# Snuffleupagus was finally made visible on Sesame Street because of children being sexually abused **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848 "2010-08-20T07:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/1 "2010-08-20T07:52:40Z")
[Odd fact, but true!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Snuffleupagus) > [@](#): > > In an interview on a Canadian telethon that was hosted by Bob McGrath, Snuffy’s performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophilia and sexual abuse of children that had been aired on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they would just be better off remaining silent ---
**Author:** ![AnnaKareninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@AnnaKareninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnnaKareninja)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/2 "2010-08-20T07:56:52Z")
My childhood! It all makes sense now! At first Snuffleupagus was Big Bird’s imaginary friend, and made us so much closer to Big Bird, because we, the children, believed him _dramatic pose_… but then everyone could see him. I felt so betrayed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/3 "2010-08-20T08:41:30Z")
Bullshit. Every kid had an imagnary friend on much more innocent terms. If they want to retrofit this to modern politics they can do so independent of my experience. It’s like any given song’s interpretation, some attach their own and widely deviant exponence, some see the the pure… some see the perverse. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/4 "2010-08-20T09:14:14Z")
> [@AnnaKareninja](#): > > My childhood! It all makes sense now! > At first Snuffleupagus was Big Bird’s imaginary friend, and made us so much closer to Big Bird, because we, the children, believed him _dramatic pose_… but then everyone could see him. I felt so betrayed. ☹ I was a teenager when Snuffy was seen, but when I was a kid, that device frustrated the heck out of me. He was real, and I was outraged on Big’s behalf that no one believed him. Which just goes to show what **devilsknew** says about interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/5 "2010-08-20T09:29:33Z")
Not hassling you for be late or anything but I think I swear about this years ago. Maybe people just assumed that fear of abuse was the reason. Muppet wiki says that a documentary that revealed this, Sesame Street Unpaved, came out in 1999. Maybe thats what I was thinking of. I think plenty people would agree that having a secret that you are not supposed to tell anyone about is a bad example for kids. Its sad that you can’t have a secret character, especially one as cool as Mr. Snuffleupagus, but abusers apparently do tell children “its our special secret” or words to that effect. By coincidence, Mr. Snuffleupagus was revealed as real towards the end of my prime sesame street watching years (1985). As an older child, I started to suspect that he was revealed every year (and then rebooted) and I was misremembering, or that that episode was just a repeat. Thanks to wikipedia, I now know I was lucky enough to see the actual episode and get really freaking excited, in that special way only a five year old can. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/6 "2010-08-20T09:35:37Z")
Wow, I feel young. I didn’t even realize there was a time when Snuffleupagus wasn’t real! (within the context of the show guys! Though he’ll always be real in my heart) ---
**Author:** ![snoopygal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@snoopygal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoopygal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/7 "2010-08-20T09:40:32Z")
I remember hearing about this years ago too. Possibly before 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/8 "2010-08-20T10:54:25Z")
He was always real, he was just only around when Big Bird was alone. Personally I found it frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/9 "2010-08-20T11:37:44Z")
I remember the big reveal, but wasn’t it in the 70’s? I was 16 in 1985, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t watching the show anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/10 "2010-08-20T11:42:16Z")
Sesame Street does free video podcasts which my daughter loves. From them, I note that ol’ Snuffy has got a wife and kid now. How times change. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/11 "2010-08-20T12:37:37Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Bullshit. Every kid had an imagnary friend on much more innocent terms. If they want to retrofit this to modern politics they can do so independent of my experience. It’s like any given song’s interpretation, some attach their own and widely deviant exponence, some see the the pure… some see the perverse. Naw, it’s not retrofitting, this was the official reason back when Snuffle’s was first revealed. It raised a minor stink then, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/12 "2010-08-20T13:12:30Z")
The difference is that a child’s parents aren’t denying the existing of the child’s imaginary friend, as are the other characters are denying the existence of Big Bird’s friend. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/13 "2010-08-20T13:14:27Z")
I always found it very frustrating that no one believed Big Bird about Snuffy, but I’m surprised and rather doubt that he was revealed for the reasons stated in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/14 "2010-08-20T13:36:05Z")
I guess then, that Satanic child abuse was real but it was committed by large puppets. That just makes it worse. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/15 "2010-08-20T13:46:50Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I guess then, that Satanic child abuse was real but it was committed by large puppets. > > That just makes it worse. > > Regards, > Shodan No, IOKIBBDI.\* \*It’s okay if Big Bird does it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/16 "2010-08-20T13:49:41Z")
I heard about this years ago. It is interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/17 "2010-08-20T13:54:38Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I was a teenager when Snuffy was seen, but when I was a kid, that device frustrated the heck out of me. He was real, and I was outraged on Big’s behalf that no one believed him. Which just goes to show what **devilsknew** says about interpretation. Me too! It pissed me off that Big Bird was just pooh-poohed. I _hated_ that! I heard back in the 1990s that Snufffy was to be revealed not specifically due to child abuse, but for the very reason that in general it didn’t seem healthy for adults not to believe a child who was telling the truth. I remember it was alluded to that it was because they didn’t want any kid thinking “they’ll never believe me anyway” in cases of abuse, but I think it had more to do with just generally thinking it was a crappy message for kids: “Adults won’t take you seriously, even when it’s important.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/18 "2010-08-20T13:57:00Z")
When I read the thread title I thought to myself, “Well, the _least_ they should have done was allow the poor kids to see him coming, but why wasn’t the perverted beast locked up?” ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/19 "2010-08-20T14:00:10Z")
I think they could have taken Seseme Street in a much more interesting direction if instead they had started Big Bird’s Fight Club. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848/20 "2010-08-20T14:05:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > I guess then, that Satanic child abuse was real but it was committed by large puppets. > > > > That just makes it worse. > > > > Regards, > > Shodan > > No, IOKIBBDI.\* > > \*It’s okay if Big Bird does it. “Billy, take down your pants and I’ll show you what Jim Henson does to Kermit!” Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuffleupagus-was-finally-made-visible-on-sesame-street-because-of-children-being-sexually-abused/550848.md?page=2)