Sesame Tree
Encyclopedia
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
made entirely in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, is produced by Belfast based production company Sixteen South Television and Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop , is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children's programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world...
. The first episode aired on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
on 5 April 2008 with the first series subsequently airing nationwide on CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
in August 2008. A second series was launched in November 2010 and broadcast on CBeebies from 22 November 2010.
The project has been under consideration since 2004; in Sesame Workshop’s presentation on their international projects, Northern Ireland was listed as a goal, with the intent of ‘building the Sesame model for respect and understanding curriculum across the sectarian divide.”
In 2006, The American Ireland Fund provided support to realise the project. Additional funding was secured from the International Fund for Ireland
International Fund for Ireland
The International Fund for Ireland is an independent international organisation established in 1986 by the British and Irish governments with the objectives of promoting "economic and social advance and to encourage contact, dialogue and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout...
(IFI) and the Northern Ireland Fund for Reconciliation. Funding for the second series is provided by IFI and Northern Ireland Screen
Northern Ireland Screen
Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. The agency's purpose is to promote the development of a sustainable film, animation and television production industry.- History :...
.
Format
The initial series of Sesame Tree comprised 20 seventeen minute programmes aimed at an audience of 3-6 year olds. Following a format similar to that of The HoobsThe Hoobs
The Hoobs is a BAFTA-winning children's television programme created and produced by The Jim Henson Company. It stars five creatures called Hoobs from the fictional Hoobland, and their interactions with Earth and the human race...
, it is composed of original puppet segments featuring Muppets created specifically for the series, local mini-documentaries depicting a child’s eye view of life in Northern Ireland, and classic Muppet segments from the Sesame Street library.
The common area of the programme is the "Sesame Tree" – a hollow tree where children can ask questions and have them answered; the Sesame Tree is the programme's analogue to the street in the original Sesame Street programme. The residents of the Tree are Potto; Hilda and Archie, a new arrival for the second series. All the characters were developed by Sesame Workshop and Sixteen South, and the Muppets for the series were built by the Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
in New York, who worked with exclusively local writers and muppeteers. Marty Robinson assisted in auditioning and training local performers, who include Lesa Gillespie, Paul Currie, Michael McNulty, Mike Smith, Helen Sloan and Alana Kerr. The Northern Irish science fiction writer Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald (author)
Ian McDonald is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.- Biography :...
has contributed scripts to the series, along with local writing trio Kieran Doherty, Danny Nash and Ian Nugent. Each of these four writers has written five episodes each, comprising the full 20 episodes of the first series.
Speaking at the launch of Sesame Tree’s second series, Executive Producer Colin Williams said of Sesame Tree: "The programme continues to show contemporary life here in Northern Ireland and addresses issues such as respecting differences, sharing and dealing with new experiences such as going to school for the first time – things that are really important for young children not just in Northern Ireland but everywhere."
Dr. Charlotte Cole, Senior Vice President, Global Education for Sesame Workshop, said of the programme: "...we have worked in collaboration with [experts in] Northern Ireland, to create resources which focus on social inclusion, encouraging children to develop as individuals and as members of the larger community. We believe that Sesame Tree will have a long term, positive impact on how today’s young children perceive the world around them and their own potential role in that world."
The production also coincides with Tar ag Spraoi Sesame
Tar ag Spraoi Sesame
Tar ag Spraoi Sesame, initially referred to as Spraoi Liomsa Sesame, is an Irish language dub of Play With Me Sesame, that began airing in Ireland on 3 November 2007...
, an Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
-dubbed package of Play With Me Sesame
Play with Me Sesame
Play with Me Sesame is a children's television series spun off from Sesame Street, featuring Sesame Street characters such as Bert, Ernie, Grover, and Prairie Dawn. In the United States, from April 1, 2002 until September 2, 2007, the show has aired on the Nickelodeon-owned preschooler television...
, airing on TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
in Ireland.