5 ms·

Can you tell me more about the Elmoization of Sesame Street?

netfl0 7y ago
> It premiered on November 16, 1998, as part of the show's structural change and originally ran fifteen minutes at the end of each episode until 2009, but was then rebooted in 2017. It was designed to appeal to younger viewers and to increase ratings, which had fallen in the past decade. The segment is presented from the perspective of a three-year-old child as represented by its host, the Muppet Elmo, performed by Kevin Clash in the original series and Ryan Dillon in the 2017 reboot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vhold 7y ago
Sesame street was considerably funkier, psychedelic and kind of gritty. Elmo was a herald of a much cleaner and sort of infantilized Sesame Street. The massive commercial success of the Elmo toys especially made it feel like it had become very commercial and a lot less grassroots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4
- MisterOctober 7y ago
  Totally -- the "Bridgekeeper," that animated circle bit with Phillip Glass music in the background, "123456789101112" with Pointer Sisters, Cab Calloway, and generally more realish kids and grown-ups on the set -- as a kid, I always felt like Sesame Street was cool and hip, as opposed to some "kid's show" that was talking down to me
Spellman 7y ago
copy-pasta from another of my comments For a reference essay on the shift from Big Bird to Elmo: https://kotaku.com/how-elmo-ruined-sesame-street-1746504585 https://kotaku.com/how-elmo-ruined-sesame-street-1746504585 Major thesis: "It started in small ways. A lot of stories used to be based around Big Bird, who was psychologically characterized as a six-year-old. And in a lot of ways, this was ideal—six years old was on the older end of Sesame Street’s age demographic, and Big Bird served as both a role model and a peer to his audience. Big Bird’s comparative maturity also meant that he could project a wide range of emotions—he was ‘old enough’ to understand mature concepts, such as the permanence of Mr. Hooper’s death." "Elmo stories, on the other hand, tend to affirm and celebrate the child’s perspective. Rarely, if ever, is Elmo’s innocence challenged, or is he forced to think about someone’s happiness other than his own. He spends most of his time hanging out with Zoe, Abby, Telly, and Baby Bear—Muppets who share his emotional maturity, and unlike Grover, Kermit, and Ernie, do nothing to push him. In fact, he is the de facto leader of his group—the dialogue lowers to Elmo’s level, rather than rising to an older character’s. And while this is cute and fun, it gets old fast, and it doesn’t really go anywhere. Elmo is learning about counting to four and different shapes, but he’s not learning a whole lot of life lessons."

> It premiered on November 16, 1998, as part of the show's structural change and originally ran fifteen minutes at the end of each episode until 2009, but was then rebooted in 2017. It was designed to appeal to younger viewers and to increase ratings, which had fallen in the past decade. The segment is presented from the perspective of a three-year-old child as represented by its host, the Muppet Elmo, performed by Kevin Clash in the original series and Ryan Dillon in the 2017 reboot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo%27s_World

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

vhold 7y ago

Sesame street was considerably funkier, psychedelic and kind of gritty. Elmo was a herald of a much cleaner and sort of infantilized Sesame Street. The massive commercial success of the Elmo toys especially made it feel like it had become very commercial and a lot less grassroots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwio5qGg8o4

MisterOctober 7y ago
Totally -- the "Bridgekeeper," that animated circle bit with Phillip Glass music in the background, "123456789101112" with Pointer Sisters, Cab Calloway, and generally more realish kids and grown-ups on the set -- as a kid, I always felt like Sesame Street was cool and hip, as opposed to some "kid's show" that was talking down to me

Spellman 7y ago

copy-pasta from another of my comments For a reference essay on the shift from Big Bird to Elmo: https://kotaku.com/how-elmo-ruined-sesame-street-1746504585 https://kotaku.com/how-elmo-ruined-sesame-street-1746504585 Major thesis: "It started in small ways. A lot of stories used to be based around Big Bird, who was psychologically characterized as a six-year-old. And in a lot of ways, this was ideal—six years old was on the older end of Sesame Street’s age demographic, and Big Bird served as both a role model and a peer to his audience. Big Bird’s comparative maturity also meant that he could project a wide range of emotions—he was ‘old enough’ to understand mature concepts, such as the permanence of Mr. Hooper’s death." "Elmo stories, on the other hand, tend to affirm and celebrate the child’s perspective. Rarely, if ever, is Elmo’s innocence challenged, or is he forced to think about someone’s happiness other than his own. He spends most of his time hanging out with Zoe, Abby, Telly, and Baby Bear—Muppets who share his emotional maturity, and unlike Grover, Kermit, and Ernie, do nothing to push him. In fact, he is the de facto leader of his group—the dialogue lowers to Elmo’s level, rather than rising to an older character’s. And while this is cute and fun, it gets old fast, and it doesn’t really go anywhere. Elmo is learning about counting to four and different shapes, but he’s not learning a whole lot of life lessons."