| Ernie | |
|---|---|
| Sesame Street, Play With Me Sesame character | |
Ernie and his rubber duckie with Bert in a publicity still for Sesame Street. |
|
| First appearance | November 10, 1969 |
| Portrayed by | Jim Henson (1969-1990; deceased) Steve Whitmire (1993-present) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Caveman Ernie, Sir Ernie, etc. |
| Species | Human (Muppet) |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | None |
| Family | Cousins (Ernestine and Fred) |
Ernie is a fictional character, a Muppet on the Public Broadcasting Service's long-running children's television show, Sesame Street. He and his roommate Bert form a comic duo that is one of the program's centerpieces, with Ernie acting the role of the naïve troublemaker and Bert the world-weary foil. Ernie's birthday is March 28.[1]
Ernie is well known for his fondness for baths with his Rubber Duckie, and for trying to learn to play the saxophone although he would not "put down the duckie." Ernie is also known for keeping Bert awake at night, for reasons such as wanting to play the drums, wanting to count something (like sheep), to observe something like a blackout, or even because he is waiting for his upstairs neighbor to drop his shoes. That happens also in Play with Me Sesame.
He has a distinctive, chuckling laugh (a trait he shares with his baby cousin Ernestine). His appearance and clothing contrast noticeably with Bert, as he is the shorter and stouter of the pair, wears a shirt with horizontal stripes as opposed to Bert's vertical ones, and has a head that is wider than it is high. In addition, Ernie has no visible eyebrows, while Bert displays a unibrow.
Many Ernie and Bert sketches involve Ernie wanting to play a game with Bert, who would much rather do something else (like read). Ernie keeps annoying Bert with the game until Bert joins in – and usually, by the time Bert starts enjoying the game, Ernie is tired of playing the game and wants to do something else. Other sketches have involved them sharing some food by dividing it equally, only for one of them to have a bit more than the other, leading Ernie to make it even by eating the extra piece.
Ernie has also frequently made appearances without Bert. He has regularly appeared in skits with Cookie Monster, Sherlock Hemlock and Lefty the Salesman.
From season 33 (2002) until season 36 (2005), he and Big Bird starred in a daily segment called "Journey to Ernie".
Ernie was one of the hosts of Play With Me Sesame. One regular segment that he hosted was "Ernie Says", a variation of "Simon Says".
Contents |
Ernie sang about his affection for Rubber Duckie in a skit, which aired during the first season of Sesame Street. The song from that skit – titled "Rubber Duckie" – became a modest mainstream hit, reaching No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1970.[2]
Ernie has appeared in both of the Sesame Street movies. In Follow That Bird, he and Bert searched for Big Bird by plane. Ernie piloted the plane, and eventually, after they found Big Bird, he flew the plane upside-down, singing "Upside Down World". However, after they lost Big Bird, Ernie blamed Bert.
In The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Ernie and Bert served as hosts, interrupting the movie whenever it looks like something bad is about to happen.
Ernie reveals in Sesame Street episode 257 that his favorite activities include watching parades, circuses and going to birthday parties.
A typical Bert and Ernie skit has Ernie coming up with a hare-brained idea and Bert trying to talk him out of it ending with Bert losing his temper while Ernie becomes oblivious to his own bad idea.
Ernie also appeared in the finales of The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan, in the last of which he got a line.
In Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Ernie decided to buy Bert a cigar box to store his paper clips in. However, as he did not have any money, he traded his own Rubber Duckie for it. At the same time, Bert decided to get Ernie a soap dish to put his Rubber Duckie in, so that it wouldn't keep falling into the tub, but had to trade his paper clips for it. However, Mr. Hooper could tell that neither of them really wanted to give up their prized possessions, so Mr. Hooper gave them their things back as presents.
Ernie and Bert introduced a montage of Sesame Street clips in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years. Ernie also narrated a Christmas pageant, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, in A Muppet Family Christmas. In that same special, Ernie and Bert had a conversation with Doc, making them the only Sesame Street characters (not counting Kermit the Frog) to have interacted with Doc.
In Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting, he and Bert got a new video camera, and he talked Bert into using the camera to record footage of Sesame Street so that they could watch Sesame Street on television.
Jim Henson's original Ernie puppet is currently on display at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ernie is a "Live-Hand Muppet," meaning that while operating the head of the puppet with his right hand, the puppeteer inserts his left hand into a T-shaped sleeve, capped off with a glove that matches the fabric "skin" of the puppet, thus "becoming" the left arm of the puppet. A second puppeteer usually provides the right arm, although sometimes the right arm is simply stuffed and pinned to the puppet's chest. Other puppets of this type include Cookie Monster, Fozzie Bear, Beaker, and Bunsen Honeydew.
Sesame Street is localized for some different markets, and Ernie is often renamed. For instance, in episodes that are aired in Portugal, Ernie's name has been changed to Egas, in Brazil his name is Ênio, in Spain he is renamed "Epi", in Latin America his name is "Enrique", on Egyptian Alam Simsim (Sesame World) Ernie's name is given as "Shadi" (rhyming with Bert's which is "Hadi"), in Russia he also known as Yenik (Еник), in Turkey he is named "Edi", in Israel he is called "Arik" (אריק) and in Norway he is known as "Erling".
Through the years, some Muppet characters on Sesame Street have been the subject of urban legends. Two of the most frequently mentioned urban legends concerning Ernie include: