This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Goldom (talk | contribs) at 16:05, 15 June 2006 (spelling). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 16:05, 15 June 2006 by Goldom (talk | contribs) (spelling)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Aloysius Snuffleupagus is one of the Muppet characters on the long-running educational television program for young children, Sesame Street. He resembles a wooly mammoth, without tusks or (visible) ears, and he is a friend of Big Bird. He attends Snufflegarten and has a baby sister named Alice.
For many years, Big Bird was the only character on the show who saw him (he only came along when Big Bird was alone). The other characters teased Big Bird when he said he had seen the Snuffleupagus, because they didn't believe there was such an animal, often despite evidence to the contrary (such as an oversized teddy bear that Snuffy had left behind). This was modeled in part on the imaginary friends some young children have.
The "Goodbye" episode (1985)
Template:Spoiler By the mid-1980s, the storylines had the adult characters becoming increasingly frustrated with Big Bird using Snuffleupagus as a scapegoat whenever something went wrong while they were out of the room. In one episode, newspapers on Sesame Street carried the front page headline, "Snuffy's got to go!"
This running gag ended with the November 18, 1985 episode of Sesame Street (early in the series' 17th season), when the adults finally met Snuffy. The adults have been driven to the brink after another incident gone wrong, and give Big Bird an ultimatum: tell this "Mr. Snuffleupagus" good-bye once and for all, or else. Out of options and excuses, Big Bird and Snuffy tearfully say their good-byes in Big Bird's nest area. One of Snuffy's tears falls onto Big Bird while they embrace, leading Big Bird to realize that if he can even feel the water from the tears, Snuffy must be real. While the two are embracing, the adults enter the room and see that Snuffy is definitely real. After Snuffy introduces himself, Big Bird does an "I told you so" routine, prompting the adults to apologize profusely.
The Children's Television Workshop decided on this storyline largely after high-profile (and sometimes, graphic) stories on pedophilia and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. Concerns were raised that the running Snuffleupagus gag, where the adults refused to believe in Snuffleupagus despite Big Bird telling them about it and despite the fact that children, as the show's viewers, could clearly see that Snuffleupagus was real, could make children fear that they will similarly not be believed and therefore make them reluctant to tell an adult if they have been sexually abused.
Mr. Snuffleupagus remains a prominent part of Sesame Street.
Spelling "Snuffleupagus"
According to sources like the Sesame Workshop website and Sesame Street Unpaved, the character's name is spelled "Snuffleupagus". Many licensors, close-captioners, and fans (including websites) misspell the word. Even The Jim Henson Company website errs, spelling the character's name "Snuffulupagus".
The 1985 Warner Brothers movie Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird depicts his name properly spelled on his mailbox. At the time he was still considered by others as Big Bird's "imaginary" friend. The fact that he was shown with his own real place set up his revelation to the rest of Sesame Street later that year.
Trivia
- In the 1996 video Elmo Saves Christmas, it is revealed that Snuffy's grandmother lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- In the 1990s, it was established that the species was indigenous to Hawaii.
- The episode where the adults met Snuffy is cited by some fans as the moment when Sesame Street jumped the shark.
- In Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1983), Snuffy and Big Bird help a little Egyptian prince break a spell to go on to the afterlife and become a star with his parents.