Honkers

PERFORMER	various
DEBUT	1980

The Honkers make music with a Dinger, Ernie and Rubber Duckie.

A mother, a father, a baby and a grandfather Honker as seen in "Elmo's World: Families".

Target billboard in Times Square.

The Honkers are fuzzy creatures from Sesame Street who communicate by honking their bulbous noses. Conceptualised by Tony Geiss, the Honkers made their debut in 1980, during Season 12.

Honkers come in a variety of colors, and baby Honkers are hatched from eggs. It is not known how closely related (if at all) the Honker species is to that of The Dingers, although there are similarities between the two.

As the Honkers never speak, their performers vary, depending on puppeteer availability. In the feature film Follow That Bird, Tim Gosley performed the Honker who served as Oscar's car horn. That specific Honker puppet has been known as Homer Honker, one of the few Honkers to have ever been named. Another Honker whose name has been mentioned is Henrietta Honker, the small pink honker.

Most of the Honker puppets were constructed with only one arm, built for the puppeteer's left hand. This arm is directly connected to the front of the body, but on the television screen, it is barely noticeable due to the amount of fur and fabric on a Honker's body, and the framing of the puppet on-screen.

A few songs have focused on the Honkers and their unique talent, including "Honk Around the Clock" and "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree". A list of Honker puppets used on the show:

Homer Honker: Green fur, blue hair, yellow-orange nose (the same puppet was also used as Murray Beethoven)

Henrietta Honker: pink fur/hair and yellow nose

Honker-Gramp.jpg

Grandfather Honker, with silver fur/hair, glasses, and peach nose

Honker-Pink.jpg

Fuchsia fur, red hair, and orange nose (two versions of this one were built; one with two hands and one with one)

Honker-Purple.jpg

Purple fur/hair with orange nose

Honker-Orange.jpg

Orange fur/hair with reddish-orange nose

Blue fur/hair with green nose (later sports a blue mustache)

Honker-yellowhair.jpg

Sky blue fur, green hair, and yellow nose

Notes

Performers of the Honkers include Brian Muehl, Kathryn Mullen, and Cheryl Blaylock, all of whom did them in "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree", and Pam Arciero and Jim Martin, who operated them in "Conga".

Despite being depicted on Sesame Street as non-vocal, in A Muppet Family Christmas, they are seen singing along with the rest of the crew during the musical numbers.

Appearances

• Sesame Street (1980 - present)
• Follow That Bird (1985)
• Learning About Letters (1986)
• Learning About Numbers (1986)
• Bedtime Stories & Songs (1986)
• Getting Ready to Read (1986)
• Sing Along (1987)
• A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
• Big Bird's Favorite Party Games (1988)
• Free to Be... a Family (1988)
• Sing Yourself Silly (1990)
• Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years (1993)
• Basil Hears a Noise (1993)
• The Best of Elmo (1994)
• Fiesta (1997)
• Elmopalooza (1998)
• Big Bird Gets Lost (1998)
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show on Sesame Street (1998)
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
• CinderElmo (2000)
• Let's Make Music (2000)
• Sesame Street 4D (2003)
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2008)
• Families Stand Together (2009)
• Bedtime with Elmo (2009)

Book appearances

• The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
• More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
• Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1983 reprint)
• Big Bird Can Share (1985)
• Big Bird Says... A Game to Read and Play (1985)
• Follow That Bird Activity Book (1985)
• Follow That Bird coloring book (1985)
• Welcome Home, Big Bird (1985)
• ABC (1986)
• Baby Animals on the Farm (1986)
• Honk If You Like Honkers (1986)
• Sesame Street ABC (1986)
• Grover's Just So-So Stories (1987)
• Going Places (1988)
• Great Monsterpieces (1989)
• Splish-Splashy Day (1989)
• Who's Who on Sesame Street (1989)
• Cookie Soup and Other Good-Night Stories (1990)
• Museum of Monster Art (1990)
• 1-2-3 (1991)
• Sesame Street 123 (1991)
• We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
• Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
• Baby Play (1998)
• Where Is Elmo's Blanket? (1999)
• Clap Your Hands! (2002)
• Elmo's Favorite Places (2007)
• What Makes You Giggle? (2007)