Right here’s what occurred: The official Sesame Road TikTok account posted a clip of a music from the present referred to as “The First Time Me Eat Cookie.” It went somewhat one thing like this:
@sesamestreet Each nice hero wants an origin story. ? #CookieMonster #SesameStreet ? Cookie Dough – Egozi
Is that cute or what? There’s lovely child Cookie Monster along with his little bonnet — and there he’s, making an attempt a cookie for the primary time ever!
Oh, however wait. Within the clip, he stated one thing about how when he was that age, he thinks his title was “Sid!” That’s the half that grabbed most individuals’s consideration. Feedback on the unique TikTok included the next:
“ummmm Sid? His title is Sid?”
“Wait SID?????”
“you’re telling me….cookie monster’s title….is S I D???”
“SID?!”
“his title’s WHAT”
“SID YOU SAY???”
So yeah, that’s quite a lot of ALL CAPS, and isn’t it quite a lot of query marks???? The “revelation” of Cookie Monster apparently disclosing that he was born with a reputation apart from “Cookie Monster” took quite a lot of TikTok viewers without warning.
However does this actually matter as a revelation? The music “The First Time Me Eat Cookie” first aired on Sesame Road in 2004 — that’s 18 years in the past! The knowledge has been on the market for nearly 20 years! As Muppet Wiki factors out, the music was launched on a 2016 DVD referred to as Monster Magic, and it’s been on Sesame‘s official YouTube channel since 2016 as nicely.
Not lengthy after the TikTok second, Cookie Monster posted a tweet confirming the title:
Nicely, that appears fairly definitive. Within the music, he appeared unsure… “Actually, again then, me assume me title was… Sid,” he says, tossing it off as an afterthought earlier than attending to the extra vital, cookie-based portion of his story. However the tweet reads like he’s verifying the veracity of a rumor. It’s like he’s making an attempt to get forward of the story so he can management the narrative, very similar to Richard Nixon’s well-known “Checkers” speech.
This wasn’t the primary time Cookie Monster had addressed his “actual title” on Twitter, however he had beforehand been much less certain about it. In 2010, he had this to say on the Sesame Road account:
It’s fairly fascinating that one thing appears to have occurred lately to extend Cookie Monster’s confidence on the subject of his unique title. Earlier than that, he appeared to have some gaps in his reminiscence, form of just like the gaps in Richard Nixon’s White Home tapes. I’m sorry, I ought to actually cease evaluating to Cookie Monster to Richard Nixon. I received’t do it once more, I promise.
Anyway, after the current tweet, the content-aggregating web sites picked up the story. Right here’s an internet site referred to as Junkee with a narrative referred to as “If Cookie Monster’s Actual Identify Isn’t Truly Cookie Monster Then Who On Earth Am I?” CBR.com went with the headline “Sesame Road Followers Are Shocked by Cookie Monster Sharing His Actual Identify.”
The web site for a radio station referred to as SmoothFM referred to as their article “Sesame Road Has Revealed The Cookie Monster’s ‘Actual Identify’ And We’re In Disbelief.” And an internet site referred to as PedestrianTV, which has extra advertisements than a Chips Ahoy has chocolate chips, went with the dramatic (however intelligent!) “TikTok Rediscovered Cookie Monster’s Precise First Identify & Of us Are Crumbling At The Revelation.”
However right here’s what I want to say to everybody, from TikTok to Twitter to NextDoor: Don’t take the “Cookie Monster’s title” factor too critically.
As members of the trendy media viewers, we watch quite a lot of TV collection and films which can be fairly continuity-heavy. TV dramas — and even comedies! — are extra serialized than ever, and large movie franchises make us really feel rewarded for remembering what occurred three motion pictures in the past. And naturally, this can be a long-established component of books and comics, and it even occurs in commercials generally. I do know I, for one, can’t wait to see how issues end up for Jon Hamm and Flo from Progressive.
As media has shifted to this type of storytelling, we’ve been skilled to latch onto something that sounds prefer it’s an vital nugget of data, and file it away within the wikis of our brains. I believe that’s why persons are reacting so strongly to studying that Cookie Monster thinks his title was Sid. For his or her complete lives, these people have recognized the title of the monster from Sesame Road who eats cookies, however with the best way we’re now programmed to consumed tales, having that information contradicted appears like a main plot twist. It’s like discovering out that the cookie you thought was chocolate chip is definitely oatmeal raisin.
However as I rewatched “The First Time Me Eat Cookie,” it appeared to me that it was extra possible that the road about “Sid” was included within the music as a result of it sounded humorous than for any deeper causes. I needed to see if my suspicions had been right, so I went straight to the supply.
No, sorry, I didn’t speak to Cookie Monster. However I did attain out to longtime Sesame Road author Christine Ferraro, who’s written a few of the funniest Sesame materials of the final a number of years. She wrote the lyrics to “The First Time Me Eat Cookie!” Right here’s what she stated:
The road was written as a gag, as a result of it rhymed with “child”. Clearly, he wouldn’t be referred to as Cookie Monster earlier than he found his love of cookies, so he should have had a reputation, proper?
Not meant to be canon in any respect.
So there’s that. For those who’ve been mendacity awake at evening since seeing that TikTok, I hope now you can relaxation your googly eyes and sleep peacefully.
In addition to, Sesame Road has by no means been very involved with continuity, and it will be foolish in the event that they tried. Take into account the truth that Miles and Gabi had been born a number of years aside however in some way graduated highschool on the identical day. Or the truth that a number of numbers have been given for the Depend’s age. Or that one episode the place Bob, Luis, and Gordon reminisce about being in a band within the ’70s and there’s a flashback, they usually look nothing they really did within the ’70s once they had been all characters on the present.
Oh, and guess what? The music from 2004 wasn’t even the primary time in Sesame Road historical past that the Muppet we all know as Cookie Monster has been recognized by a reputation apart from “Cookie Monster.” Try this clip from the primary season of the present, during which the shaggy blue man makes use of Ernie’s telephone to name his mother:
His actual title is “Tiny!” And the way about this different one from the primary season, the place the shaggy blue man and one other blue man deal with one another by title:
His actual title is “Harry!” I particularly love this one, as a result of it sounds very very similar to Jim Henson and Frank Ozare simply goofing round firstly of the sketch.
I suppose my level right here is that any established piece of details about a Sesame Road character is topic to alter, particularly for comedy functions. “Sid” is a humorous joke and a solution to a enjoyable Muppet trivia query, however we shouldn’t deal with it as if it’s engraved in stone. In one other 18 years, possibly Cookie Monster will sing a music the place he says he simply remembered his title was really Herman. However for now, the vital factor is that the character is named Cookie Monster, and he’s informed us that’s what he prefers to be referred to as.
Oh, and yet one more factor: Sure, I do know that the early model of the Cookie Monster puppet was referred to as “Arnold” in these previous Munchos commercials from the ’60s. I simply haven’t seen any footage the place he’s addressed as “Arnold” onscreen.
Oh, and one different yet one more factor: One time Sesame Road did a joke about Man Smiley’s actual title being “Bernie Liederkranz.” What are the chances that that’ll be the following massive surprising TikTok discovery?
Because of Tony Whitaker and Michael Wermuth for alerting me to the “Harry” clip!
Click on right here to congratulate me for not evaluating Cookie Monster to Richard Nixon once more on the Robust Pigs discussion board!
by Ryan Roe – [email protected]
