| Sesame Street | |||||||||||
| A garden on Sesame Street | |||||||||||
| Air date | April 9, 1999 | ||||||||||
| Season | Season 30 (1998-1999) | ||||||||||
| Written by | Tony Geiss | ||||||||||
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| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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SCENE 1 | In the yard, Elmo shows Maria and some kids the book he wrote with Big Bird and Gabi. Maria agrees to read it to them (and the viewer), and Elmo reveals that there's a surprise at the end. Maria starts by reading the front cover of the book, then begins reading the story of "How They Built a Garden on Sesame Street." |
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SCENE 1 cont'd |
In the story, Gordon tries to read a book to Big Bird, Elmo, Baby Bear, and a couple of kids on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street but are disrupted by Oscar's elephant Fluffy, who is tap-dancing in Oscar's trash can so loudly that they can't concentrate. Fluffy switches to the old soft-shoe, which sounds much better to them until Biff and Sully show up and start their loud construction work. Big Bird wishes that Sesame Street had a tiny, quiet garden where they could read. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd |
Maria continues, and an appearance by the Amazing Mumford is teased in the next part of the story... |
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Cartoon | Jerry Nelson sings "In My Book." (First: Episode 2983) |
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Muppets | Ernie's Show and Tell Sankarj shows Ernie his book about dinosaurs. |
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Animation | A girl reads a book, a magazine, a newspaper, and a letter. (First: Episode 3142) |
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SCENE 2 | Maria reminds everyone where they are as she continues reading the story... |
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SCENE 2 cont'd |
... in which Mumford uses magic to take everybody to a fence in the yard. He explains that behind it is an area where they can make a garden, just like the one in the drawing he provides. The others assume that Mumford can just conjure up a garden in no time, but he declines ("I'm a magician, not a contractor!") and says that they all must cooperate and work together to turn the area into a garden. Before Mumford leaves, he gives them his website URL (www.alapeanutbuttersandwiches.com) and vanishes in a poof of smoke. Everyone looks behind the fence and is disgusted by the big mess they see - except for Oscar, who thinks it's perfect just the way it is. |
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Song | "Litter Rap" (First: Episode 2646) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Rubber Duckie introduce the letter of the day. (First: Episode 3813) |
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Cartoon | O for open, off, owl, ocean (First: Episode 3091) |
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Animation | Fans reveal the letter O. (First: Episode 2905) |
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Animation | Planting Letters: O (First: Episode 3010) |
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SCENE 3 | Maria is now at the part of the story where Oscar agrees to give the group some building supplies in exchange for the trash behind the fence. |
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SCENE 3 cont'd |
As they gather the junk, Gordon leads everyone in singing how cleaning up the mess can help lead to a "Great Big Beautiful World." Gina, Zoe, and Telly join the group in their song and work. |
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SCENE 3 cont'd |
Once the song is done and all the trash has been collected in front of Oscar's can, Gina tells everyone that there was a really big rock underneath the junk pile. It would spoil the garden if it stayed, but they're not quite sure how to remove such a large, heavy thing from the area... |
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Cartoon | Two men push two large bird eggs on top of two hills. (new sound effects added) (First: Episode 0773) |
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Celebrity | Ray Charles sings the Alphabet Song, and various celebrities join in, including Michael Jeter, Patrick Stewart, Tony Bennett, Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop, Harry Belafonte, Grover, David Robinson, and Ellen DeGeneres. (First: Episode 3526) |
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Muppets | Ernie asks Rubber Duckie what he wants to see next. (First: Episode 3786) |
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Film | In sign language, a boy reads his poem, "My Tree." cut from the Max version |
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SCENE 4 | Maria continues reading the story... |
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SCENE 4 cont'd |
The group, now joined by Luis, has tied a rope to the rock to pull it out, but everyone's combined strength isn't strong enough when they push and pull. Herry Monster, on the other hand, is much stronger than all of them and is willing to lend them some help. He is able to lift it with his bare yet fuzzy hands by himself but they can't decide where the rock should go. Herry asks if he can have it: "It'll look great in my mommy's rock garden - she said we needed some more pebbles." Everyone is astonished as Herry casually drags the rock away. |
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SCENE 4 cont'd |
Maria gets to the part where Snuffy offers to help them make a stone floor, but first he has to get his grass skirt... |
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Cartoon | Leanna Williams tells a story of how she traveled to Hawaii and bought a Hawaiian shirt. Artist: ArtistMike (First: Episode 2745) |
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Muppets | Ernie and Rubber Duckie introduce the number of the day. (First: Episode 3786) |
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Cartoon | The Quadratic Equations (from the Lunar Lounge) sing about 4 and their four heads. (First: Episode 3712) cut from the Max version |
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Film | Four Chinese acrobats do stunts with giant spools. |
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Cartoon | Four construction workers build a number 4. (new music added) (First: Episode 0507) |
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SCENE 5 | Maria continues where she left off, when everyone has finished putting the stones down to make the garden area's ground... |
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SCENE 5 cont'd |
Wearing his grass skirt and flower lei, Snuffy dances the famous Hawaiian "floor installation hula" dance. His ground-shaking yet graceful steps help put the stones further into the ground, making it nice and flat. |
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SCENE 5 cont'd |
Maria has reached the part where the group assembles the garden together, filling boxes with dirt and adding the seeds and plants. Elmo reminds the viewer that the surprise at the end is coming soon. |
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Film | Some kids talk about a garden they have in the middle of the city. (First: Episode 2889) |
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Muppets | Even though Rubber Duckie didn't like the previous segment, he doesn't have to like everything. |
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Animation | Sand O/o (First: Episode 0621) |
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Film | A gymnast twirls ribbons to form the letter O. (First: Episode 3136) |
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Animation | Characters on a quilt form the letter O. Artist: Karen Aqua (First: Episode 3375) |
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Muppets | Grover and Mr. Johnson: Hot Dog Vendor |
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Cartoon | Christopher Clumsy jumps over a hole and says that he fooled the viewer. He then walks into a wall. (First: Episode 0439) |
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Muppets / Cast | Ruthie and some Anything Muppets sing "The Sneeze Song." |
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Animation | A girl plays in, on and under a sculpture. (First: Episode 2898) |
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SCENE 6 | Maria is nearing the end of the story, where everyone is glad to have their new garden and Elmo wishes the whole world could see it. Mumford poofs into view again, and is amazed at the amount of hard work they've all done, which he considers magic. They all reprise the "Great Big Beautiful World" song and congratulate each other. |
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SCENE 6 cont'd |
Maria reads the final part, where Gordon is now ready to read a story to Big Bird, Elmo, and the kids in the garden. They want to write their own story about how they built the garden instead... which turns out to be the very story that Maria has just finished reading in the very same garden - that's the surprise! Elmo tells everyone to enjoy their surroundings as he runs off to feed Dorothy... |
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Muppets | Elmo's World: Books (First: Episode 3817) |
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SCENE 7 | Back in the garden, Gordon makes sure there is no noise around as he starts to read his book to the group. Maria announces the sponsors, and the credits follow. |
Notes[]
Concept art of the new garden
- The episode was originally suggested to serve as the season premiere.[1]
- Some concepts and scenes present in the original script draft include:[1]
- The framing storybook scenes included some of the other Muppets (including Telly, Baby Bear, Zoe, Rosita, and Snuffy), who share writing credit for the book.
- In addition to Oscar and Sully's distractions, a pair of human movers would disrupt the gang, having to pass through the stoop to make a delivery to 123 Sesame Street.
- Mumford's first attempts at granting Big Bird's wish involve poofing up a small patch of grass, then various jungle plants.
- Stinky the Stinkweed is present throughout the flashbacks, insisting on having a proper place for plants (so he no longer has to live at a hotel). After a scene in which he directs the construction of the boxes, he is dismayed to find himself planted between a pair of baby shrubs, who he cannot relate to. His Fairy Garden-Mother is summoned and she magically grows up all the plant life in the space (with an "A la pussy-willow sandwiches!"). She then leads everyone in a reprise of "Great Big Beautiful World." Stinky is also the one to announce the sponsors at the end of the episode (to the confusion of his dirt-mates).
- Some additional humans were present as well, including Susan, Tarah, and Bob (who would get to sing the bridge of "Great Big Beautiful World").
- Snuffy is the first to try and move the giant rock, which even he can't do. When Herry starts to carry it away, he trips and drops the rock on Oscar's trash can, flattening it completely. Everyone worries about the fate of Oscar, who pulls up moments later in the Sloppy Jalopy with the various supplies they need to transform the space (procured from the Dump of America).
- The story Gordon tries to read to his friends is The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.
- This episode marks one of Biff and Sully's last appearances until making a cameo in Episode 4204.
- The music that is played during Snuffy's hula dance was first used in Episode 3295 during his hula performance for the Snuffleupagus-American Day parade.
Sources[]
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