Lloyd Morrisett, co-creator of the children’s series Sesame Street (1 Sesame Street in France) with his famous puppets, died at the age of 93, according to the producer Sesame Workshop.
Along with Joan Ganz Cooney, a producer for a New York public television network, Lloyd Morrisett was one of the pioneers of educational television programs for children.
Convinced, by observing his 3-year-old daughter fascinated by a cartoon, that television could serve as a learning tool for the little ones, he launched the production company Sesame Workshop with Joan Ganz Cooney, then the program Sesame StreetNovember 10, 1969 in the United States.
“Without Lloyd Morrisett, there would be no ‘Sesame Street.’ He came up with the idea of using television to teach children basic skills, such as letters and numbers,” Joan Ganz Cooney said in a broadcast statement. for variety.
Distributed in more than 150 countries
In this programme, Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney stage puppets from the Muppet Showcreated by Jim Henson, as Elmo, the iconic character of the series, with the aim of stimulating learning in children.
Followed since its first season by more than half of the 12 million children from 3 to 5 years of age in the country, Sesame Street is now one of the best-known and most broadcast youth programs in the world (almost 150 countries) and has been praised for its choice to tackle hot topics like racism and inclusion.
In France, Sesame Street appeared in 1974 in the form of a sequence titled “Bonjour Sésame” broadcast during the program children’s islandwith Casimiro. The program will then change its name several times and will be broadcast on different channels (TF1, France 5…).
Source: BFM TV
