Abby Cadabby





Abby Cadabby debuts in the first episode of season 37 of Sesame Street, when she moves to Sesame Street from Fairyside, Queens (a pun on the Sunnyside section). Abby is a shy, 3-year-old fairy godchild and the daughter of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. Her name is a play on the magic word Abracadabra. Abby's magical powers are limited to popping in and out of thin air, floating when she's happy, and turning things into pumpkins. Her magic word, allerednic, is Cinderella backwards. Although familiar with the world of fairy tales, Abby is astounded by such basic learning skills as drawing letters or counting, prompting her catchphrase "That's so magic!" Usually when she has to leave (mostly when her mother wants her), she says, "I gotta poof."

Abby frequently calls her Fairy Godmommy on her wand phone.

She can speak a language called Dragonfly and is teaching Rosita the language, while Rosita teaches her Spanish.

Along with new friend Baby Bear, Abby is starting school at the Storybook Community School, where Mrs. Goose is the teacher and other fairy tale characters like Hansel and Gretel are her classmates.

Tony Geiss conceptualized Abby as a way to simultaneously introduce a major female character to the show and add someone from a different culture, without "having consciously to introduce somebody from Indonesia or India." Abby's design is an intentional departure from the typical Muppet look because she's not originally from Sesame Street. The implication is that the fairies in her old neighborhood look like her. Her design was originally very earthy.

Abby is a Hand-Rod Muppet whose arm rods are usually performed by Pam Arciero.

Abby was most recently given the honor of being a 43-foot balloon in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Merchandise
Preceding the release of Singing Abby Cadabby by Fisher-Price, she was named a "2007 Hot Property" by Variety. Early licensees were Random House, Procter & Gamble, Mattel (Fisher-Price), VEE Corporation (live touring shows), Children's Apparel Network, and Gund.

A June 2007 news item on Playthings.com reported: "This year, the fairy-in-training is also debuting in plush from Fisher-Price (a 2-piece basic Elmo & Abby Best Friends plush set and a talking Abby Cadabby with bonus DVD sampler); a plush assortment from Gund; Abby Cadabby greeting cards from American Greetings; fun shaped balloons from Anagram; pop-up books from Bendon Publishing; storybooks from Dalmatian; board books from Random House; novelty books from Reader's Digest Children's Publishing; books; and CDs from Soundprints; as well as Sesame Street DVDs from Sesame Workshop and Sony Wonder that features Abby."

Filmography

 * Sesame Street
 * Season 37 (3 episodes - 4109, 4110, 4134)
 * Season 38 (all 26 episodes)
 * Season 39]
 * Learning is Everywhere
 * Elmo's Christmas Countdown
 * Dinosaurs!
 * Abby in Wonderland

Songs

 * "I Love Words"
 * "Kids with Wings"
 * "Because We're Friends"

Book appearances

 * Abby Cadabby's Rhyme Time (2007)
 * Abby's First Day of School! (2007)
 * All About Me! (2007)
 * Big Bird in the City (2007)
 * C is for Cooking: Recipes from the Street (2007)
 * Elmo Visits the Dentist (2007)
 * Elmo's Busy Day (2007)
 * Elmo's Favorite Places (2007)
 * Elmo's Piano (2007)
 * Elmo's World: Teachers! (2007)
 * Friendly, Frosty Monsters (2007)
 * Guess Who, Abby! (2007)
 * I'm a Helper  (2007)
 * Let's Match (2007)
 * Music Player Storybook (2007)
 * My First Trip to the Farm (2007)
 * Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
 * Sesame Street Super Sticker Book (2007)
 * We're All Superheroes! (2007)
 * What Makes You Giggle? (2007)
 * Abby Cadabby's Nursery Rhymes (2008)
 * Color Carnival (2008)
 * Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2008)
 * What Do You Hear, Dear? (2008)
 * What's the Word on the Street? (2008)
 * Abby Mix & Match Nursery Rhymes (2009)

Guest appearances

 * August 14, 2006: Abby made her public debut on the Today Show, only hours before her first appearance on Sesame Street.


 * August 18, 2006: Abby was featured as "Person of the Week" on ABC World News Tonight. She was the first Muppet to earn the honor, possibly the first non-human.


 * October 4, 2006: Abby met Rosie O'Donnell's daughter Vivi on The View


 * November 23, 2006: Abby appeared on the Sesame Street float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade


 * November 22, 2007: In addition to being honored with a parade balloon likeness, Abby appeared on the Sesame Street float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade


 * December 25, 2007: Abby and friends appeared on The Today Show.

Quotes on Abby
"We have our wacky, and we have our gentle. But we wanted a lead female character. If you think about Mary Tyler Moore, some girls relate to Rhoda, who's our Zoe, and some girls really relate to Mary, who’s a girly girl. And we didn’t have that girl. We made a definite decision to sit down with the writers to figure out what this character might be."


 * - Liz Nealon