Teeny Little Super Guy



Teeny Little Superguy appeared in animated segments created by Paul Fierlinger for Sesame Street, beginning in 1982 for Season 14. Though ostensibly a superhero, Teeny Little Superguy was actually more of a practical problem solver. Writer Jim Thurman provided the character's gravelly voice, and scripted the segments. The segments were distinguished by Fierlinger's unique method, wrapping cels around transparent plastic cups, so that a movement cycle could be achieved by simply rotating the cups. This also allowed Fierlinger to use a kitchen counter and assorted dishes and kitchenware as props, inside his own kitchen. Some segments featured flashbacks to when Teeny Little Superguy was a kid.

The first Teeny Little Superguy cartoon took two months to create. The series of segments were frequently shown on Sesame Street for several years. However, in the late 1990s the segments were shown sporadically (eventually not appearing on any episode from 1997-2000 between Season 29 to Season 31). The segments reappeared on Sesame Street in 2001 for Season 32, and a short clip (the first part of the theme song only) was shown on Sesame Street's 35th Anniversary Special, Sesame Street - The Street We Live On, on March 4, 2004 for the Season 35 premeire "Molloy".

Fierlinger spoke at length about the character and production process in a 2005 Livejournal post. He initially pitched the idea to producer Dave Connell. "It was his [Connell's] idea that the character be a super hero, which made me hate him for that for about a week. I couldn’t understand people who couldn’t come up with anything more original for an animated character than yet another super guy. But Jim Thurman started playing him down and I dropped my resentments. We all followed Sesame Street’s curriculum of topics and I was given a contract to develop the series. I had a couple of months to create the hundreds of cups that were needed to play out any possible scenario and create the sound tracks."

A total of 13 segments were produced. The Teeny Little Superguy theme song, and background score were composed by Larry Gold, with lyrics by Stuart Horn. Essra Mohawk sang the vocals, recorded to create the illusion of four-part harmony.

Credits

 * Executive Producer: Dave Connell & Dulcy Singer
 * Producer: Lisa Simon
 * Supervising Producer: Edith Zornow
 * Writer: Jim Thurman
 * Voice: Jim Thurman
 * Supervising Director: Paul Fierlinger
 * Intro Director: Paul Fierlinger
 * Engineer: John Avarnese
 * Editor: Patrick McMahon