
Caroll Spinney has died - kevinconaway
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/obituaries/caroll-spinney-dead.html
======
filmgirlcw
When I worked at Mashable, I got to meet Mr. Spinney in 2013. I was direct off
a redeye and came straight from JFK to the office so I could meet him (it was
a closed set and we were doing a collab with Sesame Street/Oscar the Grouch
and Grumpy Cat, I was one of like 4 employees they let observe and I’m forever
grateful for that opportunity). I cried like a a baby meeting him and thanking
him for all he did for children all over the world.

As a kid, Sesame Street was extremely important to me. I loved it as much as
I’ve ever loved anything and Big Bird was just so wonderful. The first movie I
ever saw in the theater was Follow That Bird in 1985, and even at 2 years old,
that experience left an indelible mark that influenced the rest of my life.

I think I loved Sesame Street and the muppets so much because it was a TV show
and characters that felt like they understood what it was like to be a child.
It educated without pandering and it encouraged creativity and learning.

Spinney said in interviews that he thought his success with Big Bird was
because he never forgot what it was like to be a child. That came through with
the work.

And Oscar, though not a character I loved as much as Big Bird, was always a
favorite. He was mean and he liked nasty things, but he was always kind to
children and his pets. It was proof all types of people can exist and be
friends, even when they don’t have a lot in common.

The Museum of the Moving Image had a Jim Henson exhibit last year that was
really fantastic - and seeing all the stuff from Sesame Street and beyond
really made me grateful people like Henson and Spinney and Frank Oz and so
many others existed.

~~~
ObsoleteNerd
Oscar was without a doubt one of the most influential characters of my
childhood. I was completely obsessed with him, and to this day he holds a
special place in my memories.

Now that I have my own kids it makes me incredibly emotional (in a good way)
to see they have the same adoration for Sesame Street (and Play School) that I
did. It’s a powerful thing reliving your childhood through your own kids and
having them love things you loved.

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imroot
I grew up in Rural Southeastern Ohio, where PBS was the only thing that came
in clearly. I vividly remember watching Sesame Street, in black and white,
every day -- along with Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Square One -- and that's
what started my love of numbers and math.

Through PBS, Jim Henson and Fred Rodgers helped shape me to who I am now --
which is why I'm so apprehensive (and honestly, quite upset) when they talk
about cutting the funding to PBS.

~~~
datavirtue
Southwestern Ohio here. Sesame Street depressed me as a kid. I made sure to
keep it away from my children because of that.

Could never out my finger on it but thinking back to my short time watching
that show makes me cringe.

The only shows I remember enjoying as a kid were Falcons Crest and Dukes of
Hazard...and Three's Company. Perhaps I wasn't supervised properly.

~~~
Simon_says
What about Sesame Street depressed you? It's not generally regarded as a
depressing show.

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acomjean
Oscar and Big Bird are two of the most opposite characters I can imagine. When
I was a kid (70's and 80's) I had no idea it was the same person.

I heard and old interview where he said he couldn't see out of big bird and
had a little tv attached to his chest so he could see out. He could remove
feathers too, but the bird didn't look so good. (its in the article too). This
is where miniturization would be a huge help...

When Mr. Hooper died and they tell a confused Big Bird, he's not coming back
is one of the saddest moments in TV.

~~~
acheron
Mr. Spinney narrated the audiobook of _Street Gang_ , a book about the
creation of Sesame Street. While listening I realized that his "regular" voice
sounds almost but not quite like Big Bird's. With Oscar though he disguises
his voice very well.

~~~
giancarlostoro
Kinda like Seth MacFarlane on Family Guy: Brian is mostly his own voice if not
entirely his voice.

------
digitalsushi
I was 5 when Mr Hooper died. I can still remember not being able to understand
what it meant and Big Bird's irrational response just made me feel upset and
confused. I think they knew exactly what they were doing.

~~~
BelleOfTheBall
Sesame Street was just beautiful at dealing with these complex subjects in a
way that was both easy to digest for kids and nuanced. Portrayed all emotions,
highlighted things that you, as a child, wouldn't learn from adults as those
might be things they're ashamed of, scared of, etc.

I think Sesame Street is up there with Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as one of the
kindest and most influential shows on television, not in terms of influencing
the medium and other shows but in terms of influencing viewers. Each of them
brought up thousands of good people who went on to do more good. Caroll
Spinney has, undoubtedly, played a huge part in that. RIP to a great man from
a great show.

~~~
anon9001
In case anyone else is curious:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlj4Tk83xQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlj4Tk83xQ)

Powerful stuff.

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umeshunni
FYI, if like me, you didn't know who he was -

Caroll Spinney was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker most
famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.

~~~
packetslave
... for 50 years

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telesilla
I'm thankful for our increasingly rich culture of making documentaries of
living treasures.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Big_Bird:_The_Caroll_Spin...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Big_Bird:_The_Caroll_Spinney_Story)

~~~
chris_st
Hear hear. That's a very good documentary, about a very interesting person and
his times.

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dang
Also [https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/caroll-spinney-big-bird-
os...](https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/caroll-spinney-big-bird-oscar-grouch-
sesame-street-dies-best-performances.html) and
[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-
arts-50705508](https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50705508) (via
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21738323](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21738323))

A thread from when he retired last year:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18240502](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18240502)

------
duelingjello
Carroll Spinney

Rest In Peace

I grew up watching SS, Mister Roger's and 3-2-1 Contact on analog OTA KQED ch.
9 on my grandparent's HeathKit TV. About 8 yo, I figured out the ultrasonic
remote receiver would change channels by rattling house keys on a keychain.

PS: I'm curious if the Waze cookie monster voice is actually Mr. Spinney.

~~~
205guy
Funny, we discovered our TV's remote was ultrasonic when we could turn it off
with a Slinky. "Rolling" the Slinky back and forth fast enough between two
hands created a high metallic sound and we figured the remote must be emitting
ultrasound for that to work--we just didn't think about how it worked before.
I guess the off frequency was the lowest because we could never get it to do
anything else, just turn off.

My honest Sesame Street story: before we had a TV (my parents didn't want one
in the house) I was allowed to go to a neighbor's house on Saturday morning to
watch with them. One time when I was about 5 years old, I showed up early
(7am, 8am?) and just let myself in and turned on the TV before they got up.
They would watch Sesame Street, but I never really liked the characters, I
just didn't get why there were muppets and monsters living with people in a
real city, it just seemed so made up (of course, now I see it as a race/not-
race thing). Maybe it was too urban and didn't relate to my suburban
upbringing. But I loved the pinball animation (except for the repeated
counting and numbers):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOaZbaPzdsk)

~~~
imroot
Little known (or, maybe widely known fact): The Pointer Sisters sung the
Pinball Number song.

------
mixmastamyk
Sad. I tried to find classic SS for free a few years ago and came up short.
What’s available today at a reasonable price? I don’t understand why pbs is
stingy with its shows like frontline on Netflix either.

