Slimey the Worm
Slimey the Worm is a light and dark orange striped worm that is the pet of Oscar the Grouch on Jim Henson's Muppet show Sesame Street. Introduced in Season 13 (1981–1982), he is played by Martin P. Robinson and is the smallest of all characters on Sesame Street, being only 7 cm (2¾in). His small size does not affect his attitude of being one not to wince at the sight of extreme activities. As Lou Berger, head writer for Sesame Street, put it, "Slimey shows viewers that even the smallest creature can be the most heroic, and that's an important thing for kids to see." Slimey has done many extreme things, including winning a gold medal in the Worm Olympics, skydived from a plane, been shot out of a cannon whilst kissing girlfriend Glo and become the first worm in space. At first Slimey and his family did not talk, communicating by squeaking and wriggling, Slimey would be held up to Oscar's ear to talk to him. He and his family now, however, have digitally enhanced squeaky voices. Slimey's voice is currently provided by Dick Maitland. His birthday is on September 19th.
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Slimey in space
In season 29 (1997–1998), Slimey undertook a 6-week journey into space. With his landing on the moon, Sesame Street changed directions from teaching children about basic literacy and numeracy, adding basic science. Slimey was accepted by WASA a parody of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of the lunar program. He then trained rigorously to become an astroworm and was finally chosen as part of the mission's international crew, showing viewers that practice makes perfect. The rocket was launched using Mr. Snuffleupagus' trunk after the smoke from the rocket made him sneeze. The journey went through many troubles including the international crew's crisis but eventually landed on the moon, which was televised live by Kermit the Frog. The rocket ship landed in dramatic fashion, splashing into the water. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Slimey was the first to get out of the rocket ship and therefore became the first worm on the moon. The separation of Slimey and Oscar showed the rarely seen soft side to Oscar. The journey explored concepts such as the distance to the moon and the difference between heavy and light, as well as how scientific exploration occurs, with Slimey and the crew performing experiments and collecting samples. The mission included the song "Slimey to the Moon" sung by the famous Jazz singer Tony Bennett to the tune of "Fly Me to the Moon" by Bart Howard.
Friends and family
Slimey has many friends, both worm and non-worm, and also a worm family. Listed here are Slimey's main friends and his family.
Oscar the Grouch
Oscar is Slimey's best friend. Slimey is not only the pet of Oscar the Grouch, but also the only character with whom Oscar admits to liking. Slimey is said to bring out the best in Oscar. The friendship between the two is understood, where they do not express their feelings for each other but act in a manner which shows their strong relationship. Oscar likes Slimey because they share common interests like the love of rain, mud, and soil, and the fact that Slimey doesn't talk to him when he is trying to sleep. The two do many things together, including taking mud baths and just hanging out. In Season 36, Oscar sang the "Worm Workout Song," a parody of the song "YMCA", while Slimey and his worm friends stretched and wiggled. Each night, or at the end of each episode (from season 35 onward) Oscar reads to Slimey chapters from the book Trash Gordon, a parody of the Flash Gordon comic strip. The book involves Gordon fighting many creatures and ends with a review of the letter and number of the day. When Slimey went into space, Oscar was distraught and could not mask missing Slimey, showing that Oscar has a caring side. Oscar's friendship with Slimey demonstrates the difficulties some children find in making friends. Slimey met Oscar in 1971. Oscar went to the park on a rainy day to see the mud puddles and found a mud puddle with a lot of worms playing in it. He then saw a lonely Slimey playing by himself. Slimey saw Oscar and crawled up his shoulder and fell asleep. Feeling sorry for the baby worm Oscar took Slimey home with him.
Glo Worm
On February 14, 2000 (episode #3882), Valentine's Day, Glo Worm, a volunteer firefighter, entered Sesame Street and became the larva love of Slimey. They both announce their affection for each other but Glo is called away to fight a fire and Baby Bear is put in charge of distracting Slimey as he waits anxiously for his beloved to return. The pair hit it off so well due to their shared fondness of extreme activities, which is illustrated in a scene where they get shot out of a cannon while kissing. Another moment that featured the duo showed the couple dancing to salsa music.
Dusty and Eartha
Dusty and Eartha are the parents of Slimey and Sloppy. Dusty, the father, is a dark and light striped worm that is personified by the circular black glasses and brown overcoat that he wears. Eartha, the mother, has the same light and dark orange skin as her son, Slimey. She is personified by the long curled eyelashes and country hairstyle commonly sported by women of the 1960s.
Sloppy
Sloppy, which is short for "Sloppy Jalopy", Oscar's car on which she was born, is the yellow and brown striped baby sister of Slimey. She was born in Season 26 (1994–1995) to Dusty and Eartha to demonstrate the pressures that come with becoming an elder sibling and how to cope with it through Slimey's actions to his new younger sister. This action by Jim Henson has periodically dealt with the theme of becoming an elder sibling as many of the young viewers watching Sesame Street would be going through that change. The most recent version of this is the birth of Curly Bear, the younger sister of Baby Bear in 2003.
Squirmy
Squirmy is a light blue and dark blue striped worm who personifies a person from the country and is cousin to Slimey and Sloppy. She has only ever been introduced in the book The City Worm and the Country Worm by Linda Hayward, in which Slimey and Squirmy exchange visits, with Slimey going to the country and Squirmy going to the city, or more specifically Sesame Street. In the end both decide that their own environment is best for themselves.
Dirty
Dirty is a green Detroit Dirt Digger. He belongs to Slimey as of Episode 4157. Oscar takes Slimey to Bug-a-Wee-Bug Shelter to adopt his first pet. Slimey chooses Dirty. After bringing him home Dirty is scared. Oscar and Slimey eventually calm Dirty down by wearing bug hats and singing "Welcome Bug Song". Dirty can write in the dirt.
Episode Appearances
Here are listed all episodes which revolved around Slimey:
- Season 18 (1986–1987), Episode 2243 - Slimey Plays A Song On The Computer.
- Season 23 (1991–1992), Episode 2912 - Slimey's First Day Of School.
- Season 23 (1991–1992), Episode 2962 - Telly Sings "Picture In Your Head Song" Song To Slimey.
- Season 24 (1992–1993), Episode 3024 - Slimey And The Worm Scouts.
- Season 24 (1992–1993), Episode 3106 - Slimey And His Worm Friends Build A Subway.
- Season 24 (1992–1993), Episode 3123 - Adventures Of SuperWorm And Slimey.
- Season 25 (1993–1994), Episode 3164 - Slimey's Errands.
- Season 25 (1993–1994), Episode 3181 - Slimey Jumps From The Seesaw.
- Season 25 (1993–1994), Episode 3200 - Slimey's Birthday.
- Season 26 (1994–1995), Episode 3307 - Slimey's New Sister Sloppy.
- Season 28 (1996–1997), Episode 3600 - Slimey's World Games.
- Season 29 (1997–1998), Episode 3696 - Slimey Gets A Letter From WASA.
- Season 29 (1997–1998), Episode 3698 - Sloppy Misses Slimey.
- Season 29 (1997–1998), Episode 3739 - Slimey's Moon Landing Part 1.
- Season 29 (1997–1998), Episode 3740 - Slimey's Moon Landing Part 2.
- Season 29 (1997–1998), Episode 3785 - Slimey Returns To Sesame Street From The Moon.
- Season 31 (2002), Episode 3882 - Slimey Falls In Love With Glo Worm.
- Season 37 (2006), Episode 4124 - Slimey Wants To Be A Hero Just Like Trash Gordon.
Book Appearances
- The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
- A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch (1981)
- The City Worm and the Country Worm (1983)
- Big Bird Goes to the Doctor (1986)
- No Cookies 'Til Dinner (1987)
- Oscar's Grouch Jamboree (1994)
- Zip! Pop! Hop! (1996)
