Sesame Street Character List

Playing with character

No longer considered a frivolous activity that occupies youngsters before the more serious problems of adulthood beset them, play is now deemed an essential part of growing up. In fact, the move to recognize play as something much more important than simple amusement has led to the enshrinement of the “right to play and relax” in UNICEF’s Conventions on Rights of the Child, right alongside vital necessities like access to clean water and physical security.

“If you look at where play behavior resides in the brain, it’s in the very deepest part of the brain stem,” says Dr. Stuart Brown, author and founder of the National Institute for Play in Carmel Valley, California. “The force that begins to be stimulated during play is located in the early ancient brain stem centers.” Similarly, Insight Kids/Insight Research Group’s Stacey Matthias asserts that the types of play in which kids participate all have a “developmental job” to do."Emotionally, physically and cognitively, children play and they do exactly what they must do to help them grow," says co-founder and CEO of the New York-based research and strategic consulting firm with client list includes Nickelodeon and PBS Kids.

Although Dr. Brown says that the understanding of the evolutionary purpose behind play is “reaching the evolutionary understanding of where sleep and dreams were 15 years ago,” he stresses that there is a disconnect between the science of play and the very companies whose business it is to develop playthings based on established characters and intellectual properties.

“They are not [aware of the current research],” argues Stuart, who has worked as a consultant to different toycos, including Mattel, in the past. “Some of the products are clever and have market niches, but they really don’t touch upon the real essence of play behavior.”

However, when tasked with creating an IP or even making a toy line based on an existing one, most executives would say they often consult the research to discover more about the play patterns, or play types, that kids are exploring. In doing so, they often layer archetypal narratives (a.k.a. familiar storylines) on top of specific stories and characters to help their audience more easily access the play type.

“Things like Disney Princess or Cars, stories revolving around good vs. evil—those archetypal narratives are really props for a play pattern rather than a play pattern itself,” says Matthias. “Kids need the characters, but it’s really all about providing a spark for their imagination.

Friday Five (with Iron Syndicate): Vampires | GeekLore

While murf is recovering from the combined pleasure and pain of wisdom teeth removal and wedding preparations (I’ll let you guys decide which is which), you’re stuck with me for a combo Friday Five – Public Service Announcement.

You see, in the past few years it’s become customary to think that vampires are these fragile, emotional beings full of feelings and forlorn gazes. The kind of ridiculous, spiky haired teen idols which look something like this:

 

and what have you, we all turned to one place for our teen vampires – Buffy. The show which made Joss Whedon a geek household name gave us some of the most kick-ass vamps this side of Dracula (and the Buffy version of the big D is simply spectacular). There are tons of people to choose from to represent the types of vampires the show had to offer, but none were more badass than Vampire Willow. You see, as much as regular Willow was vanilla (at the time), so was Vampire Willow awesome. She dressed in head to toe leather and was sadistic as all hell. The character was so great, that she was brought back for a reprise appearance later on in the season. Vampire Willow proved to us that there’s nothing sexy about repression and you just need to be upfront with your sick and twisted nature. Also, playing with matches may be dangerous, but it’s really, really fun.

Your classic Vampire turned-Vampire hunter, Blade is the very definition of badass. Whether you know him from the comics, the Wesley Snipes film series or the short lived TV show – Blade provides the template for many other characters. He’s a lone wolf, a monster fighting his own monstrous nature, all the while exterminating his own kind in the hopes of safeguarding humanity’s future. Blade is also a day-walker

This guy proves to the world that you can be badass and hardcore, while still being a muppet. The Count has always been my favorite of the Sesame Street characters, mostly owing to the fact he’s a vampire (side note: I’m a Literature major and I hate math, so I obviously wasn’t paying attention). He’s still, despite being made of felt, kick-ass. He’s had numerous girlfriends throughout his long history, proving he’s a total ladies man and he won’t let people push him around.