Barrio Sésamo



There have been three versions of Barrio Sésamo, the Spanish Sesame Street co-production (literally Sesame Neighborhood).

The show originally aired in Spain in the late 70's, as a dubbed version of the American Sesame Street. In 1979, they created their own characters -- Caponata, a red chicken with curly hair (a full-body Muppet), and Perezgil, a green snail (a Muppet permanently on a wall) -- while retaining the American characters for scenes where they did not interacted with Humans (Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Grover, etc).

American puppets would be renamed so that Spanish-speaking child audiences would not get confused with English writing norms. Later on, a list of Spanish names is provided.

The original show wasn't successful, and it was cancelled in 1980.

From 1981 to 1983, a different child program in Spanish television, La Cometa Blanca, included some sketches from Sesame Street. This program, directed by muppet lover Lolo Rico, also featured some muppets performed by Herta Frankel. It also featured some actors which would later appear in Barrio Sésamo, mainly Ruth Gabriel (then known as Ruth Abellán), Mari Luz Olier and Alfonso Vallejo.

The Sesame Street sketches were succesful for their young audience, so Sesame Street was given another chance in 1983 with Espinete (a hedgehog) and Don Pimpón (a friendly monster). Both characters were full-body Muppets. A Human character which gained notoriety within this version was Chema, an adult baker. Again, it retained American Muppets-without-Humans scenes. The show only aired until 1986, although it's still famous and loved by the generation that watched it.

It would be replaced by a similarly-oriented series, Los Mundos de Yupi (Yupi's worlds), which featured Spanish puppets and recliced actor Alfonso Vallejo (Don Pimpón) to act as Astrako, a similar character on a Buzz Lightyear-like spacesuit (not a muppet). Los Mundos de Yupi lasted from 1987 to 1989.

In 1996, the show returned with more new characters: Bluki (a blue full-body catlike Muppet), Vera (a yellow monster), Bubo (an owl) and Gaspar (a human Muppet).

Spanish names for American Muppets
American muppets were renamed for Spanish scenes, being their names in Spanish (including notes in parenthesis if needed):


 * Kermit: La Rana Gustavo ("Gustaf the Frog")
 * Ernie: Epi
 * Bert: Blas
 * Grover: Coco (Later, slang for "brain")
 * Super Grover: Super Coco
 * Marshal Grover: El Sheriff Coco ("Grover the Sheriff")
 * Fred the Wonder Horse: La Jaca Paca ("Paca, the small horse" - Paca is female for Paco, which is in turn familiar for Francisco, Spanish version of name Frank)
 * Cookie Monster: Triqui, el monstruo de las galletas ("Treekee, the Cookiee Monster")
 * Count von Count: El Conde Draco ("Count Draco", because of phonetic similitude with "Dracoo-la")
 * Oscar the Grouch: Óscar el Gruñón ("Oscar the Grumpy")
 * Guy Smiley: Pepe Sonrisas ("Joe Smiles")
 * Twiddlebugs: Los Nabucodonosorcitos ("The Little Nabucodonosor's", for king Nebuchadrezzar II the Great of Babylon, called Nabucodonosor in Spanish)

Muppets

 * Jesús Alcaide as Perezgil
 * Emma Cohen as Caponata

Humans

 * Conchita Goyanes as Adela
 * Petri Martínez as Petri
 * José Riesgo as Julián

Muppets

 * Alfonso Vallejo as Don Pimpón
 * Chelo Vivares as Espinete

Humans

 * José E. Camacho as Antonio
 * Isabel Castro as Ana
 * Ruth Abellán as Ruth
 * Cristina Higueras as Cristina
 * Roberto Mayor as Roberto
 * Mari Luz Olier as Matilde
 * Susana Osuna as Susana
 * José Riesgo as Julián
 * Jesús Ruyman as Jesús
 * Juan Sánchez as Chema the baker
 * Toni Sevilla as Desi

Third Series Cast (1996-2000)

 * Miquel Àngel Ripeu