The most populous city in Canada, Toronto has played host to the filming of many Muppet and Henson productions.

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is an annual tradition, and has featured appearances from Sesame Street cast members. Kidomo has the Canadian rights to live meet-and-greet appearances of Sesame Street characters; Ontario Place theme park has hosted special appearances since 2008 of Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby.[1]

AppearancesEdit

Live appearancesEdit

• 1978: Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade; Michael Earl is the only known puppeteer for the float.
• 2008: Oscar (Caroll Spinney) at a Waste Reduction Week launch event at Rose Avenue Public School, Toronto.
• 2013 (scheduled): TIFF Kids International Film Festival features various Sesame activities and screenings, including appearances by Sonia Manzano, Murray Monster, Joey Mazzarino, Nadine Zylstra, Louis Mitchell, and Sesame Workshop researcher Autumn Zitani.

Television appearancesEdit

• 2008: Oscar (Spinney) for Waste Reduction Week on The Hour, eTalk, Canada AM, and ET Canada.
• October 25, 2011: Kermit the Frog on CP24 Breakfast, promoting the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. Jason Segel appeared on Breakfast Television that morning.

Radio appearancesEdit

• 2008: Oscar on Q with Jian Ghomeshi for Waste Reduction Week

Filming locationsEdit

Jim's Red Book "Fraggle Rock Press"(02:09)
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A number of Henson/Muppet productions have been filmed in Toronto, some of them taped at Toronto's VTR Productions/Robert Lawrence Studios (including a commercial for McGarry's Sausage).^[1]:

• Hey Cinderella! (1969)
• The Cube (1969) at Toronto's Glen-Warren Productions Limited
• The Great Santa Claus Switch (1970)
• The Frog Prince (1971) in Toronto
• The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972)
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977) in Toronto
• The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show (1982) at Toronto
• Fraggle Rock (1983-1987) at Toronto's CBC Studios and on location around the Greater Toronto Area
• Follow that Bird (1985) at Kleinberg, Ontario's Toronto International Studios, as well as the towns of Bolton and Georgetown
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) at Toronto's Glen-Warren Productions Limited
• The Jim Henson Hour (1989) at Toronto and Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia (for "Lighthouse Island")
• Basil Hears a Noise (1990) at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto

ReferencesEdit

• In a 2007 episode, Telly Monster says that he is taking triangles in his toy train, to Toronto.

ConnectionsEdit

• Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams were performing in Toronto when scoring the instrument "Animal, Come Back Animal" for The Muppet Movie.
• The Animation House Limited of Toronto animated the cartoon sequences of Follow That Bird.