Mr. Snuffleupagus



Mr. Snuffleupagus is a full-bodied Muppet character who lives with his family in a cave just off of Sesame Street. Snuffleupagus is his species as well as his last name.

His full name is Aloysius Snuffleupagus, although his friends call him Snuffy. His best friend is Big Bird, whom he affectionately calls simply "Bird." His favorite foods are cabbage and spaghetti. He has a little sister named Alice and a friend named Rosalyn.

Mr. Snuffleupagus first appeared on Sesame Street in Episode 0276, the third season premiere. When he first appeared, many of the adults assumed that he was Big Bird's imaginary friend, due to a series of coincidences and near-miss encounters that continually kept Snuffleupaguses and humans apart. Big Bird would often try to find ways for Snuffy to meet the adults, but something would always cause Snuffy to leave before the humans could see him. Sometimes, all it would take for the adults to see Mr. Snuffleupagus would be to turn their heads, yet they usually wouldn't do so until Snuffy had already gone.

Various kids could see Mr. Snuffleupagus, some Muppets saw him, and even a few celebrities (including Judy Collins, in a fantasy sequence) saw him, but the major human characters never believed his existence until episode 2096 in 1985.

Mr. Snuffleupagus became real to the entire cast for a few reasons. One was because the writers were running out of new ways to have Snuffy just barely miss meeting them. Another factor was increased concerns that the adults' refusal to believe Big Bird's claims of his friend's existence would discourage children from sharing important things with their parents.

It takes two people to perform Mr. Snuffleupagus. The person who performs the front also performs the voice. Jerry Nelson was the first to play the character, but back problems caused by the physical stress of the performance forced him to bow out. Michael Earl Davis took over for three seasons (1978,–1980), before Marty Robinson became the permanent voice and face of Snuffy. The back of Mr. Snuffleupagus has been performed by Richard Hunt, Brian Muehl, Frank Kane, and Peter Friedman, but since 1979, the regular back-end has been Bryant Young.

In the early years of Snuffy's Sesame Street appearances, his entrances were scored by a low-range brass musical cue. A modified version of this theme appeared on the various Sesame Street albums. Also, during his first appearances in 1971, Snuffy spoke in a sad-sounding tone of voice. Later, the sad tone was dropped and Snuffy began to speak in a more neutral tone of voice that could sometimes be cheerful.

For a time, his catchphrase was "Ohhh, dear." When not filming, the producers of Sesame Street hang Snuffy from the studio ceiling, wrapped in a pink blanket. They call him the Big Pink Moon. They place him there because the suit is so enormous that there is no room for him in storage.

Mr. Snuffleupagus' Family
Mr. Snuffleupagus lives with his family in a cave located at 456 Snuffle Circle.
 * Mommy Snuffleupagus (also known as "Mommy Snuffle")
 * Daddy Snuffle
 * Alice Snuffleupagus (younger sister)
 * Aunt Agnes Snuffleupagus
 * Granny Snuffle
 * Abigail Snuffleupagus (cousin)
 * Uncle Abe

In 1992, the producers of Sesame Street tested an episode in which Snuffy's parents get a divorce. After a series of arguments, Daddy Snuffle moved out of the cave, and Snuffy and Alice had to deal with the emotional fallout of a breakup. The episode didn't test well with children, and the producers decided to shelve it. In the context of the show, Mommy and Daddy Snuffleupagus are still married. For more information, see "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce".

Notable Events

 * Episode 0276: Snuffy first appears
 * Episode 0331: Snuffy celebrates his 2nd birthday
 * Episode 1090 - Episode 1095: Trip to Hawaii
 * Episode 1800: Cousin Abigail visits
 * Episode 2040: Snuffy Goes to the Movies
 * Episode 2096: The adults meet Snuffy for the first time
 * Episode 2208: Big Bird and Snuffy remember how they met
 * Episode 2477: Snuffy plays with Alice
 * Episode 3821: Snuffy draws a huge picture for Gina
 * Episode 4069 - Episode 4070: Snuffy's Invisible
 * Episode 4088: Snuffy wants to be a cloud
 * Episode 4091: Snuffy feels he's too big

Trivia

 * The original Mr. Snuffleupagus puppet had bright yellow eyes, immobile eyelids, and yellow eyelashes. He was redesigned in Season 4, gaining white eyes, eyelids, and eyelashes, to look more like he does today.


 * Snuffy is a big fan of opera music, and at one point attended daily rehearsals at Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He even performed a light-opera rendition of the alphabet with Judy Collins.


 * Similar to how Big Bird often mispronounced Mr. Hooper's name as Mr. Looper, Snuffy often mispronounced Mr. Handford's name as Mr. Handfoot.


 * Sometime before seeing for themselves that he was real, Maria, Gordon, and Linda all decided to believe that he was real despite the lack of evidence, while Uncle Wally initially believed that he was real, claiming to have encountered various Snuffleupaguses over the course of his travels.


 * Martin Robinson once said about Snuffy, "He's not invisible, He just has bad timing!"


 * In one episode, Snuffy tap danced with Maurice and Gregory Hines, known as the Hines Brothers, who were at that time appearing in the Broadway musical Eubie!

Near Misses
Before his existence was revealed to the grown-ups on Sesame Street, there were many instances when the adults almost saw Mr. Snuffleupagus, only to just barely miss him. Some even heard him talk, but thought they were imagining things. Here are some of the many close encounters between Mr. Snuffleupagus and others.


 * In Episode 0323, Big Bird takes a picture of Mr. Snuffleupagus, but when he shows the picture to the adults, they think that they're looking at an old rug and a furry rope.


 * In Episode 0536, Big Bird and the adults play a game of Follow the Leader. Big Bird wants them to wait for Mr. Snuffleupagus to arrive, but they refuse to wait, thinking that otherwise they'll never play. After they start playing, Mr. Snuffleupagus shows up and takes the last place in line. David is the leader, and tells everyone to close their eyes, which causes them to miss Snuffy. Snuffy gets tired and leaves before the game is over.


 * In Episode 0746, Mr. Snuffleupagus attempts to introduce himself to Mr. Hooper. Unfortunately, Mr. Hooper is wearing headphones and reading the newspaper, so he can't see or hear Snuffy. Big Bird comes in and finds Snuffy taking a nap next to Mr. Hooper, but Mr. Hooper still insists that there's no such thing as a Snuffleupagus.


 * In Episode 0796, Mr. Snuffleupagus walks through Sesame Street, counting the number of people who don't see him -- including Susan, Gordon, Mr. MacIntosh, Cookie Monster (who gets his head stuck inside a bag of cookies), Bob, David, Maria, Mr. Hooper (who loses his glasses when Snuffy walks in front of him), Willy, and Luis (who holds a stack of boxes that block his vision).


 * In Episode 0807, Mr. Snuffleupagus comes to Sesame Street wearing black-and-white overalls. Bob has dozed off on the stoop, and wakes up just as Snuffy is leaving. Bob gets a glimpse of Snuffy as he's waking up. However, when Bob tells Big Bird about seeing the Snuffleupagus, he mentions the black and white stripes, and Big Bird thinks Bob must have been imagining things.


 * In Episode 0858, Mr. Hooper has lost his glasses again. Groping around for them, he feels Snuffy's fur, but he thinks that he's touching the furry scarf that Maria lost.


 * In Episode 1186, David thinks he hears Big Bird talking to Mr. Snuffleupagus about going to the movies. He convinces the other adults to come to Big Bird's nest. When they get there, Snuffy is gone, and they decide that David must have been hearing things.


 * In Episode 1800, Snuffy takes his broken toaster to the Fix-It Shop. He speaks with Maria, who's too busy to look up; she tells her customer to leave the toaster for her. When she looks up, she's amazed to find a Snuffleupagus-sized toaster. Maria shows Olivia the huge toaster, and wonders if she spoke to Mr. Snuffleupagus. Olivia thinks that Big Bird must be playing a trick. They wait to see if Snuffy comes back to pick up the toaster -- but Big Bird comes for it instead; Snuffy asked him to pick up the toaster for him.


 * In Episode 1836, Forgetful Jones is manning a water station for the New York City marathon. Snuffy gets some water from Jones. When Bob comes by a moment later, Forgetful Jones forgets all about his meeting with Snuffy.

Snuffleupagus Books
Books that focus on Snuffy include:


 * The Day Snuffy Had the Sniffles (1988)
 * Bert and the Magic Lamp (1989): "Life-Styles of the Large and Furry"
 * See You Later, Mashed Potater! (1990)

Book appearances

 * The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook (1973)
 * The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
 * The Great Sesame Street ABC Hunt (1975)
 * I Have a Friend (1981)
 * Prairie Dawn's Upside-Down Poem (1981)
 * Big and Little Stories (1982)
 * Don't Cry, Big Bird (1983)
 * I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
 * Big Bird Joins the Carnival (1985)
 * Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
 * Sesame Street ABC (1986)
 * Sleep Tight! (1991)
 * Grover's 10 Terrific Ways to Help Our Wonderful World (1992)
 * Sesame Street Stays Up Late (1995)
 * Clap Your Hands! (2002)
 * Red or Blue, I Like You! (2005)
 * Let's Compare Sizes (2006)
 * Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
 * All About Me! (2007)
 * Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
 * Music Player Storybook (2007)
 * What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
 * Our Kind of Bird (2008)
 * Storybook ABCs (2008)

Merchandise

 * Knickerbocker doll
 * Applause PVCs -- many Mr. Snuffleupagus PVCs released
 * Mr. Snuffleupagus bean
 * Tyco PVC figure