Elmo: pre Kevin Clash

[Cookie fan]

I can only think of 3 occasions where you can hear his then raspy, smoky voice in some classic sketches:
1. "Me Claudius" from Monsterpiece Theater
2. The song "We are all Monsters"- the original, I say original because the DVD "Monster Hits" has Elmo singing with his present squeaky voice.
3. There was once a sketch featuring Betty Lou (?) with some monsters in a parade going opposite directions; the most irritating part in that clip was hearing Betty saying:" Wait a minute, wait a minute,wait a munite". But those were the days nevertheless.

 

[minor muppetz]

I wonder when Elmo became Elmo. A lot of people say that he wasn't named Elmo for awhile. But I have gathered some clues and such...

Caroll Spinney says that he was orignally Baby Monster in either the first or third season, and was soon put in storage for many years. Then, when somebody had an idea for a character named Elmo, the Baby Monster puppet was just taken out of storage. I guess that might prove that Elmo was always intended to be called Elmo, though Spinney could be wrong.

In Spinneys book, he gave an example of how Elmo talked when he was performed by Brian Meuhl, saying that Elmo talked really fast and repeated words, such as "Play! Play! Elmo wants to play!" That would prove that he was meant to be called Elmo, but he also could have just used that as an example.

However, in the book The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites, from either 1981 or 1982, Elmo made a cameo appearance and was referred to by name. This book was released before Brian Meuhl stopped performing on Sesame Street, so Elmo must have been given a name before Brian Meuhl left.

Finally, though Carol Spinney says that somebody had an idea for a character named Elmo, I've seen a press release regarding Elmo in Grouchland, which stated that Elmo was created just because there was not any red monsters on the show.

 

[PiLfan]

I can only think of 3 occasions where you can hear his then raspy, smoky voice in some classic sketches:
1. "Me Claudius" from Monsterpiece Theater
2. The song "We are all Monsters"- the original, I say original because the DVD "Monster Hits" has Elmo singing with his present squeaky voice.
3. There was once a sketch featuring Betty Lou (?) with some monsters in a parade going opposite directions; the most irritating part in that clip was hearing Betty saying:" Wait a minute, wait a minute,wait a munite". But those were the days nevertheless.

I don't recall ever seeing the third one, but another sketch had the early Elmo with the same three monsters from "We are all monsters" doing a skit about Near and Far (which was on youtube for a while, but has since been removed). That elmo sounded the same way he did on the "we are all monsters" song.

 

[SesameStreetFan]

Elmo was used for a street story, once in a while in the early 80's. I believe he first appeared in 1979, voiced by Brian Meehl. When Brian Meehl left Sesame Street in 1984, Richard Hunt only performed him for a brief time and I think by the end of the 1984-1985 Season Kevin Clash had already taken him over, and that's when he became the most popular. Kevin Clash sort of brought the charachter to life so to speak. Elmo is similar to the charachter Benny Rabbit. Although Benny Rabbit first appeared in the 1989-1990 Season, he didn't become popular until the 1993-1994 Season when he became a bellhop for the furry arms Hotel. Benny was only used a handful of times from 1989-1993, which is the same case with Elmo from 1979-1984.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

i recall them all

 

[minor muppetz]

I don't recall ever seeing the third one, but another sketch had the early Elmo with the same three monsters from "We are all monsters" doing a skit about Near and Far (which was on youtube for a while, but has since been removed). That elmo sounded the same way he did on the "we are all monsters" song.

I've seen a picture of that sketch, and since it has the same characters and setting, I wouldn't be surprised if both songs were taped on the same day. I don't know if the voices are the same, but the audio would have been recorded earlier.

 

[D'Snowth]

Here's what I understand about the subject:

According to the Sesame Street merchandise (like beanies), "Elmo" first appeared on Sesame Street in 1985. From what I understand from the Sesame Street Biography, Harry Smith mentioned that "at that time, another Muppeteer, Richard Hunt, was Elmo". Kevin Clash said Richard didn't like performing Elmo because of the "complaints" he got for his performance, and that Richard just tossed Elmo to him, asked him to do a voice, he did the falsceto voice we know and uh...know today, Richard took Kevin to the producers wanting him to take over Elmo, he became Elmo. I know Caroll Spinney mentioned in his book about Brian Muehl performing Elmo; but I'm not sure if he meant the character Elmo, or just the Elmo puppet in generally.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here's what I understand about the subject:

According to the Sesame Street merchandise (like beanies), "Elmo" first appeared on Sesame Street in 1985. From what I understand from the Sesame Street Biography, Harry Smith mentioned that "at that time, another Muppeteer, Richard Hunt, was Elmo". Kevin Clash said Richard didn't like performing Elmo because of the "complaints" he got for his performance, and that Richard just tossed Elmo to him, asked him to do a voice, he did the falsceto voice we know and uh...know today, Richard took Kevin to the producers wanting him to take over Elmo, he became Elmo. I know Caroll Spinney mentioned in his book about Brian Muehl performing Elmo; but I'm not sure if he meant the character Elmo, or just the Elmo puppet in generally.

I wonder if Kevin Clash is aware that Brian Muehl performed Elmo before Richard Hunt did. The A&E Biography doesn't acknowledge the fact that Brian Muehl once performed Elmo, and in the clip shown of Elmo when the biography mentioned that Richard Hunt previously performed Elmo, it obviously wasn't Richard Hunt performing Elmo. Hunt was performing another monster in that same scene, one who didn't have a consistent performer, so it would be pointless for Hunt to either dub the voice of a character he didn't normally perform or dub Elmo's voice so that he could perform a character he did not regularly perform. Also, in that scene, Elmo sounded nothing like a Richard Hunt character. I think Elmo did sound like the X from the Mystery Guest sketch, and that X was performed by Brian Muehl.

I just hope that the producers of A&E knew to give Brian Muehl his proper residuals.

 

[Cookie fan]

Sorta looks like him

Come to think about it, check this pic of Baby monster with another muppet named Scudge and to some degree it looks a bit like Elmo. What do you think?
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Scudge

 

[LincolnHeights]

I do remember Richard Hunt's Elmo. I think he was only around for one Season. But it was during the 1984-1985 Season. I remember he didn't have much of a personality back then, and sounded a lot different than he does now. He seemed rather dull until Kevin Clash took over, so it was probably a good thing Richard gave Kevin the role. I do think Richard Hunt was an awsome muppeteer and had some terrific charachters like Gladys, Don Music, and Forgetful Jones. Elmo just wasn't Richard's "type" so to speak.