Big Bird Was Small & Elmo is a Therapist? Sesame Street Is Having a Rough Week
What happens when a sunny day doesn’t actually sweep the clouds away? It has been an interesting week for Sesame Street, especially for iconic characters Big Bird and Elmo. Last week, fans were confused when Sesame Street‘s social media accounts showed Big Bird had shrunk down from eight feet tall to the size of a paper clip. As the week went on, he struggled being so tiny and even described himself as just “Bird” now. He tried to get help but his friends couldn’t even see him… which begs the question, who was taking all of those pictures and videos and posting them to social media?
Uh oh! Does anyone know how to make me big Big Bird again? pic.twitter.com/NansEbvxQg
— Big Bird (@BigBird) January 24, 2024
Jokes aside, he grew on January 30 and posted, “What an adventure the last 7 days have been. I learned so much by seeing the world from a different perspective.” The A.V. Club seemingly dug up the reason why Big Bird shrank and posted his journey online. It is a throwback to a 2005 episode of the PBS show. In the episode, Big Bird is shrunk by accident by the Amazing Mumford, Sesame Street‘s magician. Luckily, by the next episode, Big Bird gets Mumford to set him back to normal. It was also likely a message for kids and adults alike as Sesame Street posted, “Thank you to all that checked in to #HelpBigBird. Today and everyday, let’s #HelpEachOther.”
Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?
— Elmo (@elmo) January 29, 2024
Around the same time, Big Bird’s buddy Elmo posted an innocent question which garnered a much bigger reply than he expected. He posted, “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” The post quickly went viral with people replying by sharing their struggles, stressors, and even emotional traumas. After the responses, Elmo reminded everyone that they should check in on their friends and posted a link to a mental health resource. Who knows the reason behind the post in the first place, but it seems that it opened up a very real discussion about mental health. Elmo later posted, “Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.”
CTW/Everett Collection
Aaron Bisman, VP of Audience Development at Sesame Workshop shared about the viral and eye-opening moment which brought up a lot of nostalgia for people, “Elmo is the lovable furry monster audiences have a deep connection with. The power of this tweet is the difference between a coworker asking you ‘how are you doing?’ and a good friend asking you. Leveraging the interest in Elmo’s tweet to posting the quote tweet from Sesame Street with resources is exactly what Sesame Workshop was created to do.”
Kid Stuff
June 2018
Unleash your inner child by reliving your favorite kids TV shows, cartoons, toys and more!
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