Grover Goes Global

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Sesame Street goes out of its way to integrate local customs and culture into every show it co-produces overseas. While the documentary filmmakers were initially skeptical of Cookie Monster's transnational nature, the reality proved, as Knowlton says, that 'it's not about them coming in and shoving their agenda down someone else's throats.'

Close-knit collaboration with indigenous producers is simply a matter of effective education, according to Zylstra, who spent nine months with Bangladeshi educators, academics, and producers just on the development phase of Sisimpur, the country's version of Sesame Street. 'The most important thing is that children learn best when the reality they see represented reflects their own,' she says. 'That's why we do it.'

Zylstra recalls a meeting at which the locals asked why the Muppets all have the same eyes. 'I was floored by that, and I thought, 'That's a bloody good point,' ' she says. She discovered that Sesame Workshop prefers the round orb and big black pupil to make a point of connection with viewers. 'But the deeper issue is that we, as an American company, were replacing their puppets and puppet history with our own puppets,' she says. In Sisimpur, the production came up with a compromise that integrated both Sesame Workshop Muppets and Bangladeshi puppets and song into the show.

Filmmakers Costigan and Knowlton have become champions of Sesame Workshop, even though they maintain their objectivity. 'Here is the real truth of the matter,' says Costigan: 'They're doing good work.'

'When this is the only preschool education available to kids, whether they're in Bangladesh or Indonesia or Egypt, it's hard to argue with that,' adds Knowlton. 'Can a TV show that's on for half an hour create peace in the Middle East? No. However, if you look at what kids in Israel or the Palestinian territories have to watch on TV, here is an opportunity to see people behaving in a different way. Here is another option to see how we can behave and care for each other.'

Anthony Kaufman is a Brooklyn-based film writer whose work has appeared in Village Voice and In These Times. Read his blog at blogs.indiewire.com/anthony.

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