You know what they call Sesame Street in France? 5, Rue Sésame

filthy light thief — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:00:43 -0800

Given Sesame Street's popularity over the past four decades, it's not surprising that the show has been broadcast all over the world. But it might be surprising to know the international extent of Sesame Street: the show has been localized with co-production of more than 40 programs in 30 countries, plus another 20+ dubbed versions. For the 40th anniversary in 2009, the Canadian National Post had a gallery of 101 Sesame Street characters (prev) and included a few international faces, Smithsonian had a spotlight on 18 local characters, and The Sesame Workshop had a list of Sesame Street Milestones, including some international Sesame events. But the Muppet Wiki trumps them all, with a a collection of international Sesame Street crossovers and a complete list of all international Sesame Street editions. Hop on inside for video clips from most of the 37 international editions of Sesame Street. With localized co-production, international versions of Sesame Street aren't simply the same program as seen in the US but with local puppets and puppeteers. With the show in the Netherlands, Sesamstraat, each episode is thematic and lacks the focus on letters and numbers. In Sweden, Svenska Sesam was set behind the scenes of a theater and did not feature any puppets, except for in dubbed versions of US-produced skits. But more than the odd changes, there were the significantly different settings and lessons that some programs provided. In 2000, the Egyptian co-production, Alam Simsam promoted gender equality, health and hygiene practices and emphasized environmental messages (prev., dead link). 2002 saw the TV debut of the first HIV-positive Muppet (prev., dead link), on the South African co-production, Takalani Sesame. Also in 2002, a localized version of Sesame Street was being planned for Northern Ireland to promote peaceful relations (prev), but it took another 6 years before Sesame Tree became a reality. The full list of localized shows, with clips and playlists: Bangladesh -- 2005 (to present?): Sisimpur (opening), YT playlist Brazil -- 1972 to 1977, then 2007 to present: Vila Sésamo (old opening in black and white; vs full color modern opening), playlist (mostly modern with some old clips) Canada -- an edited version of US edition first aired in 1973, then the intro was edited by 1980, and in the later 1980s there was additional Canadian content. From 1996 to 2002, the Canadian program was titled Sesame Park. Canadian clips (multilingual), Canadian ending clip, counting with Basil the polar bear (quiet clip), and Trash Busters (a musical clip set to the Ghost Busters themesong). Bonus: Oscar in a 2008 PSA China -- 1998 to 2001, revived in 2010: 芝麻街 (Zhima Jie) Ernie sings Rubber Duckie, 7 minute clip from Chinese TV (with an annoying out-of-sync flicker). But before the series, Big Bird when to China, for a US movie that was shot in China in 1983. The movie is on YouTube in parts, as a camera recording of a video screen: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8; VHS clip including a part removed from the US DVD. Denmark -- a dubbed program first aired in the 1990s, and a co-produced show started in 2009: Sesamgade, with dubbed clips. Local production intro, and a clip: Imagination Egypt -- first airing in 2000: Alam Simsim (flash site for the show); intro, playlist France has had two co-produced series: 1, Rue Sésame started in 1978, and then 5, Rue Sésame started in 2005. 1, Rue Sésame opening, Ernest et Bart clip; 5, Rue Sésame opening, The Horse Whisperer (redub?) Germany also had two distinct local productions: first dubbed with a local intro from 1973 to 1977, the co-produced Sesamstraße first aired in 1978, with major updates in 1989 and 2000. In 2010, there was a spin-off called Eine Möhre für Zwei (Google translation). Sesamstraße intro and outro, intro from 2006, playlist of clips; Eine Möhre für Zwei intro, and a news(type) clip for of/for the show. There also appears to be a localized Elmo show for Bavaria: collection of teaser clips. India -- 2006: Galli Galli Sim Sim (intro), playlist of clips (yes, that's Cartoon Network India's channel logo on some clips) Indonesia -- 2008: Jalan Sesama (news clip on the show), intro (loud, poor sound quality), Rain Lamp (?) clip, rain, umbrella (?) clip, Cookie Monster: H, Israel has had two productions -- 1982 to 1986: Rechov Sumsum; and 2002 to present: Sippuray Sumsum, though in 2006 the show was renamed to it's original title. Rechov Sumsum opening, a subtitled episode: Natan's Reserve Duty, part 1 and part 2, playlist of clips. There was a joint Israel-US production called Shalom Sesame, to bring Israeli life and Jewish culture to American audiences: a long 1988 intro, a slightly different opening, and YouTube user shalomsesame has 42 clips. Israel and Palestine had a joint production that started in 1998: Rechov Sumsum in Israeli and Shara'a Simsim in Palestinian (Google Quickview, PDF). Shara'a Simsim intro with subtitles, slightly different version without subs. Japan -- broadcast in English for more than 30 years, the show was localized from 2004 to 2007, keeping the name Sesame Street (Japanese website); recent Japanese intro, older outro. But earlier still, Big Bird visited Japan, similar to his Chinese journey. The movie is also available on YT, with the same weird camera recording of the video: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Jordan -- 2003: Hikayat Simsim. Video clip: Good Citizen song. Kosovo -- 2004, aired in Albanian with the title Rruga Sesam and in Serbian as Ulica Sezam (Sesame Workshop, with video clips). Kuwait -- first Sesame Street co-produced in Arabic, in 1979: Iftah Ya Simsim (intro), playlist of clips Mexico -- debuted in 1972, and broadcast to a number of South American countries, Plaza Sésamo (Spanish website) became more localized to Mexico over the following years. In 1995, the show debuted on PBS in the United States, primarily in the Southwest. It is the only Sesame Street co-production that can widely be seen in the US. Modern intro, 1980s themesong, playlist of clips. Netherlands -- first aired in 1976: Sesamstraat. 1976-77 opening, 1979 opening, 1980-81 opening, 1982 opening and outro, and a playlist of clips. Nigeria -- in 2009, Sesame Workshop paired with The United States Agency for International Development and Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief to create The Adventures of Kami and Big Bird, to assist in education, de-stigmatizing HIV/AIDS and coping with loss. The initial program grew into Sesame Square in 2010. Clips: Kami and former President Clinton share HIV/AIDS message, from UNICEF, and Sesame Square on CNN, M Party clip. Northern Ireland -- 2008: Sesame Tree (teaser clip), an episode split: part 1, part 2. Norway -- 1991: Sesam Stasjon (intro) is based in a train station. 198 episodes were recorded, and re-run until 2004. Playlist of clips. Pakistan -- the newest addition to the international Sesame family is set to debut in Fall 2011: SimSim Humara Palestine -- following the 1998 Israel/Palestine production, there may have had a second Palestinian show called Hikayat Simsim, though details are unclear; the third, Shaareh Simsin, was set to start production in 2007. Philippines -- in 1983, one season of the show Sesame! was produced. The follow-up program, Batibot, was more successful, but did not involve the Children's Television Workshop. Related (?): a clip of Sesame Street Live the Philippines. Poland -- first aired in 1996 (though no longer in production), Ulica Sezamkowa (clip), following a Polish dub of the US program, in which one man provided the voices for the whole cast. Portugal -- 1989 to 1994: Rua Sésamo (intro), playlist of clips, an episode in two parts Russia -- 1996, with four "runs" (2nd: 1999; 3rd: 2003; 4th: 2006): Улица Сезам (Ulitsa Sezam - opening), playlist of clips South Africa -- 2006: Takalani Sesame (intro) featured the first HIV-positive Muppet, Kami; Pollution Song with subtitles Spain has had a local co-production three different runs 1979-1980, 1983-1987, 1996-2000: Barrio Sésamo (intro circa 1984), intro without title, and end credits from 1984, playlist of clips Sweden -- 1981-1982, with re-runs through 1984: Svenska Sesam (two intros), an episode split in three, and a couple newer shows in parts from YT user s0fierce. Turkey -- 1986 to 1991: Susam Sokagi (intro); playlist of clips, some are original US clips United Kingdom -- 2002: Play With Me Sesame (intro and a clip)

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You know what they call Sesame Street in France? 5, Rue Sésame