For an amazing 50 years so far, only one show has been teaching viewers of all ages how to live in a world of sunny days where the air is sweet. As hard as it may be to believe, the beloved series Sesame Street is celebrating its 50th anniversary in November 2019, commemorating five decades of teaching children (and sometimes adults) about important topics, values, and life lessons.
Over the course of those five decades, the series has featured many beloved characters, both of the human and Jim Henson's puppet creatures variety. As a result of having so many characters, though, it's inevitable that there might be some facts about the series' main cuddly cast that even the most devoted of fans might not be aware of.
Rosita used to have wings
Rosita is Sesame Street's resident native Spanish speaker, the first and only prior to the introduction of Ovejita the little lamb in recent years. Rosita has always been easily recognizable, due to her bright turquoise hue and extra fluffy appearance, so it might be a surprise to even the most observant of fans that her appearance was originally very different.
For the first twelve years of her featuring on the series, Rosita's arms originally included a design akin to wings, given her original fruit-bat-themed inspiration. The wings were removed in season 35, however, and Rosita's appearance has remained unchanged ever since.
Count Von Count has bats and a cat
Count von Count is best known as Sesame Street's resident expert on all things numerical, but it turns out that numbers aren't his only interest. The vampire spends most of his time counting within his castle, but he's not alone in his time there, as it turns out.
According to tie-in books for the series, Count has a little kitten named - at different times - Fatatita, Fatatatita, or Ftatateeta. There is also a musical group of bats that live with him and feature in a few song segments, with the group name Ftatateeta and the Bats.
Grover has a nemesis
Oh, Grover. He really tries his best to be helpful, especially during recent years of appearing as the hapless Super Grover and Super Grover 2.0. Long before Grover was donning a cape and trying to save the day, though, he had already made an enemy: fellow Sesame Street resident Mr. Johnson.
Most interactions between Grover and Mr. Johnson in the past consisted of Grover working as a clueless waiter, and Mr. Johnson as the long-suffering and impatient diner at the restaurant who would, invariably, never receive his order, as long as Grover was on the clock. Honestly, we can't even blame Mr. Johnson for his anger.
Zoe's best friend besides Elmo is a rock
Ever since their introduction in the series, Zoe and Elmo have been the absolute best of friends, even if Zoe has sadly taken on a smaller role in recent years (particularly following the introduction of Abby Cadabby). Though Elmo remains Zoe's best friend after all this time, the little orange furry creature has another best friend that might be a bit more surprising.
As it turns out, Zoe's other best pal is a rock named Rocco, who she brings with her on almost all of her recent adventures, even going so far as to arrange a wedding for him. Elmo puts up with her antics as best he can, but often gets frustrated regarding the fact that Rocco is just a rock, after all.
Big Bird's nest moved
Few characters have come to be synonymous with Sesame Street quite on the same level that Big Bird has. He's one of the first characters you see in most vintage episodes of the series, given the prominent location of his nest: right near the Sesame Street sign.
In recent seasons, Big Bird's nest has been moved away from the focal point of the street, and has instead receded further back into a tree. Previous episodes found Big Bird being tempted even with the thought of moving away from Sesame Street, to a rainforest filled with other birds. Thankfully, that would never actually happen.
Oscar the Grouch is actually nice sometimes
Characters are often saddled with nicknames and monikers without their permission, when it comes to easily identifiable traits. Though Oscar's species very well may be Grouch, there's no denying that his name is also meant to focus on his grumpy personality, too. As it turns out, however, Oscar isn't always a grouch.
Over the years, Oscar has been shown to be pretty sweet when he's interacting with any of the human children that appear on the Street. Above all, he's at his sweetest and most affectionate when dealing with his adorable pet worm, Slimy.
Cookie Monster doesn't only eat cookies
It's always a big social media scandal when it inevitably makes the rounds every few years: Cookie Monster is going to stop eating only cookies! Cookie Monster is going to become the Veggie Monster! What is Sesame Street thinking?!
As it turns out, though, even though the always-hungry monster has a clear preference for all things cookie-related, Cookie has always been the kind of monster who eats a lot of things, and always far too much of them at once. He eats veggies, but he also eats plenty of other kinds of junk food, too. He just really loves to eat. He's one of Jim Henson's most beloved and iconic creations ever, so we're not going to question him.
Abby has a step-brother
Sesame Street is known for showing all kinds of characters from all walks of life, and in recent years, it has also increased its commitment to showing different kinds of families that aren't the typical nuclear family.
One of the most recent contributions to that fact comes in the new addition of Abby's expanded family, featuring her adorable and sometimes annoying step-brother, Rudy. He has quickly become one of the series' most-used characters in recent years.
Elmo is always three and a half years old
It's not uncommon for time to not really pass in children's series, or animated series in general. Sesame Street, however, lives in a very particular kind of universe where all the human characters will age and change with the passing of the seasons, but the puppet characters aren't subject to that same sort of time passing.
Elmo, for example, is always three and a half years old. His age is often brought up in some of his Elmo's World sequences, and even nearly three decades after first premiering on the show, Elmo is still - and will always be - three and a half years old.
The truth about Bert and Ernie's relationship
Bert and Ernie's relationship is one of the most frequently discussed and debated parts of Sesame Street on the whole. Are they secretly gay, as so many people like to contend? Or, are they family members - brothers sharing a room, or cousins, or is there a more significant age gap, like uncle and nephew?
The truth of the matter is far more simple than any of those theories have tried so hard to argue over time. Bert and Ernie have always been, and will always be, just the best of friends.