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| PERFORMER | Stacey Gordon |
| DEBUT | 2015 |
| DESIGN | Louis Henry Mitchell designer |
| Rollie Krewson builder | |
Stacey Gordon performing Julia on set (assisted by John Kennedy).
Louis Henry Mitchell's early sketches of Julia, who was originally to be named Isabel.
Julia in The Muppet Workshop.
Julia puppet with blue eyes for greenscreen use.
Julia with Rosita at the 2018 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Julia is a four-year-old girl with autism from Sesame Street, introduced in 2015 as part of the Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children initiative. She is a young girl with bright orange hair and big green eyes and is friends with Elmo and Abby. To describe how atypical Julia is, people usually say she does things in a "Julia sort of way."
Julia's characterization was originated by Leslie Kimmelman for the digital storybook We're Amazing, 1, 2, 3! She used her own experiences as the mother of a child with autism, as well as input from research and advisers from the autism community, to inform the story.
Due to the positive response to the outreach initiative, Julia was made into a physical Muppet that debuted in episode 4715 of the show, airing on April 10, 2017. She is performed by Stacey Gordon, who also used her own experiences raising her autistic son to help inform the actions of the character. She made her television debut on 60 Minutes on March 19, 2017, and subsequently appeared in a series of YouTube videos for SesameStreet's YouTube Channel.
A digital storybook released in April 2018, Family Forever: A Julia Storybook, introduced Julia's family - her mother (a teacher), her father (a medical professional and saxophonist) and her older brother Samuel. Julia's family, which also includes a [[Dogs|dog] named Rose, made their first appearance in Muppet form in a series of videos that premiered online in 2019.
Julia (puppeteered by Lara MacLean[1]) also joined the cast on the Sesame Street float in the 2018 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, wearing a noise-cancelling headset so the loud volume wouldn't bother her.
Notes
- The puppet is built with two sets of arms, one of which allows Julia to flap her arms in an emotional state.
- The character, initially named Isabel, was named after writer Leslie Kimmelman's eldest daughter.[2]
- Her favorite toy is a stuffed doll named Fluffster, which has a somewhat rabbit-like appearance and is described in Family Forever as being a "bunny." She states within this title that Fluffster's favorite picnic food is frogs.
- For three television seasons, a Sesame Street episode from each season that prominently features Julia has premiered simultaneously on HBO and PBS on the same day during April, popularly recognized as National Autism Awareness Month. These shows include Julia's introductory episode (#4715), "Shape Hunt" (#4821), and "Julia's Haircut" (#4921). This departs from a previously established deal between HBO and Sesame Workshop where first run episodes on the network air on PBS following a nine-month window.
Appearances
- Sesame Street
- See Amazing in All Children resource videos
- 60 Minutes (March 19, 2017)
- Today (March 27, 2017)
- The Capitol Visitor Center (April 4, 2017)
- The View (April 12, 2017)
- Night of Too Many Stars: America Unites for Autism Programs (November 18, 2017)
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2018)
Book appearances
- We're Amazing, 1, 2, 3! (2016)
- Celebrate You, Celebrate Me! (2017)
- The Runaway Egg (2018)
- Family Forever: A Julia Storybook (2018)
Merchandise
See also
- Julia walk-around
- Julia, a human character on Sesamstrasse
Sources
- ↑ Stacey Gordon on Instagram
- ↑ "Why the Team Behind Sesame Street Created a Character With Autism," Smithsonian Magazine, December 2017.