Why are Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and Baby Bear so annoying to classic SS fans?

[Oscarfan]

One thing I wonder is how useful is Rosita outside of the American show? In the Plaza Sesamo clips I have her in, she's no bilingual at all. So, what would distinguish her from any other monster otehr than being female?

 

[StreetScenes]

Unfortunately? Sheesh! You do realize that almost every other country teaches multiple languages to their children since preschool.

well, i think that's the point, though--when it gets taken out of context and only single words are presented, it's not presented as a language. same thing happened to asl on sesame street after linda was on less frequently in street scenes and relegated to the "how do you sign ___?" segments. just having a single word doesn't show what communicating in a language means or how people use it. i think ovejita is used far better than rosita at teaching what spanish is and what it means to speak it, along with some vocabulary.

 

[Drtooth]

One thing I wonder is how useful is Rosita outside of the American show? In the Plaza Sesamo clips I have her in, she's no bilingual at all. So, what would distinguish her from any other monster otehr than being female?

I saw a clip that was obviously about Rosita teaching Elmo a word in Spanish DUBBED INTO SPANISH on that program. I'm sure that that's used to teach some other languages (if not Spanish) in international shows (sort of like how !Hace Calor! was redubbed completely for Shalome Sesame)... but really... I agree. What use is a bilingual character when they take the ethnicity and other languages away in the dub? I'd tend to think that they should have renamed the character Rosey and had her teach everyone English words.

well, i think that's the point, though--when it gets taken out of context and only single words are presented, it's not presented as a language. same thing happened to asl on sesame street after linda was on less frequently in street scenes and relegated to the "how do you sign ___?" segments. just having a single word doesn't show what communicating in a language means or how people use it. i think ovejita is used far better than rosita at teaching what spanish is and what it means to speak it, along with some vocabulary.

I would agree, but then again, I think the whole goal is to introduce preschoolers to Spanish. And a couple words and phrases here and there is the only way you can really do that to 3-5 year olds (Something they've been doing since the 70's again, though they did have the occasional dubbed Spanish cartoon). I do agree Ovejita is a little better at that, since she speaks entirely in Spanish. I think Rosita needs more scenes with Maria and Luis where she talks to them in Spanish... something I really like about that character. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have some ethnicity in the monsters... even though I tend to lump the monsters in the same category as cartoon animals. They don't specifically have a race... some show some ethnicity, but they're not technically anything other than animals/monsters.

That said, I'd love to see a Rosita teaching basic Spanish DVD collection at some point.

 

[CensoredAlso]

As for Elmo, Zoe, Rosita, and Baby Bear, I find them appropriate for their age group, but they can be a little bit boring and repetitive (spchk) to us older viewers.

My view is, perhaps they are appropriate for the age group, but Sesame Street should also challenge kids with things outside of their knowledge and safety bubble, so they can learn more or recall things later in life.

 

[Drtooth]

But let's not forget that those characters stood the test of time. While Telly is the elder statesman of the group (he was around since the 80's) and Elmo is a close second, Zoe, Baby Bear and Rosita came out of the turbulent time when a certain purple yutz was stealing the show's spotlight... not to mention multiple important people behind the show passing on in the early 90's.... the show struggled to find itself... and while those three characters are still around, let's remember all those other characters they tried to add to fill out the cast...

Sherri Netherland
Humphry
Ingrid
Baby Natasha
Stinky the Stinkweed
Benny Rabbit
The Clubhouse Monsters
Lulu
Elizabeth and Little Murray Sparkles
And so on and so forth.

While some of them were around until just recently, they all came from having to create newer characters to fill up huge gaps left by Jim and Richard's passing, and Frank's film career. Dave Golez even had to be brought in for a couple episodes.

And most of the characters the fans want need to be recast, and just haven't been yet. Guy Smiley made his first new appearance in the show in nearly 20 years this past season. Recasting muppeteers is easier said than done, as they have to sound approximately like them, and get the characters down right. Look how many people had a hand in Scooter (pun intended of course) before he was finally solidly cast.

 

[CensoredAlso]

But let's not forget that those characters stood the test of time.

Yeah I mean I don't want to be too critical here, it's not like we're talking about a certain purple dinosaur, hehe. And I wouldn't be completely against my future kids seeing these characters. But I also know they'll be watching the Old School DVDs...disclaimer or no disclaimer.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Let's not forget about Telly's equally neurotic friend Juliet. She complimented Telly really well. Love how they used to one up each other with worries with the violin music becoming more dramatic each time. But if something ends up going well they go the other way and the music gets more pleasant with time and they get more happy and excitable. It's too much fun to watch those tow together!

 

[Drtooth]

Let's not forget about Telly's equally neurotic friend Juliet.

Too late... I already forgot about her...

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Too late... I already forgot about her...

What? You didn't care for her or something?

 

[Drtooth]

In 40 years of the show, there are so many characters, it's hard to keep track of ones that didn't last all that long. I'm surprised I remember Mary/Merry monster at all.