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Barrio Sésamo - logo (European Spanish)
06 1 b

Don Pimpón (monster), Espinete (hedgehog) and Chema (the baker) infront of Espinete's house

Barrio Sésamo is the Spanish Sesame Street co-production (literally Sesame Neighborhood). There have been three different versions of the show, beginning in the late 70s and running on and off through 2000.

Muppet characters created for the shows include pink full-body bird Caponata and green snail Perezgil from the late 70s, brown full-body monster Don Pimpón and full-body pink hedgehog Espinete from the mid 80s, and blue full-body catlike Muppet Bluki, yellow monster Vera, owl Bubo and humanoid Muppet Gaspar from the late 90s.

First run: Late 70s[]

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BarrioSésamoCaponataandPerezgil

The original Barrio Sesamo characters during the first run: Caponata (colorful bird) and Perezgil (snail)

The show originally aired in Spain in the late 70s, as a dubbed version of the American Sesame Street. In 1979, they created their own characters -- Caponata, an orange, purple and yellow bird with curly pink hair (a full-body Muppet and counterpart to Big Bird), and Perezgil, a green snail with glasses (this character is permanently set on a wall) -- while retaining the American characters (Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Grover, etc.) for inserts.

American Muppets were renamed so that Spanish-speaking child audiences would not get confused with English writing norms. A list of Spanish names is provided below.

The original show wasn't successful, and it was cancelled in 1980.

Second run: 1983 - 1987[]

BARRIO-SESAMO (SPAIN)
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Left to right: Don Pimpón, Espinete, Chema and Ana. In the background, Chema's panadería

A second Barrio Sésamo co-production began in 1983, with Espinete (a hedgehog) and Don Pimpón (a friendly monster). Both characters were full-body Muppets. A human character who gained popularity in this version was Chema, an adult baker. Also Ana (a young student), Julían (a kiosk salesman), two children (Roberto and Ruth), with their parents Matilde and Antonio. Again, it retained American Muppet inserts. The show only aired until 1987, although it's still famous and loved by the generation that watched it.

In 1989, a clip of Don Pimpón singing "Frutos Sanos" was included in the special Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting.

The series was cancelled after its third season, but was not replaced with Barrio Sésamo. The third run of Barrio Sésamo on Spanish TV would not take place until 1996.

There was a small reunion in 2006 on Gala Infantil, hosted by Miriam Díaz-Aroca. Together with Espinete, Don Pimpón, Chema and Ana she looked back at the highlights of the show.

Third run: 1996 - 2000[]

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Barrio sesamo 90s

Barrio Sésamo cast: Gaspar, Bluki, Vera and Bubo.

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Barrio Sésamo on the set

Anything Muppets bronces

A collage of some of the many characters using Sesamo's Anything Muppet character, pictured with Bubo and Gaspar.

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Barrio Sésamo - 1996-2000

In 1996, the show returned with more new characters: Bluki (a blue full-body catlike Muppet), Vera (a yellow monster), Bubo (an owl) and Gaspar (a human Muppet). Additional characters that made occasional appearances included a wild monster with red fur and a healthy appetite - portraying a role similar to Cookie Monster's - and a tan Anything Muppet that could be turned into various different characters (such as a baby, a girl friend of Vera's, a clumsy man with a moustache, or a pig).

Later in the series, the theme song for this version were given lyrics for the first time, as opposed to the other versions which used instrumental variations of the original Sesame Street Theme.

Television Espanola S. A. commissioned 130 episodes in 1996. Each was filmed in Catalan during the morning, then in Castillian in the afternoon. The Catalan episodes were aired as Barri Sesam.[1]

Fourth run: 2017 - Onward[]

Since 2017, the show is part of the HBO programming in Spain under its original title, Sesame Street, with dubbed episodes of the HBO seasons.

Spanish names for American Muppets[]

Original Cast (1979-1980)[]

Muppets[]

Humans[]

Second Series Cast (1983-1987)[]

Muppets[]

Humans[]

The Kids[]

Third Series Cast (1996-2000)[]

Barriosesamo-puppeteers

Puppeteers for the 1996-2000 version of Barrio Sésamo

Muppets[]

  • Joan Bentallé as Bluki, a big blue cat-like character
  • Rosa Pou as Vera, a young yellow monster
  • Vicent Ortolà as Gaspar, employee at Suleiman's greengrocer
  • Jordi Arús as Bubo, an old owl who lives in the park
  • Jordi Farres as Bubo (1999-2000) and Gaspar right hand
  • Additional Puppeteers: Nartxi Azcargorta, Ingrid Domingo and Alvaro Angosto

Market workers[]

  • Miquel Àngel Ripeu as Suleiman, the vegetable salesman
  • Mireia Villanueva as Rebeca, a saleswoman in the market
  • Teresa Soler as Nati, the fishmonger and Bernardo's daughter
  • Ramon Teixidor as Bernardo, a fisherman and Nati's father
  • Joan Manuel Orfila as Marcial, the tinsmith
  • Gloria Roig as Elena, owner of the haberdashery and Eduardo's mother

Other adults[]

  • Imma Colomer as Emma, the antique saleswoman
  • Sergi Calleja as Basilio, the park gardener
  • Joan Gilbert as Eduardo, the carpenter and Elena's son
  • Toni Sevilla as Desi, who works with his spouse in a hotel
  • Carme Abril as Amanda, who works with her husband in a hotel
  • Karim Alami as Salim, the waiter in the hotel
  • Roser Campanya as Mercedes, the librarian
  • Sebasitan Porras as Manuel, a businessman and Fatima's husband
  • Mercedes Porras as Fatima, a doctor and Manuel's wife
  • Rubén Ametllé as Ramón
  • Bastian, the cookery salesman

Kids[]

  • Joan Roses as Eloy, Desi and Amanda's son
  • David Bosch as Narciso, a boy who love the computers
  • Teresa Maria Badal as Sonia, a girl who usually plays with the other kids
  • Dolores Navarro as Carlota, daughter of Manuel and Fatima

Sources[]

  1. "Leisure time: Sesame Street has new international addresses", The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), 2 September 1996, page 10.

See also[]

External links[]

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