If you haven’t been following along, Big Bird went from our very tall best friend to a very small version. Why? Does anyone know? Please, I need answers. Big Bird should never be small; the whole thing is that he’s very very tall!
Imagine, if you will, scrolling through Twitter and suddenly you see Big Bird appearing in an image and he’s very tiny. It can be jarring, right? Well that’s what actually happened. Between this and Elmo getting trauma dumped on, it has been a rough time over on Sesame Street for our favorite characters. Maybe Elmo should have checked in on his little friend!
Initially, it came to our attention as a cry for help from Big Bird himself, posted to his X account. It was almost as if no one else wanted to check on him. Snuffleupagus, what are you doing!? Check on your friend! That is, if you can even see him since he’s so tiny!
For seven days, this went on, and yes, Mr. Snuffleupagus did just walk right past “Bird,” as he was calling himself since he was no longer big, when his friend was trying to ask for help.
It even got to the point where, when Elmo asked the internet how we were doing, Big Bird quote-tweeted it to try and get his attention, writing, “Day 6. Still tiny. #HelpBigBird.”
Never in my life have I ever wished I could go down to Sesame Street and yell at characters more.
Finally, after 7 days of pain, Big Bird told the world that he was big again and we didn’t need to worry. He also claimed that his friends checked in on him. (Sure, buddy. I watched my guy Mr. Snuffleupagas walk on by.)
Now, the question is simple: Why?
Do we know why Big Bird was tiny?!
There was an episode way back in 2005 that featured the adventures of a tiny version of Big Bird, and the consensus online is that’s what was happening here, just telling that story through Twitter images and videos. Whether this is a marketing thing or to get us all talking about Big Bird again, it did make many adults online scream that people needed to check on their friend.
Big Bird is normally over 8 feet tall! Seeing him small was scary. I, along with my adult brother, have had many conversations about whether or not Big Bird could reach high places because that’s just what you do as an adult who still thinks about heading to Sesame Street. So to see that reality shattered? While no one there even cared to look for Big Bird? It was frightening.
I’m glad that Big Bird has claimed his friends cared. They should have been more concerned that their friend was seemingly gone for a week, but if Big Bird is okay with it, I’ll slowly start to forgive. But until I see a notes app apology from Mr. Snuffleupagas to Big Bird, I am side-eying all of Sesame Street for this egregious week.
(featured image: PBS)
