Perlman's elephant short on Sesame Street
Janet Perlman (b. 1954) is an animator who has worked extensively for the National Film Board of Canada, including the Oscar-nominated short The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (1981). She animated twelve inserts for Sesame Street, including one in which an elephant (voiced by Marshall Efron) asks a man (voiced by Don Arioli) for directions, but doesn't listen to the details. (First: Episode 1631)
Perlman often worked with Derek Lamb, collaborating on the titles for PBS's Mystery! series. Her other NFB shorts included Lady Fishbourne's Complete Guide to Table Manners and Why Me? (with Lamb and Efron's voice) as well as animating on shorts by others (including Alison Snowden and David Fine's Bob's Birthday, which led to the series Bob and Margaret).
Perlman contributed to the TV series Braingames, An American Experience, and Drew Carey's Green Screen and, with Lamb, produced and animated a series of Sports Cartoons. She was one of the featured animators on R. O. Blechman's 1984 special The Soldier's Tale (along with Dean Yeagle and others). She continued the fairy tale penguin theme in three children's books, as Cinderella Penguin was joined by The Emperor Penguin's New Clothes and The Penguin and the Pea.