Why ‘Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch Was Originally a Different Color

Sesame Street has been a much-loved part of American popular culture for 57 years, first making its debut on November 10, 1969. One of its most enduring characters is a muppet known as Oscar the Grouch, who has been a part of the show since that inaugural season, and is visually defined by his vivid green fur. However, this isn’t the color he originally wore when he first appeared on TV screens. Here is the story of why one of the distinguishing features of this character changed over time.Oscar the Grouch is characterized by a number of things: he is as grumpy as his name suggests, lives in a trash can on the titular Sesame Street, and even has his own signature song, “I Love Trash.” Like other Sesame Street characters, he has also been used for educational purposes, including to encourage children’s interest in science. He also has an emotional purpose: Oscar was intended to teach children that it was okay to feel sad or unhappy at times and to want to be left alone for whatever reason, to help children understand negative emotions and why it’s not always possible to feel upbeat, and to understand that this was a normal aspect of life. Oscar the Grouch’s Original Magenta LookLike a number of Sesame Street characters, he was intended to have a colorful appearance, but that color altered over time.Oscar was first intended to have magenta-colored hair, and illustrations of this have survived, but this hue was never used in the show itself because it became clear that this shade wouldn’t show up well on TV, given the limitations of color television at the time. It was therefore decided that he would be orange instead, and there are surviving images of him in his original shade in the first season. However, after the first season, things changed, and viewers who tuned into season 2 were met with a different sight.Oscar was redesigned in green because it was felt that this more muted color was better suited to his personality than the brightness of orange, and that green also had more of a connection with the idea of trash. The in-universe explanation for this was that Oscar had gone on vacation to Swamp Mushy Muddy, and had become covered with slime which had changed him from orange to the green of the swamp.Environmentally GreenThe change to green has also had other benefits. In recent years, given Oscar’s close connection with trash, he has also been used to raise awareness of being green in an environmentally friendly sense, including participating in campaigns on the importance of taking out litter and recycling. In an “interview” with the Radio Times, Oscar also drew a connection between his current green color and green in the environmentally conscious sense of the word: “Are you good at recycling? - Do you know who you are talking to? I am GREEN for a reason. I love recycling and composting.” With the need to protect the environment all the more important, the choice to switch Oscar from orange to green seems like an even more astute choice than it did when it was first made.