little bit about them:" (Tweet). Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. Bradley, Bill (November 2, 2016). "Cookie Monster Finally Tells Us How To Get To 'Sesame Street'". Huffington Post.
  7. Fisch, Shalom M.; Truglio, Rosemarie T. (2014). "G" Is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street. Routledge. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-1-1356-6495-4.
  8. "Awards & Honors | About the Library | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  9. Stephanie St. Pierre. The Story of Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets. New York: Dell Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-440-40453-3.
  10. Jon Stone, Director/Writer. The World of Jim Henson (1994)
  11. Gikow, Louise A. (2009). Sesame Street: A Celebration— Forty Years of Life on the Street. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-57912-638-4.
  12. Itzoff, Dave (October 17, 2018). "Original Big Bird, Caroll Spinney, Leaves 'Sesame Street' After Nearly 50 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  13. Gladwell, Malcolm (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (1st ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316346624. OCLC 42397965.
  14. Gikow, Louise A. (2009). Sesame Street: A Celebration— Forty Years of Life on the Street. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-57912-638-4.
  15. "Did You Know That 'Sesame Street's Big Bird & 'Plaza Sésamo's Abelardo Are Cousins?". Remezcla. August 5, 2019.
  16. Borgenicht, David (1998). Sesame Street Unpaved: Scripts, Stories, Secrets, and Songs. New York: Children's Television Workshop (CTW). p. 34. ISBN 0-7868-6460-5.
  17. Trento, Anthony (April 4, 2008). "The man who feathers Big Bird". CNNMoney.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  18. "Big Bird on Hollywood Squares 1976". YouTube. September 6, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  19. Dickison, Michael. "What, if anything, is Big Bird?". PechaKucha. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  20. "Transcript of Wednesday's presidential debate". CNN Politics. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  21. Fouhy, Beth (October 10, 2012). "Big Bird flies high in 2012 presidential campaign". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  22. "Sesame Workshop Response to Campaign Ads". Sesame Workshop. October 9, 2012.
  23. Barry, Chris (September 7, 2005). "Saying "Goodbye" to Jim". JimHillMedia.com. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  24. Shara Tibken CES 2013: Qualcomm keynote live blog. CNET
  25. Bump, Phillip (February 17, 2015). "Michelle Obama pairs with noted Internet weirdo (and Big Bird!) to talk carrots". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018.
  26. Moore, Frazier (February 17, 2015). "Best random story today: First lady dances with Big Bird". azcentral.com. The Arizona Republic.
  27. Obama, Michelle (June 6, 2016). "Michelle Obama: Marketing Can Make America Healthier". Adweek. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  28. Tribune wire reports staff (July 16, 2015). "Show with Michelle Obama appearance nominated for Emmy". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 18, 2015.
  29. Mazza, Ed (February 23, 2015). "Big Bird Spoofs 'Birdman' As Caroll Spinney Is Stalked By His Alter Ego". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  30. Lee, Ashley (February 20, 2015). "Watch Sesame Street Perfectly Spoof 'Birdman' With One Continuous, Ego-Filled Shot (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  31. "Big Birdman: Sesame Street star spoofs Oscar nominated film". The Independent. Zachary Davies Boren, February 20, 2015.
  32. "AT&T TV Commercial, 'Everywhere'". iSpot.tv. Retrieved February 3, 2017.

Further reading
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