![]() People were feeling a lot of emotions, and it was almost like everyone had the same realization. “After last summer with the racial unrest that happened and the murder of George Floyd, we collectively as an organization decided that the only way that we could go about dismantling racism was by being bold and explicit,” says Kay Wilson Stallings, the executive vice president of creative and production for Sesame Workshop. The decision to give Wes and Elijah a racial identity-and to have them talk about what it’s like to be Black in America-represents a marked shift in approach. Julia, a Muppet with autism, first appeared in a digital storybook in 2015 before becoming a regular on the show in 2017. Karli, who was introduced in 2019, was in foster care and had a mother who struggled with addiction. Lily, who made her debut in 2011, struggled with food and housing insecurity. More recently, the organization has created Muppets who can help broach other difficult subjects through its Sesame Street in Communities initiative, which provides materials and media for kids in a wide range of situations. ![]() “Children don’t understand words like passing away.” In 2002, Takalani Sesame, the South African version of Sesame Street, introduced Kami, a 5-year-old HIV-positive Muppet, who was an orphan. “We were advised to take the direct approach,” Valeria Lovelace, the show’s former director of research, told the Associated Press at the time. Hooper, died in 1982, producers decided not to simply tell viewers he had gone away-instead they built an episode around death and grief. In the scene, cast member Bob McGrath remarked to Big Bird, "From now on, we'll believe you whenever you tell us something.Since Sesame Street debuted more than five decades ago, in 1969, the show and the nonprofit’s related programming have dealt with tough topics in an age-appropriate way. Snuffleupagus finally appeared as a character for all cast members to see in 1985. "The fear was that if we represented adults not believing what kids said, they might not be motivated to tell the truth." ![]() ![]() "All this was really stemming from a specific set of incidences in the news, claims of sexual abuse going on in some daycare centers, and kids being questioned about what was going on," Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer for Sesame Street, told Mental Floss in 2015. With numerous cases of childhood sexual assault making headlines around that time, show executives did not want to convey to their young audiences that adults may not believe what they say. This continued for 14 years until adult viewers complained that a failure to accept Big Bird's reality, despite his firm belief that Snuffleupagus was real, could send the wrong message to young audiences. While Big Bird discussed his large furry friend with other characters on the show and even insisted he was real, none of them believed Snuffleupagus was anything beyond a figment of Big Bird's imagination. Aloysius Snuffleupagus was introduced to 'Sesame Street' in 1971 as an imaginary companion to Big Bird. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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