Oscar Grouches Up the Oscars

The Academy Awards are this Sunday, February 27th, and I for one am very, very excited (even though Toy Story 3 probably won't win Best Picture). And while I'd love to dedicate this post to filling out all of my predictions for the Oscar winners, you probably just wouldn't care--however, if I were to tell you that Oscar the Grouch has made his predictions for the Oscar winners, you'd obviously just eat it up.

Well then, Muppet fans... slap on your bibs and dine on this wonderful video of Oscar the Grouch and his 2011 Oscar predictions via AOL's "You've Got..." series!



Did ya see it? Good! Now SCRAM!

Image courtesy of BleedingCool.com, available on a t-shirt as well.







The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Weekly Muppeteer Wednesdays: Caroll Spinney

Today's Weekly Muppeteer Wednesday article was written by Tom Stroud with edits by Ryan Dosier.

CAROLL SPINNEY

Born...
December 26, 1933

Muppets...
Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bruno the Trashman

WHO IS CAROLL SPINNEY?

Caroll Spinney was born on December 26, 1933, in Waltham, Massachusetts. Before performing with puppets he expressed his talents as an artist, attending The Art Institute of Boston's College of Art & Design. He created a comic strip while in the military, under the name Ed Spinney. After his time in the military, he worked on several television shows, including Rascal Rabbit in Las Vegas and The Judy and Goggle Show in Boston. Caroll also created two original puppet characters, Picklepuss (pictured at right) and Pop, for the Boston broadcast of Bozo's Big Top.

In the late 1960s, Caroll met Jim Henson after a stage performance of Caroll's that hadn't gone well. As Caroll often notes, Jim came up to him after his failed performance and told Caroll "I like what you were trying to do," then offering him a job working on a children's television program that Henson was developing. Caroll, of course, accepted the job and when Sesame Street began he starred as the two Muppets designed for life with the humans on the street: Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

As Big Bird, Caroll became a world-famous character--one he would talk about by saying, "It's like growing up to be Mickey Mouse--only taller!" The Bird quickly became Sesame Street's break-out star, garnering his own globe-trotting television specials such as Big Bird in China and Big Bird in Japan. Later, Big Bird and Caroll starred in their first feature film, Follow That Bird.

Caroll continues to be a very talented artist in his spare time. He illustrated the 1976 Sesame Street book "How to Be a Grouch" and drew all of the pictures of the adults that Big Bird hands out after Mr. Hooper had died. Caroll's work is currently on display in an exhibit titled "The Art of Caroll Spinney" Philidelphia at the ToonSeum and will be on display through January 30th.

In recent years it has become harder for Caroll to perform the full-bodied Big Bird due to the demand of the puppet, so sometimes Big Bird is performed by Caroll's hand-picked understudy Matt Vogel. Matt mostly performs Big Bird for Caroll in scenes that require green screen and usually Caroll loops the dialogue over Matt's.

Caroll has stated numerous times that he can never "imagine willingly walking away from Big Bird and Oscar." His dedication to the craft of puppetry, Sesame Street, and the characters of Big Bird and Oscar has been unwavering for the past 41 years, and it appears that it will continue on and on until Caroll physically cannot perform the characters any longer. I know that every Sesame Street fan, including me, is incredibly happy to know that.

 

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

"?" with Jarrod Fairclough: Why Does Oscar Wear a Lid Hat?

"?" with Jarrod Fairclough

Because Asking Questions is a Good Way to Find Out Things

Question: Why do drawings of Oscar the Grouch wear a garbage can lid hat? Part 2

Hello Muppet fans, and welcome to part 2 (technically part 3, but we won’t count Katy Perry’s article) of my series of articles.

You may recall a little while ago I questioned why Oscar the Grouch is always drawn with a garbage can lid on his head, when he is never seen like this on the show. I asked for theories and boy oh boy, did I get a hundred e-mails in one night!

...Of course none of them were from you. I totally forgot that putting your e-mail on the internet results in spammers getting ahold of it. Although, on the bright side, I did inherit $250 million from a Nigerian Prince I didn’t even know, so, hey... Every cloud...

But that’s cool, perhaps “?” won’t be much of an audience participation segment.

I did get one e-mail from Beauregard from the Muppet Central Forums, who gave a bit of a theory which makes a fair bit of sense...  Here it is, in all its copied and pasted form:

"Hello there. Beauregard here from the old Muppet Central boards. Wanted to weigh in on the scandal that is going down over at The Muppet Mindset. Oh, wait, that's a whole other e-mail... *ahem* I just wanted to send a clue regarding the dustbin-hat-wearing-Oscar. Have you noticed that the Grouchketeers all wear dustbin lids as hats? Surely they must have taken this fashion cue from somewhere, adding weight to the idea that Oscar himself may have at one time worn said lid-based item as a millinery accompaniment?
Love ya! – Beau"

Awww, thanks Beau, we love you too. Because you’re the only one who e-mailed me. You’re now my favorite... My favorite behind Joe Hennes from ToughPigs, because that’s where this thing really got going.  I managed to get Joe’s e-mail and shot him a note asking if he could talk to Joe Mathieu, the illustrator I mentioned countless times in the article. And the next day, well wasn’t I surprised to see an e-mail from one Mr. Mathieu, with a full on explanation, which totally made sense! So, here, please enjoy it in its copied and pasted form:

"Hi Jarrod

I love your question about Oscar the Grouch’s can lid; I hope I can shed some light.

I think we started drawing the lid as a “hat” for several reasons. You seem to be upset that we drew it this way even though it didn’t exist this way in the puppet world. There were a number of things that we drew different from the actual puppets because they simply worked better in the illustration world. I can remember conversations about this with Jim Henson in the early days. He would show me one of the Muppets, say Bert, and he would tell me not to draw him literally from a certain angle because it wouldn’t look good, but the puppet had to be built that way for mechanical reasons. So we took some liberties because there was no reason to limit the artwork because of a physical, mechanical limitation of a puppet. I think this point of view is not as prevalent today because Jim isn’t here to say it’s OK.

Don’t forget, in the early 70’s we had not seen most of the puppets legs because most of them didn’t have any; Kermit and Grover had legs, Big Bird too, but Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster and most of the rest didn’t. We had to make the legs up and the early style books didn’t help at all. By the way, the ‘73 style book didn’t show Oscar’s lid as a hat; I looked at the book after you asked.

In the case of Oscar, let’s try to remember that garbage can lids are not usually hinged to the base. Oscar’s was built that way so that the performer could throw the lid open and it wouldn’t fall on the floor! When I tried to draw it in its open, upright position, it looked like a halo from an iconic religious painting! So we placed it on his head, and by angling it this way and that, we could intensify his attitude and emotion. And it could fly up in the air if he were really upset and it could land perfectly back on his head.

As for who pictured it this way first, I am not really sure, but I don’t think it was me. I have two possibilities. One is that Michael Frith, who was an early illustrator but also the art director at Random House, might have suggested it to one of the illustrators. Or two, maybe it was Mel Crawford. Crawford was one of the early illustrators who seemed to disappear after a couple of books. He drew the lid as a hat in the Sesame St. 1-2-3 Storybook (1973) on page 24, and that’s the earliest one I can find. I just thought of another possibility; see if you can find a copy of the Oscar Book by Jeff Moss, illustrated by Michael Gross. This might have been the first Oscar book, but I don’t know where my copy is; maybe he tried it, I don’t know.

I hope this has been some help. And thanks for the kind words in your article. Cheers!

Joe Mathieu"

You know what, Joe Mathieu?  That totally makes sense!

So there we go, Oscar has a hat because otherwise he’d look too religious!

I hope that’s answered some questions for you, and be sure my friends that I shall be back very shortly with more questions, because asking questions is a good way to find out things!

Cheers Muppet fans,
Jarrod Fairclough

UPDATE – WRITTEN A WEEK AFTER THIS ARTICLE

Hello Muppet fans.
I am an honorable man, willing to admit defeat when it is necessary. And today, it is so.

For the record, I wrote the above article around a week before writing this update, and I liked the above article too much to re-do it.

Tuesday this week, I was sitting at home, actually reading over my Katy Perry article from the other day, being arrogant and admiring my own work. At midday here in Australia, ABC2 plays Sesame Street. This means I don’t have to be up at some ridiculous hour to watch it on ABC1. Okay, so 8:30am isn’t a ridiculous time, but I like to sleep in. So I notice its 12:03, and I turn over to get myself a bit of a Sesame fix. They’re playing a season 36 episode, all about the Grouchketeers and Telly learning a cheer. Episode 4094, for those of you playing at home.

Now, unfortunately I can’t get a screen-cap of this, so with any luck the awesome Mr. Picture Getter himself, Ryan Dosier, may be able to rummage one up.  If not, I apologize.  But Oscar was wearing a garbage can lid... As a hat... I was shocked, and I audibly laughed, and tried, but failed, to find a picture of it.

So it turns out Beauregard was right!  And we love him for it.

I’ll see you soon, Muppet fans. I’m trying to come up with my next question as we speak...

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Jarrod Fairclough Presents: "?"

The Muppet Mindset presents...

"?" with Jarrod Fairclough

Because Asking Questions is a Good Way to Find Out Things

Question: Why do drawings of Oscar the Grouch wear a garbage can lid hat?

Jarrod Fairclough - Hi ho everyone, and welcome to the first of what will hopefully be a semi-recurring series here on The Muppet Mindset, simply called “?”

It’s about time some questions got answered, and seeing as no-one’s going to ask them, I am taking it upon myself as my duty to you.  I’ll be asking the hard-hitting questions, finding the best sources, and trying to provide whatever answers I can scrounge up on Wikipedia! I mean, after all, as Sesame Street has told us countless times (although I’m sure The Count would be happy to count them), "asking questions is a good way to find out things!"

We begin today with a question that has plagued mankind for centuries...  Okay, well maybe not centuries.  Decades, possibly.  Maybe a fourth of a century...  2 scores ago.   A score is 20 years right?  Like Abe Lincoln said?  I don’t know, I’m Australian...  Anyway, I’m getting off the subject.

Today’s question is: Why is Oscar always drawn with a garbage can lid on his head?

Oscar the Grouch is one of the most beloved Sesame Street characters on the show, and has been since his first appearance way back in 1969.  For over 40 years, Oscar has appeared in thousands of episodes, with his big green (or orange) head poking out of his trash can.  Now, I’ve done the research on this, spent hundreds of hours reading up on hinges and garbage cans.  And I can safely say that every time Oscar’s head emerges from the can, the lid is flung back, as seen in exhibit A:

EXHIBIT A

I’ve seen his lid with my own eyes, and I can indeed be sure that it is flung back.

So why is it that in ALMOST every drawn image of Oscar, his lid is on his head, like a hat?  Observe exhibit B:

EXHIBIT B

And exhibit C:

EXHIBIT C

And while you’re at it, type in Oscar the Grouch in to Google Images and observe exhibits D through Z.
Now, before we continue, yes, I am well aware that there are drawings out there of Oscar WITHOUT a lid on his head, so let’s just nip that in the butt before it continues, shall we?

Where did this craze come from?  Where did it begin?  Who was the first to decide to draw Oscar this way?  We turn to Joe Mathieu, the incredibly talented illustrator who has been drawing the Sesame characters for almost 40 years.  He is possibly (and rightfully so) the most well known illustrator of these characters, and has certainly set the bar.

He (as far as I could find on Muppet Wiki, but I may be wrong, in which case disregard, this entire segment and read something by The British Correspondent--that dude’s funny) was one of, if not the first, illustrator to draw Oscar this way, evident in the early 1970’s books such as The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook, The Sesame Street A, B, C Storybook and Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, Smell No Evil. (By the way, is it just me, or is that the greatest name for a book EVER?)

And yet, upon extensive research, there is no recollection of Oscar in the first ten seasons wearing his lid as his hat. Unfortunately I couldn’t find images of the 1973 Character Style Guide, nor the 1978 version, so I am unable to assess whether or not these images contained a hatted-Oscar.

So sure Jarrod, you’ve probably just insulted one of the best Muppet illustrators of all time, and anyone who came after him. Or hey, possibly you’ve just written an article and blamed a guy who took a cue from someone else. I understand that completely. Joe, if you’re reading this, I whole heartedly apologize, and I want you to know that you’re the greatest Muppet illustrator in the world. But why the hat? Is it to block out the sun? Because I’m fairly sure that grouches can’t get fur-burn. Or can they? I’ll ask my doctor next time I see him.

So now it’s up to you, my Muppety Mindset reader friends. I’m genuinely interested in finding out the reason for this. If anyone has a contact to Joe, or any Muppet illustrator, or if you wanna take a stab in the dark as to why this is, e-mail Ryan Dosier at ryguy102390@gmail.com or me at jazza_rocks@hotmail.com (please put “Muppet Mindset” in the ‘subject’ line or I probably won’t open it) and I’ll reveal some answers next time in “Jarrod Fairclough Presents; ? – Because Asking Questions Is A Good Way To Find Out Things.”

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Oscar Crosses the Pond

A Message From The British Correspondent

Hello there, my young creatures of habit (and by habit, I mean, heading to The Muppet Mindset before breakfast, double-checking after lunch and then heading back after dinner just to be sure that a random new update hasn't been added...and by creatures I mean...normal, sane beings). Anyway, I felt the need to share some information that I surreptitiously discovered while ironing my work-trousers and listening to Radio 1. One afternoon last week, Greg James (Radio DJ) was interviewing Oscar the actual Grouch! -- I was rather taken aback and turned it up to be sure. Turns out he was doing some promo for the new season of SESAME TREE, Ireland's answer to the Street. Here's an iPlayer link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00td6j0/Greg_James_Thursday_Oscar_the_Grouch_WWE_and_Nabil!/ but I'm unsure exactly what time-period the interview is in (however, the show starts at 4 and I'd have been ironing my trousers between five and half five, so I'd suggest looking about an hour in). Note: American fans of the Grouch...I don't think the I in iPlayer stands for international. I'll check in again soon, old chaps, until then...enjoy your cereal, or pasta or roasties.

-- TBC

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Oscar the Grouch

 OSCAR THE GROUCH

Performed by...
Caroll Spinney


First appearance...
Sesame Street Season 1 Episode 0001 (1969)

Most recent appearance...
Sesame Street Season 42 (2011)

Best known role...
Sesame Street's resident Grouch. Lover of trash, muck, and yuck. Denizen of a trash can.

First line...
"Don't bang on my can! Go away!"

Memorable quote...
"SCRAM!"

WHO IS OSCAR THE GROUCH?
Ever since he first appeared on the scene in 1969, Oscar has been one thing, and one thing only: a Grouch. Grouchy, grumpy, mean, musty; every day, Oscar represents everything that a Grouch is. He lives in a trash can in between 123 Sesame Street and Big Bird's Nest, surrounded by piles of trash. The one thing that annoys him the most is when someone bangs on his trash can and bugs him with some gooopy, yucky happiness. Yes, Oscar is truly the grouchiest of Grouches in our time.

Oscar's distinct green appearance was not always how he looked. In his very first appearance and throughout the first season of the show, Oscar was a bright orange color. It wasn't until just before the second season when Caroll Spinney was appearing with Oscar on The Flip Wilson Show that he and the rest of the world discovered Oscar's change of tone. Designers changed him to the green color he is today. Caroll, having to ad-lib on the fly, developed a storyline for Oscar involving his color change coming from a terrible weekend at the Grouch spa: Swamp Mushy Muddy. He has been the rotten green color ever since.

Oscar represents the opposite of everything else Sesame Street is. While the Street where he lives is sunny and cheerful, Oscar is grumpy and angry. Though he may seem to truly loath the Street, he does often show a sense "love" (or as close to love as Grouches can get) for his home. He has even struck up a few friendships in his 40 years on the happiest street in the world.

Perhaps Oscar's closest friend is his pet worm, Slimey. Slimey has appeared alongside Oscar many, many times. In the final clips of the show in recent seasons, Oscar has read "Trash Gordon" stories to Slimey to announce the sponsors of the show for that day. Oscar has even been seen showing compassion for the little worm, supporting him in sporting events, astronomical expeditions, and more.

Oscar has also developed an odd bond with Maria (Sonia Manzano). Maria has been known to fall victim to Oscar's pranks quite often, sometimes getting sprayed with water by his pet elephant, Fluffy. Oscar even has a ridiculing nickname for Maria: "Skinny." But despite all of this, Maria and Oscar still share a bond. After Maria and Luis were married, Oscar commissioned the Grouchketeers to make a sign reading "JUST MARRIED" for the newlyweds--he even let them drive his prized Sloppy Jalopy! Oscar was also the first person Maria called from the hospital after her daughter, Gabriella, was born on the show.

Oscar and Telly also have an interesting relationship. They have been paired numerous times; such as in Sing Yourself Sillier at the Movies. Telly also rode with Oscar in his Sloppy Jalopy on his search for Big Bird in Follow That Bird. They even had their own segment on the show called "Ask Oscar" in which Telly would field questions from kids wanting to ask the Grouch a question.

Through the years Oscar has become a vitally important part of Sesame Street. He even saved the Street once in Stars and Street Forever, the 25th Anniversary special. He has had a major role in both of the Sesame Street feature films, Follow That Bird and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and continues to play a crucial role in most of the episodes during the seasons of the show.

In order to truly understand Oscar, however, we turn to the Grouch himself who has often said, "Grouches don’t like to be happy. If I’m happy I’m miserable—but I love to be miserable. So that makes me happy. But I don’t like being happy. So that makes me miserable. But I love being miserable, so that makes me happy, but I don’t like to be happy, so I get—you know, I’m a mess." Yes, he is a mess, but that's why we love him.

OSCAR THE GROUCH AND CAROLL SPINNEY
Caroll Spinney has performed Oscar from the very first episode of Sesame Street back in 1969, and continues to perform him in 2009, 40 years later. Caroll also performs Big Bird, who is the exact opposite of Oscar. Caroll has grown so fond of Oscar over the years, in fact, that he gave him a special section in his autobiography, The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch). Oscar was the character performed by Spinney in most of his live appearances touring for the book. Oscar also appeared with Caroll during Jim Henson's Memorial Service and at the Daytime Emmy Awards earlier this year.

Caroll has remarked that "[Oscar]’s not a villain, not horrible, not into spiders and ghoulish stuff, and although he can be rude and mean, he fundamentally has a heart of gold." It's obvious that Caroll cares a lot for his character and truly loves Oscar--even though he's a Grouch.

OSCAR THE GROUCH SONGS
Even though he's a Grouch, Oscar still enjoys engaging in a song or two--as long as they're not sweet, and cute, and nice. Blech! Most of Oscar's songs sing the praises of trash, but some of them just sing the praises of being a Grouch.

• "I Love Trash"
• "The Grouch Song"
• "Honk, Bang, Whistle, and Crash"
• "I Hate Christmas"
• "I'm Sad Because I'm Happy"
• "Nasty Dan" (with Johnny Cash)
• "Just Throw it My Way"
• "Bein' Green" 
• "Pigeons, Cookies, and Trash" (with Bert and Cookie Monster)
• "There's a Big Heap of Trash at the End of the Rainbow"

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED OSCAR THE GROUCH?
It's plain to see why Sesame Street needs Oscar. If they didn't, he wouldn't have been a lasting part of the show for 40 years. He has been there for all of the greatest moments: Maria and Luis' wedding, Gabriella's birth, Abby Cadabby's arrival (even greeting her with his trademark "SCRAM!"). Oscar's dichotomy of "Whenever I'm mad, I'm happy--but whenever I'm happy, I'm mad!" makes him a very deep character as well. Freud would have a heyday with the Grouch.

But Sesame Street needs him because he provides a balance. Oscar is the sour to the sweet, the rain to the sunny days--and everyone knows that the world can't survive without rain. Oscar shows children that it's okay to be grouchy. He proves that no matter how much of a grump you are, people will still love and accept you for who you are. He teaches understanding, he teaches personal satisfaction, and he teaches how to be a darn good grouch.

Oscar the Grouch is as much Sesame Street as Big Bird, Elmo, or Cookie Monster. He's just... the grouchier, dirtier side. And that's just the way he--and we--like it. There is a reason Oscar hasn't changed in 40 years, and that's because he is a nearly perfect character. So let's have a big "BOO!" for the Grouch, shall we?