The Muppets Take Ramallah

The "Shara’a Simsim" characters Karim (green) and Haneen during a performance at a Palestinian school in March. | Uriel Sinai / Getty / NY Times

Samantha M. Shapiro, The New York Times | Full Story | Since the inception of “Sesame Street” in the United States 40 years ago, the nonprofit New York City-based organization that produces the show, which is now called Sesame Workshop, has created 25 international co-productions. Each country’s show has its own identity: a distinctive streetscape, live-action segments featuring local kids and a unique crew of Muppets. Bangladesh’s “Sisimpur” uses some traditional Bangladeshi puppets, and South Africa’s “Takalani Sesame” features Kami, an orphaned H.I.V.-positive Muppet. But in each co-production, at least in its early years, every detail—every character, every scene and every line of script—must be approved by executives in the Sesame Workshop office, near Lincoln Center. This requires a delicate balance: how to promote the “core values” of Sesame Street, like optimism and tolerance, while at the same time portraying a version of local life realistic enough that broadcasters will show it and parents will let their kids watch. The Palestinian territories have been, not surprisingly, a tough place to strike this balance, Sesame executives say, rivaled only by Kosovo. >>

Published 09.09.30 00:00:00 -0500 GMT | Posted by Andrew Garib on 09.10.08 | |