![]() | |
Release Date | 2009 |
Produced by | Genius Entertainment |
Catalogue no. | SS00161 |
Format | DVD |
Discs | 2 |
Region | 1 |
ASIN |

Back cover

Booklet wrap-around

Disc menu

Pop-up trivia

Vintage interviews

Rehearsal footage

In the workshop

Archive photos during scene transitions

Henson #1 Song

Bein' Green



"I Can Remember": Bread, Milk, Butter

Geometry of Circles

Luxo Jr.

Monster in the Mirror

"Slimey to the Moon"


Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days is a Sesame Street DVD set released on November 10, 2009, to celebrate the show's 40th Anniversary.
Guest stars featured in clips on the set include: Madeline Kahn, James Taylor, Patti Labelle, Batman, Lena Horne, Happy Days' Fonzie, the Star Wars droids, Mister Rogers, Diana Ross, Pee-wee Herman, Feist, Smokey Robinson, Destiny's Child, and Robert De Niro, in addition to the various celebrities who appear in "Put Down the Duckie" and "Sing."
Each disc begins with a TV Montage introduced by Count von Count and featuring one clip from each of the 40 seasons (all of which are presented within the main program). Each five-year period begins with a look through a scrapbook representing the time periods, and many clips begin with behind-the-scenes photos related to the clip (with the first few seconds of audio heard over the picture). The set also comes with a commemorative booklet, a shortened 24-page version of Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street. Early copies were hardcover, but when distribution switched from Genius Products to Warner Home Video the booklet was changed to paperback.
Disc 1: Seasons 1-20[]
A * denotes that part of that clip was also featured in the "TV Montages" in this set.
Season 1[]
- "Sesame Street Open" (including Gordon's opening line from Episode 0001)
- "Henson #1 Song" *
- "Rubber Duckie"
- "I Love Trash"
- Batman Around/Up/Through
- "If I Knew You Were Coming"
- "Bein' Green"
Season 2[]
- Ernie and Bert: Banana in the Ear (part 1 only)*
- "Henson Queen of Six"
- "Mad Song"
- Sorting Song with Cookie Monster
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
- Herry & John-John Count *
- Talking Loud / Talking Soft
- Remembering Bread, Milk, Butter
- Sesame Street News Flash: Sleeping Beauty (Prince Charming falls asleep)
- Bert & Ernie: Bert's Bust
Season 5[]
Season 6[]
Season 7[]
Season 8[]
- "The People in Your Neighborhood" -- Elevator Operator and Pharmacist *
Season 9[]
Season 10[]
- Telly Plugs in (Telly's first appearance) *
Season 11[]
- Star Wars: "One You Go Beep" *
- Sesame Street News Flash: Foot Snuggies (with Dr. Nobel Price)
- Geometry of Circles #1 "Circle with Flower" (with music by Philip Glass)
- Monsterpiece Theater: Me Claudius
- Martians: Radio
- "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco"
Season 12[]
Season 13[]
Season 14[]
Season 15[]
- Teeny Little Super Guy: School
- Just Because (Big Bird comes to terms with Mr. Hooper's death) *
Season 16[]
Season 17[]
- Elmo's Make Believe Trip (the performance that Kevin Clash notes is the moment when he "found his voice" as Elmo)
- "Batty Bat Song"
- Snuffy Is Seen *
Season 18[]
- "Put Down the Duckie" (celebrity version) *
- "Sing Your Synonyms"
Season 19[]
- Pee-wee Herman's Alphabet
- Maria and Luis Get Married
- "African Alphabet" *
Season 20[]
- OOOO-Klahoma!
- Meet the Baby (Gabriela is born) *
Disc 1 Bonus Features[]
- "Behind the Street" featurettes, which play when clicking the "enter" button when the Sesame Street logo appears on-screen, or can all be viewed all together by selecting "Play All."
- An interview with Jon Stone on research and curriculum, and the barriers the show broke.
- An interview with legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney on Oscar the Grouch.
- Behind-the-Scenes footage of Cheryl Blaylock transforming a Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet from Dominique into Dr. Nobel Price.
- Behind-the-Scenes rehearsal footage on "The Hello Hello Hello Song," "Two-Headed Monster: Telephone," "Bring Your Own Can Night," "The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree," "Friendship Song," and "Bert and Ernie: Snowman."
- An interview with Kevin Clash on the creation of Elmo.
- Easter Egg: One minute panning shot of the Street set from Big Bird's nest to the Fix-It Shop.
- Fan Favorite Clip - Bert and Ernie: String Tied
- TV Montage
- On-screen pop-up facts
- DVD Rom Feature: 189 pages of 40 years of credits in PDF format.
Disc 2: Seasons 21-40[]
Season 21[]
Season 22[]
Season 23[]
Season 24[]
Season 25[]
Season 26[]
- Arrested Development: "Pride"
- Dance Theater of Harlem: Five Birds
- Luxo Jr.: Front/Back *
- "My Name Is Zoe"
- "B Is for Bubble"
Season 27[]
Season 28[]
Season 29[]
Season 30[]
Season 31[]
Season 32[]
- Robert De Niro: The Actor Prepares
- My Nest, My Home *
- Elmo's World Games: Mr. Noodle (includes "Elmo's World" opening)
Season 33[]
Season 34[]
- "ABC Hip Hop" *
Season 35[]
Season 36[]
Season 37[]
Season 38[]
Season 39[]
- Feist: "1234" *
- The Golden Triangle of Destiny (giant boulder and laundromat trap sequences)
- David Beckham: Persistent
- Plain White T's
- Neil Patrick Harris: The Shoe Fairy
- Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures: Penguin
Season 40[]
Disc 2 Bonus features[]
- Behind the Street featurette, including:
- Leslie Carrara-Rudolph and Jason Weber talk about the creation of Abby Cadabby.
- Behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of "Guess The Seasons" and "D-Dance."
- Green screen passes of Elmo and other characters, for "Lord of the Feet" and "D-Dance."
- Bonus Behind-the-Street featurette, including:
- Production meeting discussion and rehearsal for Episode 1570, featuring Oscar and Othmar the Grouch.
- Interviews with Roscoe Orman and Jim Henson.
- An on-screen pop-up feature with facts about Sesame Street.
- Sneak Peek: Abby's Flying Fairy School -- "Cinderella" episode
- TV Montage
- Easter Egg: Four and a half minute high speed montage of building the Sesame Street set.
- Link to sesamestreet.org/moresunnydays online DVD bonus.
- DVD-ROM: 189 pages of credits of 40 seasons of Sesame Street in PDF format.
Fan Favorite Vote[]
Genius Entertainment partnered with Amazon.com to allow fans to vote for one moment from a list of 10 clips to appear on the release. Voting was open from April 1st to April 28, 2009. The winning clip, with 27% of the vote, was "Bert and Ernie String Tied."
The nominees and results were as follows:
- "Alligator King" (10%)
- "Bert and Ernie String Tied" (27%)
- "King of Eight" (5%)
- "Henson Ball" (3%)
- "Martian Beauty" (1%)
- "What's the Name of that Song" (9%)
- "I Just Adore Four" (1%)
- "Pinball Machine 12" (24%)
- "Caribbean Amphibian" (10%)
- "Elmo's Debut" (6%)
Edits[]
- "I Love Trash" is edited as it was before on Old School: Volume 1.
- "Kermit News: Sleeping Beauty" is presented with the late-1980s title card instead of the original.
- Herry's closing line "Right!" in "Herry and John-John Count."
- Smart Tina's line "Do it, Roosevelt!" at the end of "Talking Loud/Talking Soft."
- Lefty the Salesman's line "I didn't see nothing" at the end of "Invisible Ice Cream."
- The Martian sketch is edited at the end to omit them going extra crazy with their dancing and chanting "happy happy, boing boing!," etc.
- The last 10 seconds of "Me Lost Me Cookie."
- The opening wide shot in "Put Down the Duckie."
Notes[]
- In the behind the scenes footage, certain graphics on clothing are blurred out. These include Caroll Spinney's Muppet Show logo shirt in the rehearsal of "Hello Hello Hello Song," Frank Oz's headband with his Muppet Show characters in the footage of the snowman sketch, and Spinney's Mickey Mouse in the rehearsals for Episode 1576. A parody of the Birth of Venus from the Kermitage Collection, seen on a wall in the bonus feature on the making of Abby Cadabby, is blurred as well.
- In December 2010, Amazon.com released an online exclusive version of the set with a bonus disc containing Episode 4228.
- The behind-the-scenes footage was later released in The iTunes Store as a part of the first wave of "Sesame Street Classics" as a full, half-hour compilation with onscreen pop-up facts. The behind-the scenes of "The Friendship Song" was also later included on Old School: Volume 3.
Errata[]
- The season 2 version of "Rubber Duckie" is listed as a season 1 segment.
- "Ladybugs' Picnic" is listed as a season 3 segment, even though it would not air on the show until the following season.
- Three segments listed as from season 11 - "Kermit News: Foot Snuggies," "Monsterpiece Theater: Me, Claudius," and "Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco" - actually premiered in season 12.
- The celebrity version of "Put Down the Duckie" is listed as a season 18 segment. Although the song did debut in season 18, the celebrity version debuted later.
- The back cover of the DVD case for Disc 1 mentions Caroll Spinney performing Bruno the Trashman, who is incorrectly identified as "Biff."