From The Sesame Street Dictionary.
Rowlf gets the Spirit on The Jimmy Dean Show
The Spirit of ‘76 (also known as Yankee Doodle) is a famous painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard. It was completed in time for the first official world's fair in the United States to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Willard painted several variations of the scene which depicts a drum and fife band on the battlefield during the American Revolution.
References[]
- The cover of The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar recreates the painting as illustrated by Mike Smollin.
- A segment for the television special I Love Liberty, re-enacting the signing of the Declaration of Independence, includes an appearance by Grover, Bert and Ernie in the roles of those in the painting.
- The Sesame Street Dictionary features Prairie Dawn, Ernie and Bert in a version of the famed painting.
- In the book Sesame Seasons, a Fourth of July parade trio mimicking the painting walk over Sherlock Hemlock's picnic blanket.
- Rowlf portrays the fife player from the painting, complete with bandaged head, during "You're a Grand Old Flag" on the April 9, 1964 broadcast of The Jimmy Dean Show.
- In the Sesame Street Skills for Growing film "Sesame Street 4th of July," Guy Smiley, Oscar the Grouch, and Grover re-enact the roles of the painting as they lead a Fourth of July parade.