Journey to Ernie
From Muppet Wiki
Journey to Ernie is a recurring Sesame Street segment which focuses on Big Bird's hide-and-seek game with Ernie. It premiered in Season 33 and features the Muppet characters interacting with computer-animated backdrops.
The format for the segment would change after its first season on the show. In the original format, Ernie hid inside a box with a striped pattern similar to that of his shirt. Big Bird had to locate Ernie's box, a task he usually accomplished after finding two other, similar boxes which did not contain Ernie. Big Bird's discovery of an incorrect box triggered a non-Ernie sketch or film while the revelation of the correct box launched a segment prominently featuring Ernie.
In season 34, the format was changed. Now the segments begin with Ernie interrupting Big Bird's normal routine with a challenge to play the game. The animated environments in the new format are more fully realized than in the previous incarnation of the segment and Ernie no longer hides in a box. Big Bird now searches based on clues from Ernie, and the Two-Headed Monster appears regularly to offer some none-too-helpful advice. The new format also saw the introduction of a closing song sung by Big Bird and Ernie.
"Journey to Ernie" started to appear less frequently in season 36 and was dropped the following season. Matt Vogel performs Big Bird in all of these Journey to Ernie segments.
Sequences from the Original Format (2002)
All of these sequences were repeated in other Journey to Ernie sketches during season 33, in different sequence orders. With the exceptions of the introduction and closing, each sequence ended with Big Bird finding Ernie. These parts were edited from sketches that showed these sequences as the first and second sequences.
| Picture | First Appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Episode 3981 | Introduction of Journey to Ernie. |
 | Episode 3981 | Big Bird is on Mars, asking a Martian for help. |
 | Episode 3981 | Big Bird follows a penguin pattern at a snowy location. |
 | Episode 3982 | Big Bird looks for Ernie at a disco. |
 | Episode 3982 | Big Bird searches at the supermarket. |
 | Episode 3983 | Big Bird walks the tight rope at a circus. |
 | Episode 3984 | Big Bird asks a dinosaur for help. |
 | Episode 3984 | Big Bird talks to chickens. |
 | Episode 3984 | Big Bird looks for Ernie's box by repeating a clapping pattern. |
 | Episode 3993 | Big Bird looks for Ernie's box by singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with the Three Little Pigs. |
 | Episode 3981 | Big Bird and Ernie close the segment. |
Segments (2003-2006)
| Picture | Location | Earliest Known Appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rubber Duckie Land | Episode 4066 | Big Bird goes to a land filled with Rubber Duckies. |
 | Jungle | Episode 4034 | Big Bird looks for Ernie in the jungle. |
 | Dinosaur Age | Episode 4095 | Big Bird goes to the land of dinosaurs.
|
 | Beanstalk | Episode 4059 | Big Bird climbs a beanstalk. |
 | Nursery Rhyme Land | Episode 4057 | Big Bird meets characters from nursery rhymes.
|
 | Musical Intrument Land | Episode 4031 | Big Bird looks for Ernie in a land that is filled with musical instruments, many of which play "Rubber Duckie." |
 | Beach | Episode 4060 | Big Bird looks for Ernie at the beach. |
 | Journey to Big Bird | Episode 4058 | Ernie and Big Bird switch places and Ernie looks for Big Bird at a circus. |
 | Barnyard | Episode 4068 | Big Bird looks for Ernie at a barnyard by asking questions to the animals there. |
 | Journey to Bert | Episode 4108 | Bert replaces Ernie in the game, and Big Bird looks for Bert in a place where there is a lot of food. |
 | Shape Land | Episode 4048 | Big Bird hunts for Ernie in a land full of floating geometric shapes. |
 | One of These Things | Episode 4062 | Big Bird looks for Ernie in a land full of animated boards for the classic song/game (He learns that sometimes more than one answer is right). |
 | The Letter B Museum | Episode 4096 | Ernie hides in a museum where all the exhibits have names beginning with B. (Bob makes a cameo appearance in this one--not as an exhibit, but as a visitor on his way home.) |
 | Dancing Land | Episode 4079 | Ernie hides in a land full of dancing creatures, plants, and other natural objects; even the sun dances in the sky there. |
 | Park | Episode 4064 | If Big Bird finds something with the words that he saw written in chalk on the pavement, he will find Ernie. |
 | Chilly, Icy Snowyville | Episode 4077 | Big Bird looks for Ernie in the snowy land. |
 | Transportation Land | Episode 4093 | Ernie hides in a land full of transportation vehicles and other things to ride on. |
