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 Januepisode 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. The book "G" is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street refers to Big Bird as a canary. Sesame Workshop is said to reject roughly 90 percent of all the feathers selected for use on the costume. 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". Although all the Sesame Street Muppet characters are technically ageless, Big Bird is psychologically written to represent a six-year-old. His personality developed over time from being a dim, slow-witted character into the childlike innocence he is known for today. His body got fluffier, rounder and more well groomed as well. 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 personality was more dopey and "bird-brained" than it later became. 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. For example, in the Dutch version, Big Bird is blue and is called Pino.īig Bird's appearance has changed over the years, as has his personality. According to writer Louise Gikow, the heat inside the suit is "unbearable, and it's extraordinarily difficult to hold Big Bird's head."īig Bird doesn't look the same in some international versions of Sesame Street. Big Bird's body suit weighs ten pounds, and his head weighs four pounds. He is concealed by dressing in a body suit the same color as their chroma key background (something that obviously cannot be done on the main Sesame Street set). For some of the Journey to Ernie segments, a second puppeteer (usually Jim Martin) controls Big Bird's right wing. 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. 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 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. Costume and portrayalīig Bird was originally designed by a drawing from Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love in 1969. Spinney continues to occasionally perform in the bird suit, but these are infrequent. Matt Vogel performs the bird suit on-set the majority of the time, with Spinney either looping his dialogue in-studio later or reading off the script live in-sync with Vogel's puppetry, akin to Vogel's relationship with Jerry Nelson in his final years. Likewise, during instances where Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch (both performed by Spinney) are to be in a scene together, Jim Martin operates Oscar unless Matt Vogel is operating Big Bird, in which cases Oscar is performed by Spinney as usual.Īs of Season 46, Spinney no longer performs in the bird suit full-time. This can also be seen in the Sesame Street Live shows. In such cases, Big Bird must wear a necktie to cover the hole. Rauffer rigged the camera to a harness strapped to Spinney's chest Spinney reported that they called the camera "the electronic bra".ĭuring instances where Spinney (or to a lesser extent, Matt Vogel) is performing on location and cannot get a video feed, a small hole is made in the costume to allow him to see. The camera was set up for Spinney by technician Walt Rauffer, on the suggestion of director Bob Myhrum. Frank Oz was offered the part, but since he hated performing full-body characters, he turned down the job.ĭirector 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. 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. According to The Story of Jim Henson by Stephanie St. He also performed Big Bird when he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 and on Hollywood Squares in the 1970s. Caroll Spinney was sick during the taping of a few first-season episodes, so Daniel Seagren performed Big Bird in those episodes.
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