Big Bird's Birthday Begins Sesame Street Anniversary Tributes

Big Bird's birthday and the Sesame Street anniversary are particularly big this year. Big Bird's birthday and Sesame Street mark their 40th anniversary soon, with Big Bird's birthday coming today. On November 10th, less than a week after Big Bird's birthday, the Sesame Street 40th anniversary season will begin, with new updates and new celebrity guests. But today belongs to Big Bird's birthday, as Google and countless Sesame Street fans celebrate Big Bird reaching middle age.

Though the Sesame Street anniversary show isn't for six days, Google has chosen today to celebrate Big Bird's birthday. On the Google home page, Big Bird's giant legs make up the two L's in Google today. So once again, Big Bird is singled out for his height, as he has been for the past 40 years.

Big Bird is around six years old on the show, but he is the oldest six-year old on television. Big Bird's birthday is especially important this year, given that his show is turning 40 next week. It stands to be a big year for Sesame Street nostalgia, with tributes, new initiatives, and big guests coming to visit in the weeks ahead.

For the November 10th Sesame Street anniversary show, a parade of celebrities that stretches even longer than Big Bird will drop by. Michelle Obama has also taped a visit to Sesame Street, and the show will also kick off a new environmental program called "My World is Green & Growing"

New York City is also proclaiming November 10 Sesame Street Day, while D.C's Union Station will unveil new photographs from the show, and the Smithsonian will throw a birthday celebration on November 15. So Big Bird's birthday will have to be celebrated now, before it gets lost in the shuffle of those other parties.

Big Bird's birthday honors one of Sesame Street's central figures, though he may have slipped a bit in marketability. Elmo practically runs the Sesame Street merchandising empire now, so although Big Bird is an important host of the show, he may just be a figurehead. But Big Bird has slept in a tiny nest with little leg room for 40 years and never complained, so he is a survivor, along with being big on sharing.

The Big Bird birthday bashes will allow everyone to count to 40 today, while he and his friends get ready for larger bashes on Tuesday morning.

Sources

Google

Sesame Workshop- "It's all new and better than ever as Sesame Street turns 40!"

Guardian- "Sesame Street: Google celebrates 40 years of Big Bird and the gang"