PERFORMER | Jim Henson |
DEBUT | 1969 |
Bip Bippadotta is a character on Sesame Street who is the counterpart of Mahna Mahna from The Muppet Show.
Both characters are best known for performing the nonsense song "Mah Na Mah Na" and have the same performer and voice. While scripts and most Sesame Street albums referred to this character as simply "Mah Na Mah Na," he was named "Bip Bippadotta" on the 1979 album, Every Body's Record. The Sesame character is also a distinctly different puppet from the one used in Muppet productions, being made from Anything Muppets and going through several different designs.
The first incarnation of this character, a Reddish-Magenta Anything Muppet, sang "Mah Na Mah Na" on Sesame Street in Episode 0014. Unlike the more abstract Mahna Mahna, who debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show at roughly the same time, this character wore a sweater, and had dark brown hair and standard Muppet eyes. This bearded Muppet also appeared in two other Season 1 skits with the letters "O" and "U."
Subsequent redesigns made the character look much more like Mahna Mahna than in his first appearance, developing a green tunic and long orange hair. He evolved from a little Pumpkin Orange AM in Season 5, to a sunglassed Lavender AM in Season 16, and finally a Purple AM for his remaining appearances through Season 20.
Unlike Mahna Mahna, who is almost exclusively associated with the song after which he is named (or perhaps the name after which he is songed), Bip Bippadotta performed a variety of songs on Sesame Street, which were "Fat Cat," "None Some All," "Everybody's Song," "Scratch My Back," "Opposite Stuff," and "Air."
Bip later made a cameo appearance in Episode 4203 in 2009, where he watches the race from the laundromat and says "Mahna Mahna." He appeared in his Lavender Anything Muppet design and was performed by John Kennedy.