Sesamstraat Is Jarig (It's Sesamstraat's Birthday) is a 45 minute TV special from 1984 that celebrated the 2500th episode of Sesamstraat.
The special starts in the street, where Tommie does a complete report on all the festivities. The street set is crowded with children, there is a parade, and an airplane with a "Long Live Sesamstraat!" flag flies by occasionally. Tommie witnesses how everyone from Sesamstraat makes their entrance: Sien, Rudi and Pino arrive in a green car; Aart, Paula and Lex ride a bicycle; and Esther and Gerard come climbing out of a helicopter. Gerda makes her debut in a cameo appearance as a lady in the audience; in the next season, she would become a main character. Tommie gets impatient after a while: he wants to join the others at the party...!
The second half of the special takes place at the party, where everybody gets their turn singing the best songs from recent seasons.
In honor of the 10th anniversary, a slightly rewritten version of this special was recorded for a record album, Sesamstraat is Jarig. It features a few different songs, a few different actors, and a few different storylines, but it mostly follows the structure of the special.
Featured Songs[]
- Prijs (Prize) - Frank with Tommie, Ieniemienie and Pino
- M'n vader (My Father) - Aart
- Slapen in een wagen (Sleeping In A Wagon) - Tommie, Ieniemienie, Pino and Lex
- Rijm (Rhyme) - Gerard
- In bad (Taking a Bath) - Rudy
- De luchtheld (The Air Hero) - Tommie
- 'n Kuiken is geen kip (A Chick Is Not A Chicken) - Frank
- Ben jij wel eens bang (Are You Ever Afraid) - Ieniemienie
- Mug (Mosquito) - Tommie
- Sesamstraat Is Jarig (It's Sesamstraat's Birthday) - Everyone
Performers[]
- Sien Diels as Sien
- Leo Dijkgraaf as Pino
- Lex Goudsmit as Lex
- Frank Groothof as Frank
- Rudy Kühn as Rudi
- Gerard Kuster as Gerard
- Bert Plagman as Tommie
- Esther Prins as Esther
- Paula Sleijp as Paula
- Aart Staartjes as Aart
- Catherine van Woerden as Ieniemienie