Roots of Sesame Street puppets

[johnthornton]

Hello,

I am writing a book about Debbie Weems who was on Captain Kangaroo from 1973-1977 (she died in 1978) While reseraching this I pondered the role that the Captain Kangaroo puppets (begun in 1954 like Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit, etc..) might have played in setting the stage for the Sesame Street Muppets. Does anyone know how many people worked with Captain Kangaroo and then went on to work with Sesame Street? Also did any of them know Debbie Weems in the 1970s? Debbie started a puppet called "Baby Duck" and I wish I could get a video of that character for I feel it may well have been some of the early inspiration for the great muppet characters. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

John Thornton

 

[minor muppetz]

I have heard that Kevin Clash was a puppeteer on Captain Kangaroo long before performing on Sesame Street (maybe even long before performing on The Great Space Coaster).

 

[fuzzygobo]

The Good Captain had a number of important people on his staff that left in the late 60's when the opportunity for Sesame Street came up. Dave Connell, Sam Gibbon, Jon Stone (executive producers), Jeff Moss (songwriter), and (much later) Kevin Clash ended up on the street. Clark Gesner was a songwriter who had one idea he submitted to captain Kangaroo that never got used. The song went "In, Stop, Park, Walk, Yield... etc." that eventually became a staple on the Electric Company.

Even after the big turnover of his staff, throughout the 70's Captain Kangaroo was still a lot of fun to watch. The quality of his show never suffered.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

off topc kinda what the heck is this

http://imdb.com/title/tt0118253/