JIM HENSEN STUDIOS DESIGNERS, SESAME STREET, US POLITICS & CHRISTCHURCH CITY HUMOR
One for the American & Christchurch kids:
NZ asked today: So who even knew Big Bird had a Christchurch designer?
When I lived in Hollywood, I used to go to Charlie Chaplin studios for production workshops. I had made a reality TV show pilot, and producers at the studios liked the idea.
The studio was in the neighborhood of where I lived in Hollywood. It was historic as it was where The Muppets were first made. Strangely enough to, Michelle Obama was the biggest Sesame Street fan when I lived in the USA.
In today’s Hollywood gossip: Mario Lavandeira‘s Hollywood website gets to grips with a week of US politics. Puppets were the week’s theme.
“Elmo and Big Bird aren’t going down without protest. When Mitt Romney made his now-infamous remarks about PBS, threatening to axe its funding to tackle USA’s national debt, (currently usurping $1 trillion milli vanlli over-printed US dollars each year) he shocked us all.
So Michael Bellavia, an animation executive, had the idea for a Million Muppet March. Chris Mecham had a facebook page of the same name. One phone call later and the two are now working together on their Sesame Street march idea.
Set for November 3 at the National Mall in D.C., the march created by these two Sesame Street fans is gaining steam! So be prepared for a lot of puppets and skits. “
Anyway, by referencing Sesame Street, Michelle put an emphasise on education, family, community, fun when she appeared on the show. She was goofy, quirky, zany good fun when she did.
And what of this Christchurch designer linked to the story?
Kurt Bayer writes: “When Christchurch-born dancer Christopher Lyall helped transform a squiggly Jim Henson sketch into a feathered yellow giant, little did he know his creation would delight children across the world for generations.
And he certainly didn’t think his beloved Big Bird would help decide who will be the next President of the United States.
“I just shake my head, he shouldn’t be used that way,” Mr Lyall said yesterday from his earthquake-damaged home overlooking Christchurch.
The 75-year-old, who lives alone with two pug dogs, was reluctant to talk about Big Bird yesterday.
“It was a long time ago,” he said, referring to 1969, when he and long-term partner Kermit Love brought to life a thumbnail sketch by Henson, the creator of the Muppets, for a new TV show to educate preschoolers.”
That’s even fuzzier zany than Michelle appearing on the show in the first instance. Gotta give it to Christchurch. A surprising town of hardy survivors. Much tougher than the original Big Bird. Like, for reals.
[Pics: You Are Here & InHabitat]
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 14.10.12~
