Big Bird is perhaps the least used character in international Sesame Street adaptations.
Instead, most shows have their own walk-around Big Bird equivalent, often a bird like Caponata on Spain's Barrio Sésamo, Minik Kuş on Turkey's Susam Sokağı, Pino on the Dutch Sesamstraat, or Abelardo Montoya on Mexico's Plaza Sésamo. Since Big Bird is primarily a Street character, his few inserts are seldom used. Zhima Jie in China employs Big Bird's "identical cousin" Da Niao (literally, "Big Bird").
The following, however, are a few of the productions where the real Big Bird is dubbed and/or renamed.
Country/Show | Name | Performer | Picture |
---|---|---|---|
Brazil Vila Sésamo (DVD) |
Garibaldo | Clécio Souto | |
Brazil |
Garibaldo | Alexandre Moreno | |
Brazil Vila Sésamo (2007) O Mundo de Elmo |
Garibaldo | Fernando Gomes |
|
Brazil Sésamo (2019) |
Garibaldo | Falcon Mantovani | |
Brazil Muppet Show (redub) (2021) |
Garibaldo (Da Vila Sésamo) | Sérgio Stern |
|
Canada |
Big Bird | Benoit Marleau | |
Canada |
L'Oiseau Géant | Normand Frechette | |
Croatia |
Velika Ptica | Aleksandar Cvjetković | |
Denmark |
Store Pip | Jan Tellefsen | |
Denmark |
Big Bird | Caspar Phillipson | |
Finland |
Tipu Tilava | Unknown | |
Germany Sesamstrasse (1973-2023) |
Bibo | Wolfgang Draeger | |
Germany Sesamstrasse Folge 750 (1980s) |
Bibo | Caroll Spinney (speaking German) |
|
Germany Die Muppet Show Folge 318 (1980) |
Big Bird "aus der Sesamstraße" | Unknown (first female voice artist) |
|
Germany Muppet Movie (1980) |
(Unnamed) | Unknown (second female voice artist) |
|
Germany Die große Muppet-Party (1986) and |
Der große Vogel aus der Sesamstraße (Die große Muppet Party; not named in Die Muppets feiern Weihnacht) | Inge Schulz | |
Germany Bibos abenteuerliche Flucht (1985) |
Big Bird (despite the name "Bibo" in the title) |
Unknown | |
Germany |
Bibo | Stefan Krause | |
Japan Sesame Street NHK dub |
ビッグバード | Mitsuaki Madono | |
Japan |
ビッグバード | Satoshi Tsuruoka | |
Mexico |
Big Bird | Yamil Atala | |
Mexico |
Big Bird | Eduardo Garza | |
The Netherlands Sesamstraat videos |
Neef Jan | Olaf Wijnants | |
Poland |
Wielki Ptak | Aleksander Mikołajczak | |
Spain Elmo en El País de los Gruñones (The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland) |
Paco Pico | Alberto Mieza | |
Spain |
Caponata | Julian Rodriguez |
Book Translations[]
Big Bird's many book appearances, when translated into other languages, have been inconsistent in their name usage, and often borrow the name of that country's Big Bird counterpart. Thus, in Dutch translations, Big Bird is often presented as Pino from Sesamstraat. He justifies this in the album Ernie Heeft Rommel Gemaakt (collecting Ernie's Big Mess and other stories), by claiming he's wearing his yellow feather suit.
The Spanish translations for Mexico and the Southwest United States of America are particularly inconsistent. In some books, apparently intended primarily for bilingual Americans, no attempts at translation are made at all, as in A Visit to the Sesame Street Library, where'e he's simply "Big Bird." In the 1991 translation of Nothing to Do (Nada Que Hacer), he's "Gran Pajaro" (while Granny Bird is "Abuelita" and Radar is "Tito"). However, Big Bird Goes to the Doctor is translated as Montoya Va el Doctor, borrowing the name of the bird on Plaza Sésamo.
Other Translations[]
During Big Bird's 1984 filming in Australia, the local media reported that the character was known as "Oki Na Tori" in China.[1]
Sources[]
- ↑ "Big Bird wings in with just one grouch: Oscar", The Age, 15 March 1984, page 40.