Abby Cadabby

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"I Love Words": Abby's first solo song.

Abby and her unnamed pet mouse play on the computer in a Sesamestreet.org video intro during the week of October 13, 2008.

Abby kisses Oscar the Grouch.

Looky Lou and Abby Cadabby

Abagail " Abby " Sophia Cadabby is a three-year-old fairy-in-training who lives on Sesame Street. She made her debut in the first episode of Sesame Street’s 37th season, when she moved into the neighborhood and met some of the Street's residents. On the day of her debut, her wand broke; Big Bird told her to take her wand to the Fix-It Shop where Maria would fix it. Season 40 features her CGI-animated segment Abby's Flying Fairy School. The regular assistant puppeteer is Pam Arciero while Lara MacLean assisted in performing her in Season 39.

Her name is a play on the magic word Abracadabra. Abby's magical powers are limited to popping in and out of thin air, floating when she's happy, and turning things into pumpkins. Although familiar with the world of fairy tales, Abby is astounded by such basic learning skills as drawing letters or counting, prompting her catchphrase "That's so magical!" She frequently uses her wand cell phone to call her mommy. When she's asked to return home, she says that she's "gotta poof."

She can speak a language called Dragonfly and is teaching Rosita the language, while Rosita teaches her Spanish. Along with Baby Bear, Abby begins attending school in a 2006 episode at the Storybook Community School, where Mrs. Goose is the teacher and other fairy tale characters like Hansel and Gretel are her classmates.

Tony Geiss conceptualized Abby as a way to simultaneously introduce a major female character to the show and add someone from a different culture, without "having consciously to introduce somebody from Indonesia or India." Abby's design is an intentional departure from the typical Muppet look because she's not originally from Sesame Street. The implication is that the fairies in her old neighborhood look like her.

Abby's likeness has been adapted for a 43-foot balloon which premiered in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a full-body costume character for stage appearances and a number of merchandise items.

In 2008, Abby was added to the cast of Plaza Sésamo, the Mexican co-production of Sesame Street, appearing in new segments where she tries to perform magic tricks with various ordinary objects. In 2009, she became the host of 3, 2, 1 Vamos!, a Latin American pre-school programming block, which first aired in English in 2010, on Canadian television.

Merchandise

Preceding the release of Singing Abby Cadabby by Fisher-Price, she was named a "2007 Hot Property" by Variety. Early licensees were Random House, Procter & Gamble, Mattel (Fisher-Price), VEE Corporation (live touring shows), Children's Apparel Network, and Gund.

A June 2007 news item on Playthings.com reported: "This year, the fairy-in-training is also debuting in plush from Fisher-Price (a 2-piece basic Elmo & Abby Best Friends plush set and a talking Abby Cadabby with bonus DVD sampler); a plush assortment from Gund; Abby Cadabby greeting cards from American Greetings; fun shaped balloons from Anagram; pop-up books from Bendon Publishing; storybooks from Dalmatian; board books from Random House; novelty books from Reader's Digest Children's Publishing; books; and CDs from Soundprints; as well as Sesame Street DVDs from Sesame Workshop and Sony Wonder that features Abby."

Guest appearances

• August 14, 2006: Abby made her public debut on the Today Show, only hours before her first appearance on Sesame Street.

• August 18, 2006: Abby was featured as "Person of the Week" on ABC World News Tonight. She was the first Muppet to earn the honor, possibly the first non-human.

• October 4, 2006: Abby met Rosie O'Donnell's daughter Vivi on The View

• November 23, 2006: Abby appeared on the Sesame Street float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

• November 22, 2007: In addition to being honored with a parade balloon likeness, Abby appeared on the Sesame Street float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

• December 25, 2007: Abby and friends appeared on The Today Show.

• October 2008: Abby and Elmo appear on Hollywood 411 to promote Abby in Wonderland.

• October 6, 2008: Appearing with Elmo, Grover and Cookie Monster, Abby joins Martha Stewart for a tea party on Martha.

• October 13, 2008: Elmo and Abby take over hosting The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Quotes about Abby

“We have our wacky, and we have our gentle. But we wanted a lead female character. If you think about Mary Tyler Moore, some girls relate to Rhoda, who's our Zoe, and some girls really relate to Mary, who’s a girly girl. And we didn’t have that girl. We made a definite decision to sit down with the writers to figure out what this character might be.”

- Liz Nealon

Filmography

• Sesame Street
  • Season 37 (3 episodes - 4109, 4110, 4134)
  • Season 38 (all 26 episodes)
  • Season 39
  • Season 40
• Learning is Everywhere
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown
• Dinosaurs!
• Abby in Wonderland
• Being Green
• Elmo and Abby's Birthday Fun!
• Bedtime with Elmo
• Elmo's Travel Songs and Games

Songs

• "I Love Words"
• "Kids with Wings"
• "Because We're Friends"
• "Guess the Seasons Song"
• "Hurray-Hurrah for Broccoli"

Book appearances

• Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
• Abby's First Day of School! (2007)
• All About Me! (2007)
• Big Bird in the City (2007)
• C is for Cooking: Recipes from the Street (2007)
• Elmo & Friends Picture Stories (2007)
• Elmo Visits the Dentist (2007)
• Elmo's Busy Day (2007)
• Elmo's Favorite Places (2007)
• Elmo's Piano (2007)
• Elmo's World: Teachers! (2007)
• Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
• Guess Who, Abby! (2007)
• I'm a Helper (2007)
• Let's Match (2007)
• Music Player Storybook (2007)
• My First Trip to the Farm (2007)
• Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
• Sesame Street Super Sticker Book (2007)
• We're All Superheroes! (2007)
• What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
• Abby Cadabby's Nursery Rhymes (2008)
• Abby's First Book of Shapes (2008)
• Big Bird's Tree-Trimming Party (2008)
• Color Carnival (2008)
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2008)
• Everybody Dance! (2008)
• Grover's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (2008)
• Let's Go! with Elmo and Friends (2008)
• Let's Help the Earth (2008)
• Our Kind of Bird (2008)
• Storybook ABCs (2008)
• What Do You Hear, Dear? (2008)
• What Makes Elmo Happy? (2008)
• What's the Word on the Street? (2008)
• Abby Mix & Match Nursery Rhymes (2009)
• Bert and Ernie's Christmas Snowman (2009)
• Count to 10 (2009)
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2009)
• In Elmo's Easter Parade (2009)
• My Big Book of Firsts (2009)
• Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
• Busy Friends (2010)
• Murray's First Book of Words (2010)
• Plant a Tree for Me! (2010)
• Potty Time for Monsters (2011)

See also

• Abby Cadabby walk-around
• Abby Cadabby (animated)