Sesame Street – Hag, Con & Bex talk Autism, Songs and new kid on the street ‘Julia’ with Muppeteer Stacey Gordon!!!
How do you make a Sesame Street Muppet and the TV show? Bex age 5
Stacey Gordon – Wow, that is such s big question. There is a giant team of people who all have there one job that they do. And they all do it really really well. Now their job is going to be different – so we have a Director on the show. And we have an Assistant Director on the show. We have somebody on the show who just does Props. And that means all the stuff that we touch. We have somebody on the show that just takes care of costumes for the puppets and then there’s a whole other team that just takes care of costumes for the people. And then you have puppeteers. Then we sit on little stalls that roll around much like the ones you might have in gym class. So we sit on these little stalls that we call ‘rollies’ and then the cameras aim on the puppets and we watch on little screens that sees the same thing that the camera sees. So we know exactly what’s going on, on camera.
It’s basically a giant group of people who come together and work as a team. Everybody has their job, everybody fits into the puzzle perfectly. Everyone is so kind – it’s exactly as you would expect it to be on Sesame Street.
What is Autism? Con age 9
Stacey Gordon – Gosh, this is a difficult question. Autism is from my prospective just another way that kidz or adults brains work. Some kidz might be effected by autism in a way that it makes it difficult for them to speak. Some kidz might walk on their tip toes and flap their hands when they’re excited. Some kidz might use picture assisted device so they’re able to push a button and they’re iPad will be able to help them speak. It’s different for so many people. And I think that is really important for people to know.
What’s the difference between puppeteering Julia compared with other characters? Hag age 12
Stacey Gordon – Oh, that’s such a good question. So one of the things we’re trying to do with Julia is for her to not make so much eye contact. The tricky part with puppetry is in order to make a puppet look good on camera you have to make eye contact. You have have the eye focus really spot on. One thing we’re doing with Julia and I sat ‘we’ because we have so many brilliantly talented experienced puppeteers helping me figure this out. But one thing we’re doing is having Julia focus on her bunny – she has a little stuffed bunny called ‘Fluffster’. And she can use that as her her neutral. Whereas Elmo might look right down the camera lens – Julia will look at her bunny and play with that.
Do you think Julia will be as popular as the other characters in the show and what’s your favourite thing about her? Con age 9
Stacey Gordon – Two really good questions. In season 47 Julia is in two episodes and she’s in more episodes in season 48. And I know that they’re just about to write season 49. I had a conversation with a writer last night on what we could do with her and in so excited that’s she’s going to be involved in season 49. I hope that she just becomes on of the regular kidz on the show and you see her in the background, foreground and all over the place. Because that’s where kidz with autism are. They’re everywhere. They’re taking the lead, in supporting roles and everything.
My favourite thing about Julia – I really like how she sees things from a different prospective. She’s able to find things that other characters can’t. She’s able to see things in different ways. And that’s also true of my own son who also has autism.
Why did you choose this character to be a little girl? Hag age 12
Stacey Gordon – I didn’t choose this character to be a little girl, but Sesame Street did. One of the reasons that they did was to help dissolve the myth, there are some people who think girls can’t even have autism. We’re discovering more and more that autism simply presents itself in girls differently than it does in boys. So think girls are often under represented when it comes to autism. And I’m really really proud to bring Julia to life.
The first kidz that I ever worked with in the autism sector was a little girl. In fact I’ve worked with more girls than I have boys.
How many people live in Sesame Street? Bex age 5
Stacey Gordon – How many people live in Sesame Street? I don’t even know the answer to that! They’re uncountable. Do you know who would know? Count Von Count would know!
There’s more than I can count on my fingers and toes that’s for sure.
I like the Sesame Street songs – what’s your favourite song? Bex age 5
Stacey Gordon – My goodness, that is such a good question. I can tell you that Julia’s favourite is ‘Sunny Days’. But my favourite song is ‘La La La’ And it goes “La La La La loving”. That is one of my favourites!!!
Con and Bex chat with Sesame Street Legend Cookie Monster CLICK HERE!!!
Hag and Con chat to Sesame Street stars Elmo, Grover and Abby CLICK HERE!!!
Catch the all-new Muppet Julia in season 47 of Sesame Street airing every day at 3:30pm on Cartoonito!!!
