Little Bird

PERFORMER	Fran Brill
DEBUT	1969

Little Bird in 1969.

Little Bird in 1990.

Little Bird and his fellow neighbors in 1999.

"Song of One"

Little Bird first appeared on Sesame Street in Season 1, and was often used as a foil to Big Bird, due to their contrasting sizes. Little Bird was a refurbished version of the Muppetised Kenner Gooney Bird, created by Jim Henson for Easy Bake Oven commercials in 1968.

Although Little Bird is primarily performed by a female puppeteer, the character is most often male. The song "Mr. Big Bird, Mr. Little Bird" appears on the Grin & Giggle with Big Bird LP, where the character is referred to using masculine pronouns. The 1973 Character Style Guide from CTW also describes him as a "he." In contrast, Episode 2748 (1990) features a street story in which Little Bird is referred to using feminine pronouns. In episode 59 of The MuppetCast, Fran Brill confirmed in an e-mail that she always thought of Little Bird as a male.

Henson, who originated the Bird in the Kenner commercials, performed Little Bird in at least two sketches from the first season: a sketch from Episode 0028 in which he meets Big Bird, and the game show "Pick Your Pet." Although Little Bird was used sporadically on the show, he proved effective with test audiences:

“Although he did not appear often, children were really attentive to Little Bird. They participated fully during his "Imagination Game". Perhaps he could play a greater role on the street.”

In addition to the sketches listed below, Little Bird was featured in "Wonderful/Yucchy", singing about his lunch, the contents of which are wonderful to him but yucky to a passer-by. He also appeared in a sketch where a cow named Lola tries to find a home and encounters an unsuccessful attempt to live in Little Bird's nest. In that sketch, Little Bird is performed by Jerry Nelson.

Little Bird was used rarely on the show itself as the 1970s ended (although he continued as a frequent character in books, most often flying or perched in the background, as recently as 2010). However, he made a few cameo appearances on the show during the 1980s and 1990s. On-screen appearances include a brief fly-by in the song "Do-Op Hop," at Birdland in "The Birdland Jump," and a line in "We Are All Earthlings." Little Bird's most recent US puppet appearance was in a 1999 Sesame Street group shot photo (pictured). Little Bird also appears as one of the animatronic figures in the ride Spaghetti Space Chase at Universal Studios Singapore.

One episode in 1990 (in which she appears as a girl) featured a street story focused on Little Bird moving to Sesame Street. She tries to be nest mates with Big Bird, but finds that she can't sleep with the noise of his snoring. She asks Oscar if she can move into his trash can, but he says he doesn't share his can with anybody nice, unless they're messy. He starts to warm up to the idea when he realizes they're arguing about it, but by then Little Bird isn't interested anymore. After she decides she wouldn't want to live on Snuffy's back either, everyone gets the idea to build her a house out of an old milk carton. A regular sized one is too small, so they build one out of a Snuffleupagus sized carton, except another bird moves in before she can. Finally, when everyone is drinking glasses of milk to empty another carton, Little Bird decides to just move back to the park instead.

Marionette versions of Little Bird have been used often for flying scenes such as in the "Song of One," "I Whistle a Happy Tune," and "Do-Op Hop".

Little Bird's birthday is marked in Sesame Street Calendars as December 17th.

Sketches

Picture	Title / EKA	Description
	Big Bird meets Little Bird Episode 0028	Big Bird sees Little Bird and wonders what kind of animal he is. He tries to communicate with Little Bird by barking, meowing, and mooing, until he finally asks what Little Bird is. After Little Bird tells Big Bird that he's a bird, Big Bird doesn't believe him, thinking that birds are big, so Little Bird compares their similarities until he convinces Big Bird that he is a bird. Video: Old School: Volume 1
	Imagination Game Episode 0148	Little Bird plays an imagination game with the audience. He closes his eyes, and imagines things. He ends the game by imagining a monster behind him, and when he opens his eyes, Herry Monster appears behind him. Online: Template:SSvideo
	Next To Episode 0683	Little Bird talks about the concept of "next to", and Cookie Monster cuddles up next to Little Bird. Online: Template:SSvideo
	Casa Episode 3147	A casa (house) is drawn for Little Bird, who replies "Casa". Video: Sesame Street Classics

International appearances

• On Sesamstrasse, his name is Klein Bibo, "klein" being German for "little", and "Bibo" referring to the translated name for Big Bird.

• In Sesame Street books that are translated to Dutch, his name is Pinorino, referring to Pino from Sesamstraat.

• Between 2003 and 2005 the puppet was used on Sesamstrasse for an unnamed bird and Turbo Theo in episodes 2214 and 2222, respectively. The puppet was also used as a cuckoo bird, that Finchen helped to find a new sound.

Book appearances

Big Bird and Little Bird's Big & Little Book 1977

Big Bird and Little Bird's Big & Little Book 1983

File:LittleBirdNickel.jpg

The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words

The Sesame Street Postcard Book

Big and Little Stories

• The Sesame Street Storybook, cover and frontispiece only (1971)
• The Together Book (1971)
• The Sesame Street Storybook (1972)
• The Sesame Street Coloring Book (1973)
• The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook, cover only (1973)
• The Sesame Street ABC Storybook, cover only (1974)
• Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
• Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1976)
• The Sesame Street Postcard Book (1976)
• Big Bird and Little Bird's Big & Little Book (1977)
• Ernie's Book of Animals (1977)
• Muppets in My Neighborhood (1977)
• Sesame Street Goes West (1977)
• The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
• The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook, cover only (1978)
• Early Bird on Sesame Street (1980)
• Fix It, Please (1980)
• I Can Do It Myself (1980)
• The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
• A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
• I Have a Friend (1981)
• Sherlock Hemlock and the Creatures from Outer Space (1981)
• The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
• Big and Little Stories (1982)
• More Who's Who on Sesame Street (1982)
• The Sesame Street Question and Answer Book About Animals (1983)
• Early Bird on Sesame Street (1983)
• Nobody Cares About Me! (1983)
• I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
• Trace & Color Alphabet (1984)
• Big Bird's Book of Rhymes (1985)
• Big Bird's Busy Day (1987)
• The Colors of Spring (1987)
• The Runaway Soup and Other Stories (1987)
• Going Places (1988)
• The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
• A My Name Is Alice (1989)
• Great Monsterpieces (1989)
• I Can't Wait Until Christmas (1989)
• Bert's Beautiful Sights (1990)
• Museum of Monster Art (1990)
• The Treasure Hunt (1990)
• Hide-and-Seek with Big Bird (1991)
• Sesame Street 123 (1991)
• Sleep Tight! (1991)
• My Name Is Big Bird (1992)
• We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
• From Trash to Treasure (1993)
• Elmo's Mother Goose (1993)
• Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
• Sesame Street Stays Up Late! (1995)
• Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
• Rise and Shine! (1996; reworked as Up, Up, Up! in 2011)
• Elmo Can... Quack Like a Duck (1997)
• Elmo's Christmas Colors (1997)
• Where Is Elmo's Blanket? (1999)
• Look and Find Elmo (2002)
• Fun with Friends (2004)
• The City Sings a Song! (2005)
• Holiday Fun (2005)
• Fly Away with Big Bird (2006)
• Learn About Measuring with Big Bird (2006)
• Good Night, Tucked in Tight (2007)
• Elmo's World Super Sticker Book (2007)
• Lots of Opposites (2007)
• Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
• In Elmo's Easter Parade (2009)
• Meet the People in Your Neighborhood (2009)
• Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
• Busy Friends (2010)
• Out & About (2010)
• Plant a Tree for Me! (2010)

Merchandise

• Sesame Street PVC figures (Applause)
• Sesame Street PVC figures (Fisher-Price)
• Sesame Street figurines (Enesco)
• Sesame Street squeak toys (Tommee Tippee)
• Sesame Street nightlights (Enesco)
• Sesame Street lamps (Dolly Toy)
• Sesame Street Christmas ornaments (Gorham)
• Sesame Street music boxes (Gorham)
• Sesame Street dinnerware (Gorham)
• Sesame Street necklaces
• Sesame Street Magic Slates
• Big Bird's Big Little Play Pad
• Sesame Street pencil toppers
• Muppet Cuppets
• Big Bird Colorforms Play Set
• Busy Builders Playtown
• Sesame Street record player (Fisher-Price)
• Sesame Street needlecraft kits
• Sesame Street Easter egg kits (PAAS)
• Sesame Street trading cards
• Sesame Street alarm clocks (Spartus)
• Sesame Street picture frames (Vandor)
• Sesame Street picture frames (Enesco)
• Counting Café (video game)
• Big Bird's Hide & Speak (video game)
• Alphabet Avenue (video game)
• T-shirt
• Sesame Street bobbleheads
• Sesame Street Kubricks
• Puzzles:

See also

• Little Bird's precursor, Kenner Gooney Bird
• Similar looking birds, Arthur, Turbo Theo, Birdie, and Alarm Clock Bird
• Baby Big Bird
• Big Bird becomes little in Episode 4107 and Episode 4108