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Carole Mikita ReportingElmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster, we all recognize the characters of Sesame Street as, not only TV favorites, but American icons. A Sundance film festival documentary which discovers the shows worldwide popularity.
For 37 years, the puppet characters have both entertained and educated children throughout America and other countries. In a new documentary premiering at Sundance, the filmmakers, who grew up watching it, learned how well known, even beloved, Sesame Street is in third world nations.
Linda Goldstein Knowlton, Filmmaker: "Such an American show, and American icon is being used all around the world in cultural-specific ways to try to make the world a better place for children."
Linda Goldstein: "To build a bridge between the Kosovar Serbs and the Kosovar Albanians, by teaching, by demystifying the other. It teaches these two groups of children that they have a lot in common."
To South Africa, where AIDS is rampant
Puppet: "Did you know that you can not catch HIV just by being a friend?"
Linda Goldstein: "It's teaching children that they're not alone with this disease, and that yes, you can be as normal as possible. You can hug other kids, you can play."
To Bangladesh, where children start working at age five
Linda Goldstein: "This was an amazing opportunity to try to reach millions of preschool children that might not have an opportunity for education otherwise."
The filmmakers were surprised at how touched they were by people's reactions to a TV show.
Linda Hawkins Costigan, Filmmaker: "Educators, creators, researchers are really looking at Sesame Street as a means to educate and a means to change the children of future generations."
The message of their film, they say, it is possible for a small group of people to make a difference in the world.
Sesame Street has recently developed an Arabic program, Sesame Mosaic, to highlight diversity and promote respect in the Middle East.
