Oscar the Grouch

Oscar the Grouch is one of the major characters on Sesame Street. He has a green body, no nose and lives in a garbage can. In fact, he loves trash so much that he's rarely seen outside of his can. His trademark song, explaining his passion for refuse, is "I Love Trash".

Oscar's friend and pet is Slimey, an orange worm. On occasional episodes he has mentioned leaving Sesame Street to attend "the annual Grouch convention in Syracuse, New York."

Oscar has a car, the Sloppy Jalopy, which was used in Follow That Bird and episodes of Sesame Street. Another vehicle is a broken-down taxi cab.

Oscar has appeared in segments such as "The Adventures of Trash Gordon", "Ask Oscar", and "Sneak Peek Previews".

He was often teamed with Telly Monster. He also sometimes leads a group of children called The Grouchketeers (a parody of Disney's "Mouseketeers").

Oscar is the first addition to what is now a species known as "Grouch". His grandmother Granny Grouch appeared in Episode 0131, the second season premiere. He later acquired such diverse relatives as a grandfather, mother, and niece, Irvine, as well as a girlfriend, Grungetta.

Origins
According to Sesame Street Unpaved, "The character of Oscar was inspired by a nasty waiter from a restaurant called Oscar's Tavern in Manhattan. Jim Henson and Jon Stone were waited on by a man who was so rude and grouchy that he surpassed annoying and started to actually amuse both Jim and Jon. They were so entertained that going to Oscar's Tavern became a sort of masochistic form of luncheon entertainment for them, and their waiter forever became immortalized as the world's most famous grouch." In the Ask Henson.com web column, Jim Henson Company Archivist Karen Falk said that the restaurant was named "Oscar's Salt of the Sea" -- and went on to say, "Some of the designs that we have in the Archives were done by Jim Henson on Oscar's paper placemats!"

While Jim Henson's first Oscar sketches were colored purple, the original Oscar puppet was orange. In chapter 9 of the book, The Wisdom of Big Bird, Caroll Spinney states that the Oscar puppet was rebuilt about a month after Sesame Street had started taping. Jim tore apart the original puppet, and a new puppet was built. An early version of the green Oscar debuted on The Flip Wilson Show in 1970, and Oscar's explanation for that was that he had vacationed at Swamp Mushy Muddy, where the dampness had turned him green overnight.

Oscar's voice was inspired by a taxi driver who drove Caroll Spinney to the studio where Sesame Street began taping its first season. When he hopped into the cab, the driver asked him in a gruff tone "Where to, Mac?"

Trivia
Oscar temporarily turned white (and nice) in the Sesame Street Live show Elmo's Coloring Book in 1997.

Although he doesn't have a nose, one episode explained that he has a "cute" nub hidden amongst the fur.

Oscar's first line on the show (in Episode 0001) was "Don't bang on my can! Go away." This would sum up his personality as it would remain for over 30 years.

According to Caroll Spinney's book, The Wisdom of Big Bird, Oscar's eyebrow has never changed in the entire run of Sesame Street. It is the same eyebrow that graced the Grouch's face when he was still the orange Oscar of Season 1.

In the show's early years, enthusiastic young viewers frequently mailed gifts of trash to Oscar, in care of the Children's Television Workshop, eliciting dismay from the mailroom staff. As one Information Department staff member wrote in March 1971, "Aside from an unopened can of sardines, which are probably perfectly good, Oscar has been gifted with a box of old sneakers (not a box of snickers), a ratty old bathing cap, some stale poppy seeds and some used kleenexes. On the other side of the coin, an adult fan sent a $50 check, to purchase a new garbage can. We may soon need one for his fan mail!"

Transportation
Oscar has many forms of transportation. He can move with his legs sticking out of the can, as seen in early 70s episodes of Sesame Street (portrayed by Hervé Villechaize) and in the specials Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Don't Eat The Pictures, and various stage shows. He also often has Bruno The Trashman carry his can around while he's inside. While the puppet Oscar frequently moves outside of the trash can on his own, his limbs are never shown.

As seen in Follow that Bird, Oscar's license plate says "GET LOST".

Performing Oscar
During the first season of Sesame Street, the street set was arranged in such a way that Spinney, who is right-handed, was forced to operate Oscar's head with his left hand. A subsequent redesign of the set allowed Spinney to switch hands.

When Big Bird and Oscar (both performed by Caroll Spinney) are required in a scene together, Jim Martin or Matt Vogel will operate Oscar.

Songs

 * I Love Trash


 * The Grouch Song


 * I'm Sad Because I'm Happy


 * Oscar's Junk Band


 * Let a Frown Be Your Umbrella


 * Love in the Junkyard


 * I Hate Christmas


 * The Grouch Anthem