Ever since Sesame Street first hit the airwaves in 1969, it’s been enchanting kids and parents alike with its irresistible blend of heart, whimsy, and wholesome educational programming. And although the show has evolved gradually over the years, it looks like it’s in for a major shake-up starting next season. The Jim Henson Company has announced that they will be making Big Bird’s fingers 15 times longer so that he can point at the children on the show from farther away.
It looks like this is going to be a great new era for the Sesame Street universe!
Big Bird is one of Sesame Street’s most iconic and beloved characters, but up until now, if he wanted to point at a child on the show, he had to be pretty close to the kid and use his regular fingers to indicate where the child was. If the child was too far away for Big Bird to point at with his short, normal fingers, Big Bird was simply out of luck and he was unable to clearly point at the kid.
But thanks to The Jim Henson Company’s special brand of magical genius, that’s all about to change! Now that Big Bird’s finger will be so much longer, he’ll be able to point at more kids from pretty much any distance. Big Bird can now point at children from across the street, from the other side of a river, and from the driver’s seat of a moving car. There is basically no location on Sesame Street where Big Bird will not be able to point at a child from far away and then whisper his amazing new catchphrase, “Here’s one of the children I was thinking about.”
So cool. Why couldn’t this have happened back when we were kids?
According to The Jim Henson Company, Big Bird’s new, long fingers are going to be very difficult for him to live with. He will have to drag his wonderful fingers behind him on the ground because they will be too long for him to hold in the air for more than a few minutes at a time. Big Bird will also have to protect them by sheathing each one of his fingers in its own pool cue bag. When it’s time for Big Bird to point at a child, he will have to use his mouth to pull the pool cue bag off of his long finger and swallow the bag like a worm before extending his unsheathed finger to indicate the child he wants to point at. It will be a more difficult life for Big Bird, but it will all be worth it because he’ll be able to use those fingers to point at distant children!
From the footage that The Jim Henson Company has released of long-fingered Big Bird so far, we can tell it’s going to be a true delight. In one amazing scene, a child is sitting silently on the floor of an empty room on the top floor of a three-story building, and after 15 minutes, a long, yellow finger slithers through the open three-story window and points at the child, who then whispers the word, “Me.” And that’s just a little taste of what’s in store for kids and parents who love Sesame Street!
Incredible. If you’ve got kids, they’re definitely going to love watching Big Bird point at children from enchanting new distances. What an exciting new chapter for the beloved children’s show!
