Big Bird.

Sesame Street and associated trademarks, service marks and
design elements are TM/© 2007 Sesame Workshop.

Everyone’s favourite big, yellow, feathered friend has arrived on the Gold Coast and is now starring with his friends in Sesame Street Beach at Sea World. With a career spanning 37 years, this old bird knows a thing or two about show business. We caught up with him at his new home on the beach.

Welcome to Australia! How are you finding your new home so far?
Thank you! I love my new home away from home at Sea World. It’s lots of fun, there are loads of rides and all my friends are right here.

How is living on Sesame Street Beach different from Sesame Street? Have you been able to acclimatise?
Well the Gold Coast is a lot warmer, but I do love the sea breeze we get here at Sesame Street Beach. There are also many native Australian birds around, who are all very friendly. And unlike Sesame Street in the US, we have dolphins as our neighbours! I’m hoping they’ll teach me to swim soon.

You guys have been in show biz forever! How has Sesame Street and your act developed?
We have a brand new show we developed especially for the guests at Sea World. It’s called Bert & Ernie’s Island Holiday and we do the limbo, which is hard when you’re 8 feet tall – but it’s fun.

Since we’ve been in show business, Sesame Street has won a record 113 Emmy Awards! Sesame Street is also one of the number one brands for preschool aged children in Australia and the largest educator of children worldwide – we now broadcast to 120 countries, that’s a lot of kids!

Many children have grown up with Sesame Street. Have kids changed much over the years?
Times have changed but kids always want to have fun and learn.

TV or live stage shows – which do you prefer?
TV is great, but I prefer live shows because I love seeing all the smiling faces in the crowd.

What’s your golden rule when interacting with children?
My old friend Mr Hooper once told me if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

What do you like most about meeting kids? Anything funny to share?
I love to sing and dance with kids. It’s especially fun when they know the words to our songs. A kid once called me the biggest chicken he’d ever seen – Snuffy [Mr Snuffalufagus] thought it was hilarious!

Kids or adults – which is the tougher audience?
Definitely adults. Kids are much more fun, they can sing and dance for longer and just between you and me, I think they’re smarter sometimes too.

What are you and your Sesame Street friends bringing to Sea World?
A whole new world of fun and entertainment! Plus some great rides and my friends Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie will be here every day to meet Sea World guests and perform in our new show.

Tell us about some of the shows and attractions that will be put on.
My favourite ride is the Big Bird Bounce because it’s named after me and you get a great view from the top. There are also lots of other rides named after my other Sesame Street friends. We also all get to star in a show every day and show everyone what great dancers we are!

What will you check out when you’ve got some spare time?
Where do I start? I can’t wait to see the new Seal Show, I’ve already seen the dolphin show “Imagine” – it’s amazing! I wish I could jump that high. I love the dugongs, we don’t have them where I come from, we have manatees but they have different tails.