Barkley

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Barkley at the Great Wall in Big Bird in China.

Barkley nuzzles with Maria and the kids.

Concept sketch.

Barkley plays with Baby Elmo, in a Sesame Street Japan cellphone wallpaper, 2011.

Barkley is a full-bodied Muppet dog who appears on Sesame Street. Barkley was originally called Woof-Woof when he first appeared in Season 9. In the 10th season premiere, the cast voted to rename him Barkley.

Barkley is energetic and playful, but is not anthropomorphized in the way that Rowlf and other characters are. While he may exhibit human-like emotions, he communicates only through barks, yelps, and physical contact. He was Linda's dog and understood the American Sign Language signs for "sit" and "stay." However, Barkley also had a close relationship with Big Bird. Indeed, in the 1993 book Imagine... Big Bird Meets Santa Claus, the large bird refers to Barkley as his dog. Although Linda has since moved on from Sesame Street, Barkley has remained, presumably becoming a ward of the community as a whole. The book A Bird's Best Friend shows that Granny Bird brought Barkley as a puppy for a present for Big Bird.

Barkley's appearances in television specials include the 1978 A Special Sesame Street Christmas and the 1979 A Walking Tour of Sesame Street. More prominently, he accompanied Big Bird on his trips to China in 1982 and Japan in 1988. He also appeared with the Muppets en masse on Night of 100 Stars. Additionally, for many seasons (until 1992), the Sesame Street closing credits depicted Barkley running through a park with the Kids.

Barkley somewhat disappeared in the series after the start of the 21st century, but returned in the 40th season premiere, being walked (or ran) by Bob. He also made a cameo in one episode the following season and made an appearance in a season 43 episode.

In a season 19 episode, Elmo has a new pet fish that he names Barkley.

Behind the Scenes

Original performer Toby Towson claimed, in a 2003 Wikipedia edit, that the full-bodied puppet character was initially conceived as an acrobatic ape.

According to Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street, the writers had created the character as a pretty savvy canine who knew how to count and had an almost human intelligence, but performer Brian Muehl thought that he should be portrayed like a regular dog.

While inside Barkley, the performer wears stilts on both arms. In order to make his mouth move, the performer must pull a trigger on one of its stilts to close the mouth, and tilt his head to make it open.

Barkley was Brian Muehl's favorite character to perform, along with Telly. According to him, the large canine "was the apogee of my mime roots and was pure visual puppetry."

Book appearances

• I Like School (1980)
• The Sesame Street Storybook Alphabet (1980)
• Frazzle's Fantastic Day (1980)
• I Can Do It Myself (1980)
• The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
• The Tool Box Book (1980)
• What Did You Bring? (1980)
• A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
• I Have a Friend (1981)
• Put & Play Magic Show (1981)
• The Sesame Street Circus of Opposites (1981)
• What Do You Do? (1981)
• Which One Doesn't Belong? (1981)
• Big and Little Stories (1982)
• City (1982)
• Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1983 reprint)
• Big Bird in China (1983)
• Puppy Love (1983)
• Big Bird's Copycat Day (1984)
• I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
• Big Bird Says... A Game to Read and Play (1985)
• ABC (1986)
• A My Name Is Annabel (1986)
• A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
• Baby Animals on the Farm (1986)
• Sesame Street ABC (1986)
• Through the Year (1986)
• Big Bird's Busy Day (1987)
• A Birthday Surprise (1987)
• Shape Up! (1987)
• Big Bird's Square Meal (1988)
• Mine! (1988)
• The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
• A My Name Is Alice (1989)
• Alice's First Words (1989)
• Great Monsterpieces (1989)
• Grover's Bad Dream (1990)
• Museum of Monster Art (1990)
• Sesame Street 123 (1991)
• Feeling Fit: Postcards to Color and Send (1992)
• I Want to Be a Veterinarian (1992)
• Mini-Boxes to Color & Share (1992)
• We're Different, We're the Same (1992)
• Elmo's Mother Goose (1993)
• Big Bird's Animal Game (1993)
• Imagine... Big Bird Meets Santa Claus (1993)
• Around the Corner on Sesame Street (1994)
• Elmo's Big Lift-and-Look Book (1994)
• Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
• Rise and Shine! (1996; reworked as Up, Up, Up! in 2011)
• Zoe and the Runaway Ball (1996)
• Where Is Elmo's Blanket? (1999)
• Clap Your Hands! (2002)
• Look and Find Elmo (2002)
• Elmo Pops In! (2003)
• Animal Alphabet (2005)
• Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street (2007)
• I Can Do It! (2008)
• Storybook ABCs (2008)
• Count to 10 (2009)
• Love, Elmo (2009)
• What's Different? (2009)
• Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? (2009)
• Elmo Doodle Dandy (2011)