Plaza Sesamo

Having been to different parts of the world, I realized that there are some characters the transcend the borders of culture and continents. Anywhere in the world, Barbie is Barbie and McDonald's is McDonald's.

Being a child of Sesame Street, i've always believed that our friendly Sesame Street muppets were global citizens. That no matter what part of the globe we visit, people know and recognize who Ernie is. And that oversized canary would always be Big Bird.

Then I went to Mexico...



In Monterrey, one of the most popular theme parks is Plaza Sesamo. It's their version of Disneyland, but patterned after Sesame Street. Excitedly, we went outside the park (it was closed when we visited, so that was as far as we could go). While peering outside the gate, I noticed familiar faces, but unfamiliar names.

Enrique?

Conde Contar?

Yes, Virginia, the Sesame Street characters had Mexican names. I'm not sure what the logic behind the idea is. Maybe its designed to bring the characters closer to the hearts and minds of the Mexicans. Or maybe it's to make them sound familiar. Or maybe they don't want to be recognized. Or maybe these are just doppelgangers who chose to cross the border and migrate in E.U.M.

In any case, it was amusing to discover what our favorite characters are called in Spanish:

Ernie = Enrique
Bert = Beto
Count = Conde Contar
Cookie Monster = Lucas (!!!)
Prarie Dawn = Aurora
Big Bird = Abelardo (although this wasn't exactly him. It's Big Bird, but blue)
Grover = Archibaldo (!!!!!!)




The only character who kept his name was Elmo. Both in Mexico and the USA, Elmo is Elmo.

This got me a-thinkin'. I wonder what their names would be if they were Filipino. Since we have a penchant for long, complicated names, my guess is that their names would be something like these:

Elmo - Anselmo D. Saberon
Ernie - Ernesto Jose C. Macapinlac
Bert - Roberto Antonio S. dela Cruz
Cookie Monster - Constantino Kieran O. Misericordia
Count - Vladimir N. Conde
Big Bird - Bardagol C. Famorcan
Guy Smiley - Dindo Pablo A. Guyoche
Prarie Dawn - Maria Liwayway M. Calleja
Oscar the Grouch - Oscar Mario J. Angas

This sounds fun. Maybe we should open a Sesame Street theme park in the Philippines, too. With all due respect to Pong Pagong, Kiko Matsing, and all the cool folks over at Batibot, of course.