Polly Want a Trashcan?

Paco the Mexican Grouch from PLAZA SÉSAMO.

The first Latin American version of SESAME STREET was called PLAZA SÉSAMO. It debuted in  November, 1972.

In this initial incarnation the Big Bird character was replaced by a large orange dragon named Abelardo; and the Oscar-type character was filled by a large and grouchy green parrot named Paco. Besides sharing Oscar's disposition, Paco was also green and had black bushy eyebrows. In 1981 PLAZA SÉSAMO was reworked and that was the end of Abelardo and Paco.

There were a number of very cool PLAZA SÉSAMO toys - the most interesting being produced by Mexican toy company Lili Ledy. I'll be talking more about them in coming posts - but two of the most desirable of their toys were the large hand puppets of Abelardo and Paco (which are both fairly hard-to-find.)

Indeed the Lili Ledy Paco the Parrot puppet is one of my "most desired" items. You can see two views of him below:

Two views of the Lili Ledy "Paco" puppet that I still need to find!

My "bootleg" Paco the Grouch puppet.

The closest I've come is a rather fun "bootleg" version produced by an unknown Mexican toy company. He can accommodate an adult hand and his mouth works. I am pretty sure the Lili Ledy puppet's mouth does not open and close.

This "bootleg" Paco has a rubber beak which extends back into his fur head making a sort of skull. The eyeballs are molded as part of the rubber head, too. This Paco puppet has large "googly" eyes glued onto the front of the white rubber eyeballs. I am not sure if he came this way or if he has been modified by a previous owner. Also, he has no arms. His body is just a green fake fur sleeve.

While I one day hope to find a Lily Ledy Paco puppet, I'm fairly happy with this one as he displays so nicely (see banner at top of the blog.) And as I mentioned, he is big enough for my hand. and I can play with him. He also looks a lot happier than his "legitimate" cousins pictured above!

The Muppets on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW

My little sister and me in 1971 when the show aired.

This isn't exactly about SESAME collectibles, but it's also far too good not to share.

On Thanksgiving night, November 25, 1971 the Muppets were the guests for all 90 minutes of THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. In Albuquerque, where I grew up, the show aired from 10:30 PM until Midnight. I begged, BEGGED, my parents to let me stay up and watch. Given that it was Thanksgiving (and that there was no school the next day) my parents agreed.  I think I may have taken a nap from bed time until 10:30 when the show began. But I vividly remember most of the show.

I especially remembered Thog, who became a favorite Muppet, even though I didn't see him again from this introduction until his appearance in the opening of THE MUPPET SHOW.

I also loved seeing Henson put on Kermit. I was fascinated at how he treated the puppets, like no more than a piece of fabric, until he had them fully on his hand and they came to life. I was also incredibly excited to see Carroll Spinney in his Big Bird legs.

The 90 minute show also includes interviews with Henson, Frank Oz, and Jerry Nelson; and appearances by all the regular SESAME Muppets. There are a couple clips from THE FROG PRINCE, and Henson shows models from the animated "King of 8" film.  At the end of the show there is a plug for the just-released Topper SESAME puppets and they show the 20" Big Bird toy.

Big Bird, Jim Henson, Dick Cavett, & Thog look at the new Topper Toys!

Dick Cavett says he wants a complete set of them. I got mine for Christmas exactly a month later! Many thanks to the kind person who posted the entire show on YOUTUBE (including the vintage commercials!)

Mordicus et Moi

Salut, mon petit monstre bleu. Bienvenue chez-moi.

I was recently able to acquire one of my "most wanted" SESAME toys. The superb hand puppet of Mordicus, the French version of Oscar, from 1 RUE SÉSAME. The monsters were always my favorite SESAME muppets.  I remember a number of years ago, when I first started recollecting SESAME stuff, and I spotted a Mordicus puppet in photos of someone else's collection. I thought, "Who is that blue monster! I must have him!" Say hello, Mordicus!

Mordicus, the French Grouch from 1 RUE SÉSAME. Hand-puppet produced by Vicma, 1978.

He is a beautifully made puppet - very much in the style of the original Topper / Educational Toys Puppets; and he's fairly large, pretty much in scale with their Ernie and Bert. He is 12.5" inches tall and his head is big enough to accept an adult hand.

The puppet was produced by Spanish toy company Vicma in 1978 and was sold only in France and Spain. The construction is very similar to the first generation American puppets  with one big twist: Mordicus's head and neck is thick flexible sky-blue rubber, perhaps most similar to the Ernie hand puppet's head. Mordicus's nose and ears are part of the sky-blue rubber "skull" and they protrude thru slits in the darker blue fake fur puppet body. Thus Mordicus is in some ways similar to the Topper and Child Guidance Grover puppet that was made of blue fake fur over a plastic skull cap with protruding pink nose. But the Grover puppets didn't have a one-piece, fully formed skull and neck made of thick rubber.

The "real" Mordicus with Trepido the Snail & Toccata (the French Big Bird).

On 1 RUE SÉSAME, Mordicus lives in a trash can like Oscar. He also plays the saxaphone and is part of a singing group. Mordicus is performed by Georges Mosca, though his singing voice is sometimes dubbed by Denis Demoulin.

J'espère que Mordicus et moi serai de grands amis.

One of Mordicus's French record albums.

Cookie Monster

As I've already mentioned, my first SESAME STREET toy was the wonderful Cookie Monster puppet produced by Topper/Educational Toys in the Fall of 1971. These puppets were the first SESAME toys produced, and they were spectacular! Beautifully designed and made, with wonderful packaging, and with extreme care taken to make them great toys that truly reflected their on screen counterparts.

The open-front packaging allowed kids to see the actual puppet they'd get. You could feel the fur, pet Cookie Monster. The box was even designed so you could pull on the arm-control string and make Cookie's arms move while he was still in his box!

The box was also designed to be turned into a puppet theatre that looked like a television set. One had simply to cut out the screen and turn the box on it's side. The cut-out area of the screen also featured some small props on several of the puppet boxes: cookies for Cookie Monster, a lid for Oscar's trash can, etc.

Behind the cut-out screen was a handsome four-page instruction sheet. Each booklet was printed in black and the appropriate color for each puppet: Blue for Cookie Monster, yellow for Bert, green for Oscar, etc.

These original puppets from 1971 were a runaway success that Christmas. The care taken to make the best possible, kid friendly puppets was evident in every detail.

Please note that I still need to find a Cookie Monster in his original open-front box for my collection. The puppet photos of the boxed version above are courtesy of another collector. The instruction sheet and publicity photo below are mine. if you have a Cookie in a box for sale I'd love to hear from you. 

"Educational Toys" publicity photo advertising the Cookie Monster puppet.