Sesame Seeds (Episode 2): Big Bird
Today, we’re looking at a muppet who stands eight foot two, with 4,000 yellow turkey feathers and a positive outlook that has captured the hearts of many people, young and old, and a muppet who’s celebrating their birthday today. And that muppet is Big Bird.
Now even though Elmo is the most known Sesame Street character, Big Bird is definitely second, because for the first few decades, he was where Elmo was, but how did it all happen? Let’s find out.
It all started when Sesame Street was screening their first few test pilots, where the muppets and humans were segregated to their own segments throughout the show. But research was showing that kids were WAY more interested in the muppets than they were the humans. So there was only one solution: Bring the muppets to the street.
So Jim Henson immediately started sketching plans for a full bodied muppet that someone could wear on the street setting, and eventually came up with a giant yellow bird.
Once the puppet was built, by Kermit Love, Don Sahlin and Caroly Wilcox, it needed a puppeteer, and Jim chose his newest crew member at the time, Caroll Spinney, for the job.
So Big Bird was one of the many characters that debuted in the very first public episode, and his role was to act as the stand in for the kids at home. He’d question the same things they would question and do the same things they would do. But there was one issue: The way Big Bird’s feathers looked on top of his head, and the way Spinney voiced him, made him seem… not so smart in the head.
For the first season, Big Bird was just kinda the neighborhood doofus. But it was at that point, Spinney decided that if Big Bird was supposed to connect with kids, he shouldn’t be a goofy guy, he should be a kid himself.
So starting in season 2, Big Bird was now a wide eyed, curious 6 year old, always willing to make friends and find out new things, wherever and whenever.
From there Big Bird rose to popularity, not just on the street, but the entire US. For 70s kids watching Sesame Street, every time you saw the bird, you knew everything was gonna be alright. Which was mostly due to Spinney’s endearing performance. With every line he spoke, you felt you were actually watching a six year old bird going through his life.
Though, if you pay any attention to the logistics of the show, you’ll note that Big Bird lives by himself, in a nest located next to the 123 building, with no actual parents of his own. And that’s where the human cast come in. For pretty much the entire show, they were Big Bird’s true parents. And also, his Granny Bird was a frequent visitor as well.
Throughout the 70s and the 80s, the show was focused on Big Bird and his misadventures, and we got to see him make friends with almost everyone on the show, including his best friend, Mr. Snuffleupagus, his teddy bear, Radar, and of course, Mr. Looper. No, wait, Mr. Super! No, no, Mr. Cooper! No, Mr. Hooper! Hooper!
Speaking of him, Big Bird played a crucial part in the episode explaining his death. He was the stand in for kids who are just finding out about death, and coping with it. Big Bird wants to give Mr. Hooper a drawing he made of him, but Maria, Gordon, Bob, Susan, Luis, David and Olivia have to let him know that Mr. Hooper’s dead. Dead and gone forever. And ever since then, the picture (Actually drawn by Caroll himself) hangs in Big Bird’s nest. Never to be sold to anyone. (And yes, people have tried)
Some other of the bird’s misadventures include, going to Camp Echo Rock in season 14, trying to find out how Santa gets down chimneys in Christmas Eve On Sesame Street, and helping an Eygptain prince get to his parents up in the sky in Don’t Eat the Pictures.
Big Bird, being a puppet who can actually walk around, is quite the world traveler. Up to 1989, he’s been to New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, China, and Japan.The last two being accompanied by his dog friend, Barkley. He was also almost gonna go to space, but technical difficulties prevented him. But this turned out to be a good thing, for the people who DID go on the space shuttle died when it exploded. …So yeah, Big Bird dodged death.
Then in 1985, Big Bird was the star of Sesame Street’s first ever movie, Follow That Bird, in which Big Bird gets adopted by a new family of birds, but when it doesn’t work out, has to find his way back home.
Big Bird was also the only SS muppet to ever interact with any of the regular muppet characters, besides Kermit. In episode 318 of the Muppet Show, not only does Big Bird sing a duet with Leslie Uggams, but he also almost gets clocked by Miss Piggy and does get hit on by Gonzo.
Then, in a Muppet Family Christmas, Big Bird has another near death experience. When the turkey the Swedish Chef intended to cook for Christmas dinner directs his attention to Big Bird, he plans to cook him instead, but when he invites Big Bird in and tries to get him ready, Big Bird softens him up by giving him a present to make him feel better about not being able to see his family for Christmas.
So for a decade or so, Sesame Street was Big Bird’s Street, and everyone was living in it, but that all started to change when the 90s started to kick in.
There were less stories about Big Bird, and more stories on Elmo and the other main muppet monsters. Big Bird was still frequently present, yes, but significantly less than he previously was.
During this time period, I started to notice a shift in Big Bird’s personality. Whereas in the early days, Big Bird was meant to be a stand-in for the very little kids at home, they now had Elmo and Zoe, who were even younger than he was for that, so Big Bird sort of adapted into a slightly bigger brother figure to many of the other muppet characters. He was still six years old, he still made mistakes, and he still didn’t know everything, but he seemed to pick up most of the knowledge he previously gained, and used it to act more mature than Elmo and the others.
When the 2000s came, things hadn’t really changed for our bird friend. Though, in season 32, he was the star of a five episode story arc, where a hurricane came to Sesame Street and demolished his nest, but with the help of his friends, it was rebuilt again.
Then in the next season a new segment was developed called Journey to Ernie. A hide and seek game, where Ernie hid and Big Bird seeked. There was just one catch. Big Bird wasn’t performed by Caroll Spinney at all in this segment. Instead, he was performed by a guy named Matt Vogel.
Now Mr. Vogel had been Spinney’s understudy for a few years now, and was the one they would ask to perform Big Bird when Spinney wasn’t available, such was the case for this segment.
And while Big Bird himself wasn’t going through any changes, Caroll and Matt were, as they would take turns performing Big Bird for two decades. Then, starting with 2014, Spinney had to stop physically performing Big Bird due to old age. So Vogel did the puppeteering, and Spinney provided the voice.
As Sesame Street went on, Big Bird continued to appear in many street stories, where he almost left to live in the rainforest, learned about bullying, and almost lost his nest to a mynah bird.
When the street moved to HBO in 2016, the doors to Big Bird’s nest were taken down, and the nest and its belongings were put into a giant tree.
But then in 2018, Caroll Spinney fully retired from his job, and later died in 2019. And just who do you think was left to take over for our tall feathered friend?
If you guessed Matt Vogel, then you’re absolutely correct.
Since Vogel stepped up, Big Bird continued to make his presence known on and off of the street. In the 50th season, Big Bird kicked off a recurring segment, where he and Nina would journey all across America and interact with different kids from different states.
And now, not much has changed for our bird. He’s still around, and he’s still loved by millions. Maybe even billions. To me, it’s not really a surprise why Big Bird has lasted as long as he has. He was created to help teach many lessons about life: Asking questions, being proud of yourself, dealing with emotions, believing in others, finding out where you belong and remembering that the alphabet is not one giant word.
A lot of people don’t like how, compared to Elmo and Abby, Big Bird seems to be sidelined. And I get that, if I grew up in the 60s, 70s or even the 80s, I’d probably feel the same way. But I really feel that where Big Bird is now is a good fit for him. It almost feels like character growth. After years of fun adventures, asking questions and learning from his mistakes, he’s matured and now giving his monster and fairy friends room to do the same.
And really, if you were gonna make any SS muppet the big brother figure, Big Bird is kinda perfect for it. I mean, he's a gentle giant, who’s wise beyond his years, and makes you feel safe and secure everytime he gives you a big feathery hug. I’d sure want a big brother like that, and I’m sure many other kids at home would, too!
Whether he’s roller skating, singing, drawing, playing basketball or just giving hugs, I think we can all agree Big Bird is a wonderful bird, and Sesame Street would not be the same without him. So it gives me great pleasure to wish Big Bird a happy happy birthday, and infinitely more.
Well, that concludes another episode. And because it’s his birthday, I’ll let Big Bird give the final words. What do you say, BB?
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