Sesame Street Home Video
Muzzarino
Background
Sesame Street Home Video (formerly My Sesame Street Home Video) is a home entertainment company that was established in 1986 as a joint venture between Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop) and Random House to educate young children not just on TV, but on VHS. It was a huge success, but in 1993, Random House dropped this division and began releasing TV specials and new-to-video specials. Sony Wonder then took over Sesame Street Home Video in 1995 and they continued releasing videos until 2007, when Genius Products took over. Post-2010 Sesame Street home media has since been released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Shout! Factory.
1st Logo (1986-1996, 1998, 2000)
Nicknames: "Cookie Monster and the SS Sign", "My Sesame Street Home Video", "No, It is Not a Cookie!", "Cookie Monster Eating a Sign", "Delicious!"
Logo: Fading from the 1983 Children's Television Workshop logo and against a white background, we see the familiar green and yellow Sesame Street sign come up from the bottom of the screen, but with "MY" (in yellow) taking the place of "CTW", and the rectangle being elongated at the bottom to make room for the words "HOME VIDEO" (also in yellow). An animated version of Cookie Monster is behind the logo (but only his head and arms are shown). He looks back and forth, and then takes a bite out of the top left side of the sign and chews it noisily and messily! He then licks his finger, and he then he has a delighted expression on his face, with his eyes spinning around. As the logo fades out, Cookie says "Delicious!".
Variant: There was a shortened version of the logo used in its later years – this one simply begins with Cookie eating the sign.
Trivia: This is the first logo on the Sesame Street series to feature only Cookie Monster. The next appearance for him to be the only Muppet featured in logos is on "Crumby Pictures" for trailers in the parody segment "Cookie's Crumby Pictures" (introduced in the 44th season).
FX/SFX: Cookie Monster looking around and eating the sign.
Music/Sounds: Cookie Monster munching on the sign with a slow-paced harmonica rendition of the Sesame Street theme tune used to introduce the show's "street scenes" at the time and Cookie Monster saying "Delicious!".
Music/Sounds Variants:
- The Best of Elmo uses the 1992 "calypso" instrumental intro theme—also used to introduce the show's "street scenes" from 1993 to 2006—with this logo, and Cookie Monster's voiceovers are not heard (only munching sounds).
- Also, on some tapes, such as Count it Higher: Great Music Videos from Sesame Street and The Best of Ernie & Bert, it uses the normal music, but without Cookie saying anything after eating the sign.
Availability: Rare. Seen on old Sesame Street videos under the "My Sesame Street Home Video" label from the period distributed by Random House Home Video (there were 16 in all). These videotapes' lids and reel are colored green (similar to the E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial VHS tape), so they're very easy to spot. Though the last official video in the series was The Best of Elmo in 1994, Sony Wonder released more new videos in 1995-1996 with this logo, from Cookie Monster's Best Bites to Slimey's World Games. This logo made a surprise appearance on a reprint of Do the Alphabet that carried the 2000 Sesame Workshop logo, though most DVD reprints of the series omit it altogether.
Editor's Note: None.
2nd Logo (1996-2001, 2002, 2006)
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Nicknames: "The Modified SS Sign", "Elmo and Friends"
Logo: Against a sky background, we see a close-up of the Sesame Street sign. The camera zooms out, and we see Big Bird, Elmo, Snuffy, Cookie Monster, Ernie, and Zoe building something. Everyone except Elmo (who is standing on a ladder) walks away, then he pulls the string, which stretches out to read "HOMe VidEO" with a smiley face in the first O. Elmo smiles and giggles at the end.
Variants: In 2000, this logo was modified twice due to Children's Television Workshop becoming Sesame Workshop.
- On new releases, "CTW" was removed from the top of the sign, leaving the top of the sign blank.
- On reprints of VHS tapes originally released in earlier years, "123" replaced "CTW".
FX/SFX: The Sesame Street Muppets building "Home Video" and Elmo revealing "Home Video". 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: A remix of the Sesame Street theme, as we hear Zoe (voiced by Fran Brill) giggling, Cookie Monster (voiced by Frank Oz) saying "This so very exciting!", Big Bird (voiced by Caroll Spinney) saying "Hey, that looks good!" and Ernie (voiced by Steve Whitmire) humming and snickering. After the "Home Video" is shown, Elmo (voiced by Kevin Clash) says "Yeah! Sesame Street Home Video! Ha-ha-hee-hee!".
Availability: Rarer than the previous logo. It's seen on Sony Wonder videos and (some early DVDs of) Sesame Street specials, such as Elmopalooza and Elmo Says Boo!. However, in the UK, it was seen on a few mid-to-late 90's VHS releases from Disney. Despite being discontinued in 2001, this also made two surprising appearances on the 2002 release of Elmo Says Boo! and the 2006 Australian release of Get Up and Dance.
Editor's Note: This is a cute and friendly logo. Those with a strong distaste for Elmo may be put off by it, however.
