THE WORLD OF ELMO

Elmo's world Jim Henson

Original title: Elmo's World
Characters: Elmo, Dorothy, Mister Noodle
Production: Sesame Workshop
Author: Jim Henson
Regia: Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett

Country: United States
Year: 1984
Gender: Didactic
Episodes: 64
Duration: 25 minutes
Recommended age: Children from 0 to 5 years old

Elmo's World (original title Elmo's World) is a show that demonstrates how television can become a means of teaching while having fun.
The program, dedicated to children of preschool age (from 3 to 5 years old), was born as part of the TV show Sesame street (the same of Muppet Show), but in Italy it is broadcast as an autonomous broadcast on Rai YoYo, the satellite channel dedicated to children of this age group.
In a simple, but never banal way, Elmo guides the little ones to the knowledge of common and less common objects, professions, animals, etc ...
Thanks to captivating graphics, to the grotesque situations created by the objects of the house and by Elmo's friends, to the music and songs and to the continuous involvement of the little spectators, called by the protagonist to count, to look for objects that have to do with the 'topic of the episode, the program does not let children remain simple and apathetic spectators, but makes them active and involved, thus promoting learning in a simple and fun way.
Elmo is a red and furry puppet who lives in a computer created house, but which appears as if drawn with crayons. Here the episodes are set entirely with the exception of any films and cartoons broadcast.
In each episode Elmo talks about a topic aided by his faithful fish Dorothy and Mister Noodle a mime who should show how to use objects, but who is instead absolutely unable to do anything by managing to create grotesque and funny situations.
In addition to Mister Noodle the other characters consist of Mister Noodle's brother, and his sister Miss Noodle. The two (played by the same mime actor) are supposed to help Elmo, but in fact they only create paradoxically comic situations never knowing what to do.
All the objects in Elmo's house participate in the broadcast, helping the puppet presenter to illustrate the topic of the episode: the television showing films and cartoons, the drawer that opens by itself, often hitting Elmo who tries to escape him, and from which photos and images come out, the spiteful curtain that is slow to open to show the performance of Mister Noodle or his family and the computer on which Elmo reads e-mails from friends or performs various searches.

Elmo's world Jim Henson

The episode often opens with loud knocks on the door, from which after some difficulty in opening, the characters who will inspire the theme of the episode enter.
In each episode, children are then asked to talk about the object they are talking about, the way they use it, or how they do it (in one episode, for example, they show how they can wear a jacket by themselves).
There is also the moment of counting in which Elmo involves the little spectators, helping them to become familiar with the numbers up to 10.
The transmission always ends with Elmo on the piano playing and singing to the notes of Jingle Bells "The song of ...", where after that the name of the object / topic is inserted in the middle of the episode.
Let's see now how an episode develops, taking as an example the one about the firefighters.
After an initial song, vigorous knocks are heard on the door of the house, Elmo goes to open it and when he succeeds, with not a few difficulties, he is almost overwhelmed by the fire engines that enter with blaring sirens.
Dorothy wonders what firefighters are wearing (being a fish, she usually does it her way with cartoons that appear in her bowl or simply, as in this case, Elmo realizes what it means).
Elmo then opens the curtain, actually rather recalcitrant, and Miss Noodle appears who, after several attempts, in which she wears the most disparate clothes, including a rugby uniform and helmet, finally appears with overalls, boots, gloves, protective helmet firefighters and obviously the pump from which, however, he cannot get the water out.

Elmo's world Jim Henson

Here comes the time for the children to explain to Dorothy in their own way what the gloves, boots and helmet of the firefighters are for.
At this point Elmo counts the firefighters on the truck that appears in the room.
"There is mail!" at this cry the computer bursts into the room at a run, forcing Elmo to run after him to read the e-mail from his friend Oscar who does not want to help him explain what firefighters are. In fact, Oscar, who lives in a bin, decides to prepare a nice burnt toast, but in doing so he risks setting his house on fire so as to get the firefighters who with the water extinguish the beginning of the fire.
Elmo decides to rummage through the drawer to see what's burning and what's not. Among the various images a birthday cake that does not burn (but the candles on it do), the stove and so on.
Television is the last of Elmoche's friendly objects, and he intervenes on the subject by tuning into the Fire Brigade channel where a cartoon "Mike, the firefighter dog" is broadcast about the dog in a fire station who dreams of intervening to save a fellow .
We are almost at the end, after Dorothy has imagined Elmo in firefighter version, the episode ends with the usual song played on the piano by Elmo.

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