Sesame Street Home Video (Online Bumpers)

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

1st Bumper (1997-2001)



Visuals: On a black background, a pink scribble draws itself in. Inside the pink scribble is the text "Visit Sesame Street on the web at", and below that is the Sesame Street website address.

Variants:

  • On Fiesta!, the scribble animates over a shot of the video's background sets. The scribble also animates a bit faster and there's a sound of a marker when it writes in.
  • On Big Bird Gets Lost, the scribble appears over a shot of Big Bird smiling, which is the last shot in the video's closing credits (the "Thanks for helping" disclaimer also appears over this shot).

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Sonia Manzano reads out the text on-screen.

Audio Variants:

  • Sometimes, the harmonica version of the Sesame Street theme song (heard at the end of Season 27-33 episodes), or the calypso rendition of said theme (heard in most late Seasons 24 to Season 37 episodes), finishes into this bumper. The harmonica version is heard on Elmo's World: Wild Wild West, while the calypso version is heard on Elmo's World and other VHS releases of the segment.
  • On The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street, the closing theme of the video plays over the bumper.
  • On some releases such as Fiesta! and Kids' Favorite Songs, Manzano reads the text in a different tone.
  • On Get Up and Dance, it's silent.

Availability: Appears on various Sesame Street videos from the era. It first appeared on Get Up and Dance and didn't appear again until the following year on both Fiesta! and Big Bird Gets Lost. The standard variant debuted on The Alphabet Jungle Game. It didn't appear on Elmopalooza and Let's Make Music for reasons unknown, but it did appear on the 1990s re-release of Count it Higher.

2nd Bumper (2001-2006)

Visuals: A white background fades in, followed by a 2D-animated computer. Then, Elmo's hands appear and type on the keyboard. The camera switches to a back view of Elmo, as the screen zooms into the screen of the computer. The sky-blue glass background on it goes black, then turns into a pink background with a pattern of Sesame Workshop house logos behind it. The Sesame Street logo, this time with "SESAMESTREET.COM" in place of "SESAME STREET", appears in the middle of the computer screen. Then, various characters from Sesame Street (such as Zoe, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Rosita, and Big Bird) appear behind the logo, and the logo fades to white before fading to black.

Technique: Flash animation.

Audio: It begins with some typing sounds and Elmo (played by Kevin Clash) humming the Sesame Street theme. Elmo gasps, then says "SesameStreet.com! Yay!" as a drumroll plays, followed by a short version of the original harmonica rendition of the Sesame Street theme. Elmo then ends the logo with his trademark laugh.

Availability: Seen on Sesame Street video and DVD releases from the era. It first appeared on Computer Caper.

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