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, or Minik Kuş on Turkey's Susam Sokağı. 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 |
---|---|---|---|
Canada, Bonjour Sesame (Quebecois, 1970s) | Big Bird | Benoit Marleau | |
Croatia, Ulica Sezam | Velika Ptica | Aleksandar Cvjetković | |
Denmark, Glædelig Jul, Elmer | Store Pip | Jan Tellefsen | |
Denmark, Leg med os fra Sesamgade and Elmo's Verden | Big Bird | Casper Phillipson | |
Germany, Sesamstrasse | Bibo | Wolfgang Draeger | |
Japan, Sesame Street NHK dub | ビッグバード | Mitsuaki Madono | |
Japan, Sesame Street (Japan) | ビッグバード | Satoshi Tsuruoka | |
Mexico, Plaza Sésamo | Big Bird | Eduardo Garza | |
The Netherlands, Sesamstraat videos | Neef Jan | Olaf Wijnants | |
Poland, Ulica Sezamkowa | Wielki Ptak | Aleksander Mikołajczak | |
Spain, Elmo en El País de los Gruñones - The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland | Paco Pico | Alberto Mieza | |
Spain, Juega Conmigo, Sésamo | 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.