40 Fun Facts About Elmo

What is the name of Elmo's pet goldfish, who silently stars beside him in Elmo's World?

Dorothy was played by several goldfish, swapped in as needed. The fish that made it through a season were given good homes afterward.

Which talk show host helped spark the 1996 Tickle Me Elmo craze by showing the doll on her program?

Rosie O'Donnell showed the giggling doll in early October, and it sold out the day after Thanksgiving. Two women were arrested in Chicago for fighting over one.

Sesame Street's Elmo, like many preschoolers, usually talks about himself in which way?

In the third person is how Elmo nearly always speaks, a habit with a formal name, illeism. Sesame Workshop says it mimics 3-year-olds who lack the skills to speak proper English.

Elmo testified before a US House subcommittee in 2002 to urge more funding for which cause?

Music education was the cause Elmo pleaded before a House Appropriations subcommittee in April 2002. Congressman Duke Cunningham arranged for the Muppet to appear.

Which treasured possession does the greedy Huxley steal from Elmo in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland?

His blanket drives the whole plot: after a tug-of-war tears it, Elmo follows it to Grouchland, where Huxley steals anything he sees. Elmo gets it back with help from Huxley's own sidekick.

Elmo's account on X went viral in January 2024 after asking followers which simple question?

How everybody was doing drew thousands of replies, many full of trauma and dark humor. The Sesame Street account then pointed users to mental health resources.

Which pop star's 2010 duet with Elmo was cut from Sesame Street's broadcast over her low-cut outfit?

Katy Perry sang a version of Hot n Cold with Elmo to teach opposites, but the clip stayed online only. She mocked the fuss on Saturday Night Live in an Elmo-themed shirt.

What is the name of the pet rock owned by Zoe that drives Elmo to exasperation on Sesame Street?

Rocco is the rock Zoe insists is real, to Elmo's fury. A 2004 clip of Elmo ranting about Rocco became an internet meme that resonated with overstressed people.

Which name was given to the puppy Elmo got in a 2021 animated special, because she likes to dance?

Tango arrived in Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy, and a puppet version then joined Sesame Street in Season 52. She and Elmo also solve cases in an animated mystery segment.

In Elmo Saves Christmas, Elmo learns a hard lesson after making which wish about the holiday?

Elmo wished for it to come every day, so a reindeer flies him ahead to a worn-out Sesame Street with bankrupt businesses. The story was inspired by an 1892 tale by William Dean Howells.

Which Baltimore-born puppeteer performed Elmo until 2012 and gave the character his falsetto voice?

Kevin Clash based Elmo on the preschoolers at his mother's daycare, and on his own parents' personalities. Earlier performers had tried the character without it catching on.

Which puppeteer, first hired by Sesame Street as a high school senior, took over as Elmo in 2013?

Ryan Dillon took time out of his senior year in 2005 to work on season 37, then inherited Elmo eight years later. He earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2017.

Which silent, bumbling character on Elmo's World was first played by Broadway actor Bill Irwin?

Mr. Noodle gets everything wrong so that children watching can feel smarter than a grown-up. One writer called his family a dynasty of mimes in the tradition of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Which Hamilton star joined Elmo's World in 2017 as one of its silent, bumbling brothers?

Daveed Diggs joined the mime family early in 2017, months after winning a Tony for playing Lafayette and Jefferson in Hamilton. Comedian Daniel Koren plays another of the brothers.

Which toy company launched Tickle Me Elmo in July 1996 and had sold a million dolls by year's end?

Tyco first shipped 400,000 dolls, which suddenly sold out the day after Thanksgiving. Scalpers were soon reselling the toy for as much as $1,500.

Tickle Me Elmo's giggling mechanism was first invented for a toy of which animal?

A chimp called Tickles was the inventors' first idea, and the project then became a Tasmanian Devil toy named Tickle Me Taz. Elmo got the giggle once the maker won Sesame Street's plush license.

In Elmo Saves Christmas, which gift from a grateful Santa Claus grants Elmo three wishes?

A snow globe was the gift Elmo picked over a teddy bear after pulling Santa out of the chimney. He wasted the first of its three wishes on a glass of water.

In Elmo Saves Christmas, which classic film plays on every TV channel in the future Elmo visits?

It's a Wonderful Life runs nonstop on every channel in the special, and real footage from the film appears in the program and again after the credits. Santa, meanwhile, plans to retire to Florida.

Which celebrated American poet appears as herself to narrate the 1996 special Elmo Saves Christmas?

Maya Angelou narrates the special as herself, sharing the bill with Charles Durning as Santa Claus and Harvey Fierstein as the Easter Bunny. It was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York.

Which comedy actor voices an elf with his own surname in 2007's Elmo's Christmas Countdown?

Ben Stiller voices Stiller the Elf, who fears the holiday is ruined when the magical counting blocks vanish. Santa Claus turns up only once Elmo and his friends keep believing.

Which Princess Bride actor played Huxley, the greedy villain of The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland?

Mandy Patinkin was a last-minute replacement after another actor had first been cast as Huxley. Makeup gave him false eyebrows far bushier than his own.

Which singer played a green-haired queen in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland?

Vanessa Williams played the Queen of Trash, whose subjects suspect Elmo of spying before she lets him cross her dump. She also sings I See a Kingdom, one of the film's original songs.

In The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, what must Elmo blow 100 of to satisfy the Queen of Trash?

Raspberries were the Queen's test, with a 30-second limit, and the film asks children in the audience to help Elmo reach the total. He succeeds, and she lets him pass through her dump.

In The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Elmo's friends are jailed because Grouch law forbids what?

Asking for help is against the law in Grouchland, so Elmo's would-be rescuers are locked up for approaching a Grouch police officer. A kind Grouch girl named Grizzy later sneaks into the jail.

Which rock singer covers Oscar the Grouch's anthem I Love Trash on the Elmo in Grouchland soundtrack?

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith covers I Love Trash on the soundtrack, which won the Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children in 2000. The film itself earned back less than half of its $26 million budget.

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland was the second Sesame Street feature film, following which 1985 release?

Follow That Bird reached theaters 14 years before Elmo's film, which turned out to be the last Muppet feature for veteran performers Frank Oz and Fran Brill.

The puppeteer who played Elmo until 2012 also voiced which character in 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

Splinter, the turtles' rat master, was voiced by Elmo's puppeteer in the 1990 film and again in its 1991 sequel. He also performed Clifford, the host of the series Muppets Tonight.

Which Muppet performer reportedly threw the Elmo puppet to a colleague in frustration after briefly playing him?

Richard Hunt, who played Scooter and Beaker on The Muppet Show, had inherited Elmo in 1984 and grew frustrated with him. The colleague who caught the puppet made the character a star.

Which future picture-book author was the Sesame Street animator who suggested the drawn look of Elmo's World?

Mo Willems proposed a less realistic setting, which became a world that looks like a child's squiggly crayon drawing. He later created the Pigeon and Elephant & Piggie books.

Which actress and talk show host narrates the 2011 documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey?

Whoopi Goldberg narrates the film, which follows its subject from a Baltimore childhood spent building puppets to Sesame Street. It won a Special Jury Prize at its festival premiere.

Which Sesame Street newcomer of 2006 teams up with Elmo to save the holiday in Elmo's Christmas Countdown?

Abby Cadabby is a fairy whose magic mostly amounts to floating, popping in and out of thin air and turning things into pumpkins. She counts Elmo as her best friend.

What does the original 1996 Tickle Me Elmo doll do when it is squeezed three times?

Shakes and vibrates is the doll's big finish, since a single squeeze only sets off a giggle. The 2006 anniversary model, TMX, went further and rolled on the floor pounding its fist.

On which White House drama did Elmo get a medical check-up from the fictional First Lady?

The West Wing had Abbey Bartlet, a doctor as well as First Lady, examine Elmo for a public-service announcement in its fifth season. Zoe and Rosita came along too.

Which late-night host was a guest on the first episode of The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo in 2020?

Jimmy Fallon shared the first episode with Kacey Musgraves, who sang the Sesame Street classic Rubber Duckie. Each episode models a different part of a child's bedtime routine.

The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, a bedtime-themed talk show, launched with which streaming service in 2020?

HBO Max had the first three 15-minute episodes ready on its own launch day. For its second season the series turned into a game show with child contestants.

In a landmark 1985 Sesame Street episode, Elmo held on to which friend of Big Bird until the adults saw him?

Snuffleupagus was about to go home to brush his fur before the grown-ups arrived, so Elmo held on to his snuffle. The adults then met him for the first time ever.

Which comedian does Elmo accidentally lock in a dressing room at the start of the 1998 special Elmopalooza?

Jon Stewart spends most of the special trapped with the crew behind a broken door, so the Muppets run the show at New York's Radio City themselves, with Elmo as host.

What is the name of Elmo's father, who appears beside him in the 2020 video-call special Elmo's Playdate?

Louie is the brother of Funella Furchester, which makes the monsters who run The Furchester Hotel Elmo's aunt, uncle and cousin. Elmo's mother is named Mae.

The Furchester Hotel, where Elmo stays with his aunt's family, first aired on which British children's channel?

CBeebies, the BBC's preschool network, began showing the series in 2014. It was the BBC's second Sesame Street spin-off, made six years after Sesame Tree.

Which celebrity chef made eggnog with Elmo on a holiday episode of his own cooking show?

Emeril Lagasse had already teamed with Elmo in 2005 for a Food Network special called Healthy Start, part of the channel's Cook With Your Kids Week.