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*"Amscray!" |
*"Amscray!" |
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*"State your name and beat it!"--said when someone knocks on his trash can lid. |
*"State your name and beat it!"--said when someone knocks on his trash can lid. |
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==Criticism== |
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Many parents feel that Oscar teaches preschoolers and other viewers that being hateful and antisocial is a great behavior to have. This criticism has been around since the very beginning. |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 18:15, 2 January 2008
Template:Infobox Sesame Street character
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/AEOrangeOscar.jpg)
Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street.
Oscar has a green body (during the 1969–1970 season he was orange), has no nose, and lives in a garbage can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song "I Love Trash". Although "The Grouch" aptly describes his antisocial interaction with the other characters, it is also the name of his species.
Oscar can also become mobile with the help of his friend Bruno, the trashman, who carried Oscar around in his can. Bruno was a full-body costume which allows Oscar's puppeteer to manipulate Oscar while remaining hidden by the Bruno costume. (While Bruno was seen fairly regularly in Sesame Streets early days, he hasn't appeared on the show in over a decade.) Also, as seen in the Elmo's World episode 'Dance', the underside of his trash can is somewhat detachable, with Oscar's legs protruding from the bottom of his trash can. Other evidence of this can be seen in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978), when Oscar is ice skating. For several seasons, Oscar was frequently shown with his friend and pet Slimey, an orange worm. On occasional episodes he has mentioned leaving Sesame Street to attend "the annual Grouch convention in Syracuse, New York".
Oscar is performed by Muppeteer Carroll Spinney. Spinney's other lead character is Big Bird. During the first season of Sesame Street, the street set was arranged such that Spinney, who is right-handed, was forced to operate Oscar's head with his left hand. A subsequent redesign of the set allowed him to switch hands. Spinney has said in interviews that he modeled Oscar's voice on that of a grumpy New York cab driver he once hailed.
In Oscar's trash can
- Slimey, Oscar's pet worm
- Fluffy, Sophie, Blitzen, and Chopinhower, Oscar's pet elephants, only their trunks are ever shown
- An orange creature
- Farm animals, especially a goat and a pig
- A swimming pool (or other large body of water)
- A tennis court
- A grand piano
- Oscar
International
Sesame Street is localised for some different markets, and Oscar is often renamed.
- In Germany he is called Rumpel. [1]
- In Portugal his name is Ferrão, and does not live in a trash can, but rather in a barrel. [citation needed]
- In Turkey he is named Kırpık and lives in a big basket.[citation needed]
- In Israel a slightly different, orange puppet who lives in an old stationary car is called Moishe Oofnik: "Moyshe the complainer", loosely translated. It was mentioned in the show that Oscar was his American cousin.[citation needed]
He has inspired children all over the globe and still stands as a figure symbolizing childhood for many.[citation needed]
Oscar in pop-culture
Oscar inspired an Apple Macintosh hack written by Eric B. Shapiro and shown at the 1989 MacHack conference, featuring a singing animated Oscar that appeared from the trash can whenever a file was thrown away. The hack was so popular that some parents lost the entire contents of their hard disks to preschoolers wanting to see more of Oscar. (Late Nights with MacHack, p. 27)
A character bearing an uncanny resemblance to Oscar appears throughout Ultimate Play The Game's Cookie (1983), throwing fishbones and other dangerous items from his trashcan at the hero (see picture).
This character is similar to The Grinch, as is seen in the film How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), he is green, antisocial and lives in a dump.
Oscar has appeared twice on The Simpsons, though unofficially and not by name. The first was in 1998 in the episode Trash of the Titans, during the song "The Garbage Man." The second was in 2000 in the episode Missionary: Impossible, in which Homer defrauds a PBS member station during pledge week.
"Oscar the Grouch" has been a proverbial term for somebody who acquires many hand-me-downs from people who are getting rid of them.[citation needed]
Oscar was also the topic of a joke in the Dave Chappelle comedy sketch Killin 'Em Softly. Knee High Park, a sketch on his Comedy Central variety show, also featured Stinky the Bum, a trashcan dwelling puppet that advises kids to give up on life.
A character very similar to Oscar also appeared in an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, in which Irwin accidentally buys Grim's Scythe and starts using it to cause havoc. Billy runs from the scythe rays and encounters a dumpster where this Oscar-esque character lives. After a car hits his dumpster, Oscar and the car's driver give a public service announcement about magical scythes.
A character in the MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing will appear as Oscar the Grouch when dressed in the "Glad Bag Glad Rags" costume.
Another Oscar lookalike appeared in a a British TV episode of British comedians show Hale & Pace called "Reality Street".
An episode of Crank Yankers ended a skit themed at a dump; we see a trash can thrown on a pile of garbage bags popping out a beaten up Oscar.
In an episode of Madtv, Oscar infects Big Bird with radiation poisoning while making a "dirty bomb" for Elmo.
Nike SB has an Oscar edition shoe
Quotations
- "Go away and LEAVE ME ALONE!!"--Oscar's trademark phrase
- "Uhh...we Grouches never say thanks."
- (talking to a happy person) "Hey, (character) why are you so happy?"
- "Heh, heh, heh, I love the smell of cheese and bagels in the morning"--when Oscar has trash delivered.
- (When someone is angry) "Hey don't stop now, you're just getting to the good parts!"--during an argument.
- "And stay away from my cheese"--said by Oscar after someone leaves Oscar's trash can.
- "Don't mention it...and go away"--said by Oscar when he does somebody a favor.
- "Have a rotten day!"
- "SCRAM!"
- "Get lost!"
- "Ding dong, you're wrong!"
- "Amscray!"
- "State your name and beat it!"--said when someone knocks on his trash can lid.
Criticism
Many parents feel that Oscar teaches preschoolers and other viewers that being hateful and antisocial is a great behavior to have. This criticism has been around since the very beginning.