Barkley
From Muppet Wiki
Barkley is a full-bodied Muppet dog who appears on Sesame Street. Barkley was originally called Woof-Woof when he first appeared in Season 9. In the 10th season premiere, Episode 1186, the cast voted to rename him Barkley.
Barkley is energetic and playful, but is not anthropomorphized in the way that Rowlf and other characters are. While he may exhibit human-like emotions, he communicates only through barks, yelps, and physical contact, just like a real dog. He was Linda's dog and understood the American Sign Language signs for "sit" and "stay." However, Barkley also had a close relationship with Big Bird. Indeed, in the 1997 book, Big Bird Meets Santa Claus, the large bird refers to Barkley as his dog. Although Linda has since moved on from Sesame Street, Barkley has remained, presumably becoming a ward of the community as a whole.
Barkley's appearances in television specials include the now-obscure A Special Sesame Street Christmas and A Walking Tour of Sesame Street. More prominently, he accompanied Big Bird on his trips to China in 1982 and Japan in 1988. He also appeared with the Muppets en masse on Night of 100 Stars. Additionally, for many seasons (until 1992), the Sesame Street closing credits depicted Barkley running through a park with the Kids.
Original performer Toby Towson claimed, in a 2003 Wikipedia edit, that the full-bodied puppet character was initially conceived as an acrobatic ape.
Book appearances
- I Like School (1980)
- The Sesame Street Storybook Alphabet (1980)
- Frazzle's Fantastic Day (1980)
- The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
- What Did You Bring? (1980)
- A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
- I Have a Friend (1981)
- The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
- What Do You Do? (1981)
- Which One Doesn't Belong? (1981)
- Big and Little Stories (1982)
- Puppy Love (1983)
- I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
- Big Bird Says... A Game to Read and Play (1985)
- Big Bird's Copycat Day (1985)
- A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
- Sesame Street ABC (1986)
- Big Bird's Busy Day (1987)
- A Birthday Surprise (1987)
- Alice's First Words (1989)
- Grover's Bad Dream (1990)
- I Want to Be a Veterinarian (1992)
- We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
- Big Bird's Animal Game (1993)
- Around the Corner on Sesame Street (1994)
- Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
- Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
- Mine! (1997)
- Rise and Shine! (1999)
- Where is Elmo's Blanket? (1999)
- Clap Your Hands! (2002)
- Elmo Look and Find (2002)
- Elmo Pops In! (2003)
- Animal Alphabet (2005)
- Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
