News

‘Sesame Street’ has added a new Muppet; here’s why Julia’s debut is such a big deal

March 20, 2017 | | Print Article

“Sesame Street” has added a new Muppet to its cast of characters — a little autistic girl named Julia.

In its 48-year history, the PBS children’s program began as an experiment to teach kids, and its introduction of Julia is just the latest example of its producers trying out new things.

The question was, how could they best portray autism.

“I think the big discussion right at the start was, ‘How do we do this? How do we talk about autism?'” veteran 25-year “Sesame Street” writer Christine Ferraro told CBS’s “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl. “It’s tricky because autism is not one thing, because it is different for every single person who has autism. There is an expression that goes, ‘If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.'”

E! Online reported:

The focus on autism began as social impact projects, which included an online animated storybook about a girl named Julia. They became so popular that Rollie Krewson was asked to create a Muppet for Julia, whose design required more consideration than previous puppets. “When she gets upset, she flaps her hands, so she has two separate sets of arms,” he said. “…They would switch on set.”

 

Here’s an example of how the show portrayed Julia:

“60 Minutes” was on hand when Abby Cadabby and Elmo first introduced Big Bird to Julia. He was obviously confused when the little girl appeared oblivious to the giant, bright yellow bird. Who could miss that, right?

“Oh, hi Julia. I’m Big Bird. Nice to meet you,” Big Bird says. “Oh. Julia?”

Here’s another example where the four Muppets decided to play a game of tag.

“Julia’s so excited that she’s jumping up and down. That’s a thing that can be typical of some kids with autism,” Ferraro explained.

And instead of trying to make Julia conform to the other three, Abby Cadabby, Elmo and Big Bird join in on the fun Julia’s having.

“Then it turns into a game where they’re all jumping like her. So, it was a very easy way to show that with a very slight accommodation they can meet her where she is.”

In this segment, Abby Cadabby and Julia sing “Sunny Days,” the show’s theme song.

Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast  HERE

People on social media — especially parents of autistic children — were delighted with the concept.

President Donald Trump has been under fire for suggesting that taxpayer dollars should no longer support PBS. The announcement of his suggested budget has brought cries that he’s going to kill Big Bird.

But what his critics fail to understand is that subscribers will continue to fund public broadcasting, and HBO started airing “Sesame Street” last year.

In 2069 the children’s classic will no doubt be celebrating its 100th year.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Michael Dorstewitz
Latest posts by Michael Dorstewitz (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

PLEASE JOIN OUR NEW COMMENT SYSTEM! We love hearing from our readers and invite you to join us for feedback and great conversation. If you've commented with us before, we'll need you to re-input your email address for this. The public will not see it and we do not share it.

Latest Articles