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Sesame Street is an American children's television show co-created by Joan Ganz Cooney and produced by the non-profit Sesame Workshop (formerly known as Children's Television Workshop until 2000). The series, which debuted in November 1969, is known for educational content and images communicated through the use of puppetry, animation, short films, humor, and cultural references. It has aired on public television stations owned by PBS (National Educational Television (NET) until October 1970) since its debut, with first-run airings of episodes moving to premium cable channel HBO in 2016. Starting with Season 51, the series' new episodes now move to HBO's streaming service, HBO Max.

Sesame Street was the first children's television show to use educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content and the first show to study its educational effects on children. The program was intended to teach preschool children such things as letters and numbers, socialization and cooperation; but through the use of its humor, cultural references, celebrity guest appearances, and Jim Henson's Muppets, the show was also able to have a strong appeal to parents. Sesame Street has been part of the childhoods of over 77 million Americans, spawned twenty international versions, and holds the record for the most Emmy Awards won by a children's television series.

History with the Macy's Parade[]

Floats[]

Sesame Street has been featured numerous times in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1974, with six unique floats based on the series, all or which have utilized similar formats. These have generally featured the vast majority of the show's Muppet and human characters singing songs of their own (mostly from Sesame Street itself), sometimes accompanied in recent years by popular musicians.

The original float made its debut in 1974, with its design featuring two buildings; the "123 Sesame Street" brownstone, and Hooper's Store. Also featured were a streetlight with the Sesame Street sign located at the front of the float, and a ramshackle fence at the back, decorated with numbers and letters. Big Bird was perched on the roof, Cookie Monster and other Muppet characters stuck their heads out of the windows, and human cast members Mr. Hooper, Gordon, and Bob stood in front.

After the debut of the Kermit the Frog balloon in 1977, it mostly rode in front of it or behind the balloon. The float was retired after the 1978 Parade, making four appearances.

For the 1979 Parade, Children's Television Workshop would commission a brand new float for the show's tencennial. Like the previous float, it would feature the cast members and kids appearing in front. These character placements would be the layout for all of the floats to come out of the show.

Originally, live piegons were placed in the piegon coop on top of the float. However, worried people sent in letters about whether the pigeons had enough food and water, so they were replaced by wooden replicas a year later.

The Sesame Street float was altered in 1980 to promote the new Sesame Street Live show, including walk-around characters, then was retired for over a decade after 1982. While the Sesame Street float was absent from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Sesame Street Muppets (and a couple of walkarounds) appeared in The Rocket Car in 1984, and Ernie and Bert appeared in walkaround form in 1988 and 1990. In 1990, respectively, they appeared atop The Watering Can float, performing "Do You Like Me?". Of note, this would be the last time Jim Henson's vocals were used in the Parade.

The Sesame Street float returned in 1994, with an abstract design of the street, with most attention paid to the Furry Arms Hotel, made from stacked-up books based on the show's current literacy curriculum. Toy manufacturer Applause Inc. sponsored the float for its first year, but by 1995, Children's Television Workshop would sponsor it. The float was retired after the 1997 Parade. Parts of the float still survive today, including one of the pencils and the iconic street sign, which are on display at the Parade Studio.

In 1998, the previous float was replaced by a new float entitled, "Friends for LIFE!", where the street is represented as a pop-up crayon drawing, with doors and windows opening and closing like in a lift-and-peek book. According to a drawing located on the front of the float, it was drawn and colored by Big Bird. In 2000, to comply with Children's Television Workshop rebranding to Sesame Workshop, the "CTW" on the street sign was replaced by the current "123." The float was retired in 2001.

In 2002, a Sesame Street float was created. The design was decorated to feature painted faces of many children from around the world, as a message about peace and universal goodwill. The American cast was joined by a group of internationalm Sesame Muppets, including Filfil and Nimnim from Egypt's Alam Simsim, Hu Hu Zhu from China's Zhima Jie, Rumpel and Samson from Germany's Sesamstrasse, Kareem, Dafi and Haneen from the Palestinian Shara'a Simsim, Abelardo and Lola from Mexico's Plaza Sésamo, Zeliboba and Businka from the Russian Ulitsa Sezam, and Moishe Oofnik from the Israeli Rechov Sumsum and Shalom Sesame. That year, the cast sang "We Are All Earthlings". Footage from the 2002 appearance with the international Sesame Muppets was featured in the 2003 exhibit video, Puppet Conference, made for the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.

It would later be redesigned in 2003, now including only the cast of the regular Sesame Street television program, and was retired after its second appearance.

The current Sesame Street float, entitled 123 Sesame Street, was introduced in 2004, and measures 32 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 2 stories tall,[1] and represents the show's history with the classic brownstone while also being what its designer, Louis Henry Mitchell, called "modern and visually exciting."[2] In 2006, the float collided with an NYPD cruiser, damaging the car in the process, with no discernible damage to the float.

In 2009, the float gained a new sponsor: the National Association of Music Merchants, or NAMM. In 2012 they were replaced with online greeting card site Cardstore, but by 2013 Sesame Workshop had gained the sponsorship of the float again, and remains the sponsor of the float to this day.

To celebrate the show's 50th anniversary during the 2019 Parade, the cast and Muppets, joined by the National Dance Institute, kicked off the route through Herald Square and led the parade with a partially pre-taped musical number. Part of the opening was taped on the Sesame Street set at Kaufman Astoria Studios (on November 15), followed by on-location shots throughout the city. The opening featured cameos from celebrities, including Jane Krakowski, Al Roker, Darren Criss, Justin Long, Lucy Liu, and Lester Holt.

The float was scheduled to appear during the re-imagined 2020 Parade with Christopher Jackson performing on the float alongside the cast, but was booted off in late November due to rising cases of COVID-19. As such, 2020 marked the first time since 1993 where the Parade had been without a Sesame Street float. In lieu of the float's planned appearance, select characters from the show; Big Bird, Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Rosita, and Grover; would make a remote appearance from their home at Sesame Street for a special Thanksgiving message during that year's telecast.

The float returned in the 2021 Parade, with the addition of four new Muppet characters, including Tamir and Gabrielle, two African-American Muppets, Elmo's adopted puppy, Tango and the latest Muppet character, Ji-Young, the first Korean-American character on the show. Most of these characters reappeared for the float's 2022 appearance. The cast of Sesame Street then reappeared to celebrate yet another Thanksgiving on their float in the 2023 Parade. The float's appearance in the 2023 Parade had Ashley Park peforming alongside the cast, the first guest star to appear on the float since 2018. Also, in the 2023 Parade, the characters on the float itself sang "Best Christmas Ever" for the second year in a row. As such, 2023 marked the first time where a song was performed on the float multiple years in a row since "Keep Christmas With You" was performed during several parades in the early 1980s.

Balloons[]

Several Sesame Street characters have also appeared in balloon form. Big Bird became the first Sesame Street character to receive a giant balloon; his debuted in 1988 and remained in its original version until 2001 when it was replaced with a second version that appeared until 2006. A Super Grover balloon debutted in 2003 and remained until 2006; and Abby Cadabby, one of the show's newer Muppet characters, got her own balloon in 2007, lasting until 2009.

Since the Parade's last Sesame Street balloon was retired, the Sesame Street float has been preceded/followed by non-Muppet characters such as Greg Heffley, Hello Kitty, Harold the Policeman, PAW Patrol's Chase, Thomas the Tank Engine and Jett from Super Wings. Sesame Workshop also sponsored a trio of novelty balloons, the ABC Bouncing Balls, which appeared from 1988 to 2000, before a brief return in both 2002 and 2003.

Songs Featured[]

During most appearances of a Sesame Street float, the float would stop at Herald Square and perform a song for the NBC telecast. Below, you will find a list of characters that have appeared on or alongside the float, in addition to their NBC telecast performance numbers.

Additionally, Alan Muraoka has choreographed the float performance in the 2001, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Parades.

The song performed at the 2019 Parade was nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in the 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards.

Bold indicates the special guest performer on the floats.

Year Song Characters
1974 Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Mr. Hooper, Gordon, Bob, Count von Count, Bert
1975 Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch
1976 "What's the Name of That Song?" Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, and Rodeo Rosie
1978 Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, and Count von Count
1979 Big Bird, Cookie Monster, The Count, Grover, Herry Monster, Barkley, Gordon, Mr. Hooper Maria, Kermit Love
1980 "Keep Christmas With You" Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster, Telly Monster, The Count, Deena, Barkley, Oscar, Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper, Kermit Love, Ernie and Bert (walk-arounds)
1981 "Keep Christmas With You" Big Bird, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Barkley, Cookie Monster (walk-around), Bob, Gordon, Maria, Mr. Hooper, Susan, Kermit Love, Sesame Street Live characters
1982 "Keep Christmas With You" Big Bird, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Herry Monster, Ingrid, Oscar, The Count (walk-around), Maria, Mr. Hooper, Gordon, Susan
1984 Big Bird, Oscar, The Count, Bob, Maria, Olivia, Susan, walk-around Ernie, walk-around Bert, walk-around Honkers
1988 "Sing" Ernie and Bert (walk-arounds), Bob, David, Gordon, Maria, Gina, Miles

Note: Despite what Sandy Duncan mentions in her introduction to the cast, Susan was not in attendance.

1990 "Do You Like Me?" Ernie and Bert walk-arounds
1994 "Walking Proud" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Prairie Dawn Cookie Monster, Betty Lou, Roxie Marie, Oscar the Grouch, Telly, Grundgetta, The Count, Ernie, Bert, Grover, Joey and Davey Monkey, Rosita, Alice Snuffleupagus, Carlo, Gina, Celina, Bob, Susan, Maria, Gabi, Mr. Handford, Jamal, Angela
1995 "Believe in Yourself" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Betty Lou, Baby Bear, Rosita, Bert, Ernie, Grover, The Count, Humphrey, Cookie Monster, Alice Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch, Grundgetta, Telly, Carlo, Gina, Celina, Luis, Bob, Ruthie, Susan, Lexine
1996 "A Little Bit" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Betty Lou, Cookie Monster, Grover, The Count, Alice Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie, Bert, Rosita, Telly, Grundgetta, Roxie Marie, Joey and Davey Monkey, Carlo, Celina, Bob, Linda, Ruthie, Gina, Maria, Gordon, Susan, Gabi
1997 "Rubber Ducky" Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, The Count, Grundgetta, Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, Alice Snuffleupagus, Rosita, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, Betty Lou, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Maria, Bob, Gina, Susan, Ruthie.
1998 "Sing" Ernie, Bert, Elmo, Telly, Herry Monster, Cookie Monster, Grover, Rosita, Baby Bear, AM Monster, Maria, Gabi, Gina, Alan, Miles, Bob, Linda, Susan, Gordon

Note: Alice and Big Bird do not appear this year, as well as 1999, presumably due to weather conditions. However, Alice's performer, Judy Sladky, can be spotted on the float.

1999 "How Do You Do?" Ernie, Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Rosita, Grundgetta, Telly, Grover, Count von Count, Stinky, Elizabeth, AM Monsters, Bob, Susan, Luis, Alan, Gabi, Miles

Note: Despite Big Bird not being on the float, his voice can still faintly be heard in the song's audio if one listens closely.

2000 "Reach Your Hand Up High" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Grover, Telly, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, Lulu, Elizabeth, Rosita, Count von Count, Alice, Barkley, Oscar, Narf, Mel, Stinky, Mooba, Alan, Susan, Luis, Miles, Gabi
2001 "A Little Bit" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Gordon, Bob, Maria, Gina, Alan, Barkley, Alice, Telly, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Rosita, Count von Count, Baby Bear, Humphrey, Ingrid, Baby Natasha (Oscar also appears, but is not seen on the NBC telecast
2002 "We Are All Earthlings" U.S. characters: Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Bert, Grover, Ernie, The Count, Oscar, Rosita, Telly, Alan, Bob, Gina, Gordon, Miles, Gabi, Luis, Maria

International: Filfil, Nimni, Businka, Hu Hu Zhu, Rumpel, Samson, Kareem, Dafi, Haneen, Abelardo, Lola, Zeliboba, Moishe Oofnik

2003 "Good Morning World" Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, Herry, Mumford, Cookie Monster, Telly, Baby Bear, The Count, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, Bert, Ernie, Rosita, Oscar, Alice, Barkley, Gordon, Bob, Gina, Alan, Luis, Maria, Gabi, Miles
2004 "The Street We Live On" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Rosita, Grover, Prairie Dawn, The Count, Herry, Karina the Ballerina, Alice, Barkley, Bob, Luis, Gabi, Miles, Alan, Gina
2005 "Dancing Shoes" Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Alice, Barkley, Cookie Monster, Prairie Dawn, Ernie, Bert, Grover, Rosita, Telly, Baby Bear, Herry, The Count, Murray, Gordon, Susan, Bob, Miles, Gabi, Luis, Alan, Gina
2006 "Another Sunny Day" Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Alan, Prairie Dawn, Cookie Monster, Grover, Mr. Johnson, Rosita, Herry Monster, AM Monster, Penguin, Oscar, Ernie, Bert, Telly, Hoots the Owl, Gabi, Gina, Susan, Luis, Bob, Gordon, Miles
2007 "It Feels Good When You Sing a Song" Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Alan, Gina, Miles, Gabi, Luis, Maria, Hoots, Barkley, Grover, Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, Alice, Rosita, Prairie Dawn, Murray, Oscar, The Count, Bert, Ernie, Bob, Susan, Telly, Grundgetta
2008 "Songs" Lang Lang, Abby Cadabby, Alice, Barkley, Big Bird, Elmo, Zoe, Alan, Bob, Herry, Telly, Baby Bear, Grover, Grundgetta, The Count, Prairie Dawn, Ernie, Bert, Murray Monster, Karina the Ballerina, Rosita, Oscar, Leela, Maria, Susan, Gina, Luis, Gordon, Gabi, Miles
2009 Medley: "Sing" and "What Makes Music" Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Zoe, Ernie, Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Murray, The Count, Oscar, Baby Bear, Telly, Rosita, Leela, Bob, Luis, Maria, Gordon
2010 "Music Deep Inside" Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Zoe, Ernie, Bert, Grover, Rosita, Cookie Monster, Telly, Baby Bear, Oscar, Murray, The Count, Leela, Alan, Bob, Gordon, Gina, Susan, Gabi, Maria, Luis
2011 "Meet Me On Sesame Street" Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Murray, The Count, Ernie, Bert, Zoe, Abby, Rosita, Grover, Telly, Baby Bear, Oscar, Maria, Luis, Leela, Alan, Gordon, Bob, Gina, Susan
2012 "What I Am" Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Murray, Zoe, Rosita, Grover, Count von Count, Oscar, Telly, Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Alan, Leela, Bob, Gordon, Gina, Luis, Susan
2013 "Somebody Come and Play" Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Grover, Cookie, Oscar, The Count, Murray, Zoe, Telly, Rosita, Baby Bear, Ernie, Bert, Herry, Mando, Alan, Leela, Maria, Luis
2014 "Growing" Mando, Leela, Alan, Maria, Gordon, Elmo, Abby, Grover, Big Bird, Oscar, Murray, The Count, Rosita, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Zoe, Baby Bear, Telly, Prairie Dawn
2015 "Smarter, Stronger, Kinder" Alan, Nina, Questlove, Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Rosita, Grover, Prairie Dawn, Telly, The Count, Zoe, Baby Bear, Ovejita, Oscar
2016 "Try a Little Kindness" Alan, Nina, Christopher Jackson, Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Rosita, Grover, Prairie Dawn, Telly, The Count, Herry, Zoe, Baby Bear
2017 "We Come Together" Alan, Nina, Leslie Odom Jr., Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Rosita, Cookie Monster, Zoe, Telly, Prairie Dawn, Herry, Count von Count, Rudy with child dancers Kenneth Aikens, Anais and Mirabelle Lee, Sammi Erdheim, and Nate Grospe
2018 "Plan the Play" Anika Noni Rose, Alan, Nina, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Rosita, Julia, Cookie Monster, Gonger, Rudy, Grover, Prairie Dawn, Count von Count, Zoe, Telly, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Sheep
2019 "Hooray, Hooray, We're on Our Way" Alan, Nina, Charlie, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar, Grover, Count von Count, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Gonger, Prairie Dawn, Rosita, Zoe, Telly, Julia, Rudy, Herry

Pre-taped segment: Mr. Johnson, Don Music, Penguins, Chicken, Turkey

Cut characters: Star, Penguin, Cow

2021 "See Us Coming Together" Big Bird, Elmo, Tango, Abby Cadabby, Ji-Young, Tamir, Gabirelle, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Julia, Rosita, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Lamb and Kermit the Forg
2022 "Best Christmas Ever" Alan, Nina, Big Bird, Elmo, Tango, Abby Cadabby, Tamir, Gabrielle, Rudy, Cookie Monster, Ji-Young, Count von Count, Julia, Rosita, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Snowman, Oscar
2023 "Best Christmas Ever" Ashley Park, Alan, Nina, Big Bird, Elmo, Tango, Abby Cadabby, Tamir, Gabrielle, Rudy, Cookie Monster, Ji-Young, Julia, Rosita, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Oscar

See also[]

Notes and references[]

  1. " "Floating Beauty: The 81st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Rides Down Broadway on Theatrical Moving Stages", Macy's press release, November 2007.
  2. Recount by the float designer, Louis Henry Mitchell
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