Honkers

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

A mommy, a daddy, a baby and a granddaddy Honker as seen in "Elmo's World: Families".

File:Honker-yellowhair.jpg

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:

• Purple fur/hair with orange nose
• Orange fur/hair with reddish-orange nose
• Sky blue fur, green hair, and yellow nose
• Blue fur/hair with green nose
• Homer Honker: Green fur, blue hair, yellow-orange nose (the same puppet was also used as Murray Beethoven)
• Fuchsia fur, red hair, and orange nose (two versions of this one were built; one with two hands and one with one)
• Henrietta Honker: pink fur/hair and yellow nose
• Grandfather Honker, with silver fur/hair, glasses, and peach 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.

Book appearances

• The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
• 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)