The newest muppet resident of “Sesame Street” is a Korean-American puppet named Ji-Young. At just seven years old, Ji-Young is making history as the first-ever Asian-American muppet in the world of “Sesame Street.” Her passions involve rocking out her electric guitar and skateboarding.
She will be formally introduced in “See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special.” Among the guest celebrities that will appear in the special will be Padma Lakshmi and Ji-Young’s fellow Asian celebrities Simu Liu and Naomi Osaka. The special will drop this Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max, “Sesame Street” social media platforms and on local PBS stations.
Ji-Young’s puppeteer is fellow Korean American Kathleen Kim. Some of Ji-Young’s personality comes from the 41-year-old Kathleen, who got into puppetry in her 30s. In 2014, Kathleen was accepted into a “Sesame Street” workshop, which evolved into mentorship and enabled her to become a part of the team the following year.
Being a puppeteer on a show Kathleen watched growing up was a dream come true. But helping shape an original muppet is a whole other feat. “I feel like I have a lot of weight that maybe I’m putting on myself to teach these lessons and to be this representative that I did not have as a kid,” said Kathleen. But fellow puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who performs Abby Cadabby, reminded her, “It’s not about us … It’s about this message.”
The existence of Ji-Young is a milestone in American entertainment. It is a culmination of a lot of discussions after the horrific events of 2020, such as the anti-Asian hate incidents. “Like a lot of companies, ‘Sesame Street’ reflected on how it could meet the moment,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice-president of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop established two task forces: one to look at its content and another to look at its own diversity. What developed was Coming Together, a multi-year initiative addressing how to talk to children about race, ethnicity, and culture.
One result was 8-year-old Tamir. While not the show’s first Black muppet, he was one of the first to talk about subjects like racism. “When we knew we were going to be doing this work that was going to focus on the Asian and Pacific Islanders experience, we, of course, knew we needed to create an Asian muppet as well,” Stallings said.
One thing Ji-Young will help teach children is how to be a good “upstander.” Sesame Street first used the term on its “The Power of We” TV special last year, which featured Tamir.
Being an upstander meant pointing out things that are wrong or something that someone does or says that is based on their negative attitude towards the other person because of the color of their skin, or the language they speak, or where they’re from. “We want our audience to understand they can be upstanders,” said Stallings.
In “See Us Coming Together,” Sesame Street is preparing for Neighbor Day, where everyone shares food, music, or dance from their culture. Ji-Young becomes upset after a kid, off-screen, tells her “to go back home,” an insult commonly flung at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. But she feels empowered after Sesame Street’s other Asian American residents, guest stars, and friends like Elmo assure her that she belongs as much as anyone else.
