Finchen

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Finchen as we know her since 2000

Finchen is a character on Sesamstrasse, the German co-production of Sesame Street.

Appearance

Finchen is an orange snail with a yellow shell (with a tint of orange) on her back. She also wears glasses.

Personality

Finchen loves to ride her skateboard around Sesamstrasse and has a really wild imagination.

She represents the psychological age of a three year old and is friends with Samson, Tiffy, Rumpel, Wolle, Pferd, Feli Filu and Sesamstrasse's other residents.

History

Without glases and a bit more bare in 1983

Finchen was added to the Sesamstrasse cast after Samson and Tiffy (1983) as a male character. He started as a weak, tiny snail who lived in the forest, right outside Sesamstrasse.

During the mid-1990s Finchen was inexplicably turned into a younger girl character with a really wild imagination, representing the psychological age of a three year old.

The sex-change

The sex-change might have something to do with the fact that "Schnecke", the German word for snail and slug, is a female word in the language, succeeded by the definite article "die". Another reason might be that Finchen's original performer was male puppeteer Lothar Klose. At that time, Finchen did not always wear the glasses, and was at times without a shell.

He also sounded more masculine when Finchen's second puppeteer Wilhelm Helmrich took over from 1989 until 1991. Then as female puppeteer Uta Delbridge took over the role in 1992, Finchen's personality became more frightful and he/she began to speak with a softer voice. Ever since 2000, Finchen has been performed by her fourth performer, singer and female puppeteer Andrea Bongers.

Trivia

• Members of the American audience might remember Finchen from the 1993 international special Sesame Street Stays Up Late!.

• The puppet is a hand-rod Muppet.

See also

• Snails