4 ms·

Oscar and Big Bird are two of the most opposite characters I can imagine. When I was a kid (70's and 80's) I had no idea it was the same person. I heard and o

Oscar and Big Bird are two of the most opposite characters I can imagine. When I was a kid (70's and 80's) I had no idea it was the same person. I heard and old interview where he said he couldn't see out of big bird and had a little tv attached to his chest so he could see out. He could remove feathers too, but the bird didn't look so good. (its in the article too). This is where miniturization would be a huge help... When Mr. Hooper died and they tell a confused Big Bird, he's not coming back is one of the saddest moments in TV.

acheron 7y ago
Mr. Spinney narrated the audiobook of Street Gang, a book about the creation of Sesame Street. While listening I realized that his "regular" voice sounds almost but not quite like Big Bird's. With Oscar though he disguises his voice very well.
- giancarlostoro 7y ago
  Kinda like Seth MacFarlane on Family Guy: Brian is mostly his own voice if not entirely his voice.
braythwayt 7y ago
Something both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch had in common was that they normalized and humanized personalities that were usually disparaged in our culture. It's a stretch to say that Big Bird was gay, but Big Bird was certainly an effete, gentle character despite being bigger than anyone else. Big Bird's character let a lot of young boys know that it was ok to be gentle and kind. And Oscar the Grouch... He was a homeless person, living in a garbage can, with some kind of anger issues. This is a character that society tries to hide to this very day. And once again, he was normalized. We learned to see him as a person, not a stereotype. When Sesame Street was good, it was very, very good, and these two characters weren't just good, they were great.
pmiller2 7y ago
> When Mr. Hooper died and they tell a confused Big Bird, he's not coming back is one of the saddest moments in TV. IMO, this alone is worthy of the black bar, not to mention delighting and educating 3 generations of kids over a span of 50 years.

acheron 7y ago

Mr. Spinney narrated the audiobook of Street Gang, a book about the creation of Sesame Street. While listening I realized that his "regular" voice sounds almost but not quite like Big Bird's. With Oscar though he disguises his voice very well.

giancarlostoro 7y ago
Kinda like Seth MacFarlane on Family Guy: Brian is mostly his own voice if not entirely his voice.

braythwayt 7y ago

Something both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch had in common was that they normalized and humanized personalities that were usually disparaged in our culture. It's a stretch to say that Big Bird was gay, but Big Bird was certainly an effete, gentle character despite being bigger than anyone else. Big Bird's character let a lot of young boys know that it was ok to be gentle and kind. And Oscar the Grouch... He was a homeless person, living in a garbage can, with some kind of anger issues. This is a character that society tries to hide to this very day. And once again, he was normalized. We learned to see him as a person, not a stereotype. When Sesame Street was good, it was very, very good, and these two characters weren't just good, they were great.

pmiller2 7y ago

> When Mr. Hooper died and they tell a confused Big Bird, he's not coming back is one of the saddest moments in TV. IMO, this alone is worthy of the black bar, not to mention delighting and educating 3 generations of kids over a span of 50 years.