Herry and his most commonly seen doll, Hercules.
On Sesame Street, the gruff-voiced Muppet character Herry Monster was characterized with a ruggedness that often fed into the circumstances of the story he was involved in. But his demeanor fell short of machismo with aspects of his personality that represented his gentler side.
One of his more affable qualities was a penchant for dolls and his attention to their well-being. Over the years, Herry would be the caretaker to several dolls, including Hercules, a recurring monster plush with horns.
This characteristic was present as early as 1975, most often featured in episodic street stories (but also some sketches), and extended into his illustrated appearances in Sesame Street books.
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When Herry is frustrated for lack of anything to play with in Episode 0799, and he's exhausted all his usual macho toys like barbells and bricks, Susan hands him a dolly from a toy box. Herry is immediately enamored with it and welcomes the change from his usual fare. |
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Herry drops his heavy toy box in front of Hooper's Store with a thundering crash in Episode 1127 with the intention of gifting his favorite childhood toy to Cody. He sorts through a set of barbells, a set of bricks, and a sledgehammer before he gets to a teddy bear with patches of white painted all over it. At least two other soft items are seen in the box including a white and brown plush, and an orange four-legged creature. |
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Luis approaches Herry in Episode 1137 to ask if he can help a friend move some heavy crates, but Herry says he's got something more important to do. Wondering what could be more important to Herry than lifting heavy crates, Luis assumes he's going to practice his tackle football or karate. When Gordon arrives with a tub full of the warm, soapy water Herry asked for, Luis can't imagine what he's going to do with it. Herry explains that he's going to give his filthy dolly a bath. As he submerges her in the water, he speaks consolingly, explaining that he won't get soap in her eye. |
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As a means of explaining "close to" and "away from" in Episode 1196, Herry has placed his doll Elizabeth on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street. When he places some distance between them, he admits that he doesn't like being away from her. He tells Elizabeth that he likes being close to her much better, and she squeaks in agreement. |
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Upon his return from the optometrist in Episode 1261, Herry has decided that he's going to become an eye doctor himself one day. He tells Olivia that he's going to start practicing right away, but that she has to wait her turn, because he's already got another patient. Herry, wearing a new pair of glasses, places another doll named Elizabeth on the table, and begins the examination. He shines a light in her eyes, making sure to let her know that the procedure won't hurt. |
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Buffy shows Herry some Indian toys on loan from a museum she's been working with in Episode 1354. She has a Navajo doll, a doll from Peru, and a Cree doll which belongs to Cody. Herry takes special notice of the dolls especially amongst the other toys, and produces Hercules as a favorite doll of his. Buffy lets him borrow the Navajo figure, which he says is a pretty doll. |
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An unnamed doll appears with Herry twice in The Sesame Street Dictionary. The entry for "doll" defines the word as "a toy that looks like a person" and explains that Herry's doll has red hair. The doll is then used to demonstrate the word "him," as in Betty Lou returning Herry's lost doll to him. The dictionary features a similar looking doll under the care of Ernie and an orange monster in the entries for "angry" and "come," suggesting either that the doll found its way to other owners, or that it is a mass-produced product. |
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While looking through his toy chest, Herry tosses aside a number of his possessions in the 1981 storybook ABC Toy Chest. Among them is his dandy dancing doll, a ballerina with pursed lips and crossed eyes. The doll also appears in his Alphabet Book, the item from his toy chest he was looking for in the first place. |
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The 1982 People In Your Neighborhood View-Master reels features Herry in a photo set in which he's aspiring to be a doctor. The first image shows Herry using toy medical instruments to examine a doll with red, curly hair wearing a yellow bow. The next photo shows Herry in a doctor's office giving a young girl a check-up. |
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Herry shows off two wooden dolls in the Sesame Street Counting View-Master set. |
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In The D Book, the fourth entry in the 1982 Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia series, Herry has a doll named Dolly. When he misplaces Dolly, he eventually finds Frazzle playing with her.
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The final volume of the Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia series, The WXYZ Book, features Herry and one of his dolls having a picnic in the park.
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Herry becomes the owner of a Raggedy Ann doll in Episode 1723 when Mr. Hooper and his brother Arnold find it in an old box of items they grew up with. Herry becomes so enamored with it that the Hooper brothers let him have it. |
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Despite not being given a name, one of Herry's favorite dolls is the focus of the 1984 book My Doll Is Lost!, depicted almost as a miniaturized version of its owner. Herry and his Sesame Street friends spend the majority of the story looking for it so he can bring it to a tea party at Betty Lou's house. They eventually find her being kept safe in Oscar's trash can. |
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Herry sings about his teddy bear in "I Think That It Is Wonderful" (First: Episode 2492) from his bed at nighttime. His verse of the song is about how he thinks that it is wonderful to hug his teddy bear, "it doesn't matter where we are." Herry's bedroom in this scene shows that his bed is surround by various sports equipment including a football on the bed that he's been tucked into for the night. |
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Herry counts playing dolls with Betty Lou and dump trucks with Grover among some of his favorite play time activities at school in the 1990 book I Want to Go to School Too. |
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After sleeping through the night with his teddy bear, Herry wakes up at the beginning of "Good Morning, Morning" (First: Episode 2847) and gives it a kiss. He acknowledges the bear again in song with a "good morning" and another kiss. |
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"Little Herry" (a youthful version of the character for the Sesame Street Babies brand) holds a tea party for his doll and kitten in the 1994 book Look at Me! |
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Herry poses for a photo in the December 1994 issue of Life magazine with a doll in one hand and a box of popcorn in the other. |
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The 1996 book Diddly Diddly D! declares, "Diddly diddly oll, a monster loves his doll." |