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Just how the hell does Big Bird work?

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

According to the Wikipedia, Big Bird of Sesame Street is operated by a puppeteer named Caroll Edwin Spinney, a man born in 1933. Supposedly, he has been operating Big Bird since 1969. There are three elements that need the attention of the puppeteer, the head, the left hand and the right hand. The right hand supposedly is stuffed and hangs loosely from a clear fishing line. So when the left hand goes down, the right hand goes up. This leaves the puppeteer’s right hand free to articulate the head.

I was watching an episode of Sesame Street where Big Bird was playing hide and go seek with Ernie on a magic beanstock. I thought that these chroma key elements in the show were there for budgetary reasons. It’s easier to animate a few frames to simulate speech than it is to build a whole new puppet with will be used only for one segment. The other purpose of using the chroma key technique is to enable a second puppeteer to control the right hand. I don’t think that this is completely the case.

I find it hard to believe that a 75 year old man can roller skate, ice skate, sing and dance all at the same time while operating a puppet.

I think I have deduced the secret of how Caroll Spinney does it. I believe that Spinney has a secret twin brother that he conceals in his abdomen, like Quato from Total Recall. It’s the only way that one man can do so many things simultaneously. So while Spinney operates the head and left hand, his Quato is free to articulate the movements of the right hand. Even well known puppeteers like Jim Henson and Frank Oz refused to portray the character of Big Bird, not because they didn’t like playing full body characters but rather, they were physically unable to do it.

Think about it. Once Spinney is in the Big Bird costume, he can set his Quato free, without being seen by the public. When he gets out of the costume, he just hides his Quato again.

The message of Sesame Street is that we must all live in peace in an urban environment. In that world the city is free of racial tension. We all know that is not the case.

What about Oscar? He lives in a trash can. No wonder he is a grouch. However, this teaches children that it’s ‘okay’ to live in a trash can or dumpster as this is simply a ‘lifestyle choice.’ So the plight of the homeless continues unabated generation after generation. As this show is funded by Public Broadcasting, the government is paying for it. They are the ones perpetuating this message of 'homelessness is okay.' Don’t even talk about the relationship between Bert and Ernie.

But living in a town where people turn a blind eye to reality is the perfect place for a mutant to hold down a job. No one cares that Oscar sleeps in a trash can. No one has tried to stage an intervention on his behalf. No one has tried to get Oscar into a halfway house. In addition, they blissfully ignore a wooly mammoth, which by all rights should not exist, and could possibly once and for all prove Darwin correct. There is a blue creature who subsists on sugar from cookies, possibly an industry shill for refined sugar, but more likely a product of a parent following the food pyramid.

I guess the lesson is this: Find a job that suits your unique talents. Work in a place where no one really hassles you. Live where no one gets in your business.