| Category | Information |
| Episode Number | 4419 |
| Episode Title | Judy and the Beast |
| Season | Season 44 |
| Air Date | January 23, 2014 |
| Series | Sesame Street |
| Writer | Molly Boylan |
| Director | Ken Diego |
| Executive Producer | Carol-Lynn Parente |
| Word on the Street | Unique |
| Word on the Street Guests | Usher and Bert |
| Word Segment Description | Usher discusses unique dance moves and objects |
| Main Characters | Elmo, Leela, Judy, Abby Cadabby |
| Judy Character Info | Cousin of Beauty from Beauty and the Beast |
| Beast Attempt 1 | A lobster from the ocean |
| Beast Attempt 2 | A kangaroo from Australia |
| Final Beast Selection | A wild horse |
| Abby's Flying Fairy School | Puckish Pete's Petting Zoo |
| Fairy School Animals | Hydra, Kraken, Unicorn |
| Fairy School Task 1 | Feeding carrots to the five heads of the Hydra |
| Fairy School Task 2 | Building a boat for the Kraken |
| Fairy School Task 3 | Gonnigan politely asking to ride the unicorn |
| Murray's School | Little Vet School |
| Murray's Veterinarian Tasks | Bandaging stuffed animals and sewing bananas |
| Murray's Dog Patient | Cloudy the dog |
| Super Grover 2.0 Segment | The Cart Before the Horse |
| Super Grover 2.0 Plot | Grover helps a horse ride in a cart |
| Elmo the Musical | Cowboy the Musical |
| Elmo Cowboy Role | The Count By Two Kid |
| Elmo Musical Task | Escorting six kitty-cows to a ranch |
| Cookie Monster Segment | Low Hanging Cookie |
| Cookie Monster Plot | Oscar hangs an H cookie from a rope to tease Cookie |
| Letter of the Day | H |
| Number of the Day | 5 |
| Number Segment Song | Five Kangaroos featuring Jessica Mauboy |
| Spanish Word | Manzana (Apple) |
| Twiddlebugs Segment | Caterpillar mistaken for a cat |
| Animation | Five dogs and five dog bones by Todd Parr |
| Filming Location | Kaufman Astoria Studios |
| Production Company | Sesame Workshop |
| Puppeteers | Ryan Dillon, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, David Rudman, Eric Jacobson, Joey Mazzarino |
Facts
Designing the puppet lobster
The workshop builders came up with a special mechanical rig for the lobster puppet. The script said the creature should attach directly to Judy's nose. To make sure it was done safely, the builders put a soft, spring-loaded mechanism inside the lobster's claws. The puppeteer triggered a hidden wire, which made the claw snap shut quickly without actually pressing down on the actress's face. This made sure that the physical comedy stayed safe when it was filmed from different angles.
This is a bit like a classic fairy tale, but with a twist.
The story on the street is basically a joke about Beauty and the Beast. The writers specifically introduced a character named Judy to go against traditional narrative expectations. By taking out the romance and focusing on finding a compatible animal friend, the curriculum team successfully adapted a grown-up, romance-driven fairy tale into a lesson that's right for the age about compatibility and recognising unique individual traits.
Usher is back on the street
Musician Usher makes his second appearance of the forty-fourth season during the vocabulary bit. The producers only booked him for a single, highly efficient afternoon of filming in Astoria, Queens. The directors shot his "ABCs of Moving You" music video and this "unique" vocabulary segment back-to-back on the same day. The network uses this tight scheduling strategy to get the most out of expensive celebrity talent while keeping their time on set to a minimum.
Bringing back the old Twiddlebugs
The show has a classic cartoon of the Twiddlebugs getting the wrong end of the stick and thinking a caterpillar is a cat. These characters were first thought of by Jim Henson back in the 1970s. For this particular syndication package, the digital mastering team cropped and stretched the original 4:3 standard definition film stock to fit modern 16:9 widescreen television standards. This technical tweak stops black bars from showing up on the sides of the screen, making sure the vintage and modern footage match up nicely.
So, the episode ends with a look at Cowboy the Musical.
And we've got some great recycling from the Cowboy digital sets. The animation team at Spearhead Animation originally created this digital sequence entirely digitally for episode 4313. Since creating huge 3D environments like a desert canyon needs a lot of computing power and time, the network editors often reused these finished Elmo the Musical bits to fill out the last half of the forty-fourth season, which really cut down on the weekly post-production budget.
We're proud to present some of the best Australian musical talent.
The amazing Australian singer Jessica Mauboy is going to perform a song called "Five Kangaroos." The music department deliberately sourced an authentic Australian pop star to perform a track explicitly about native Australian wildlife. The producers often use international co-productions and global music stars to expose American preschool viewers to different cultural sounds and global geography without having to do expensive on-location documentary shoots.
Capitalising on the monster dynamic
The vocabulary bit pairs the celebrity guest with Bert. The writers deliberately set up a contrast between Usher's smooth, modern pop-star persona and Bert's infamously rigid, boring personality. The script shows how Bert's obsessed with everyday things like paperclips and bottle tops, which make things funny straight away. The directors rely on these well-known, decades-old character traits to create reliable physical comedy opposite real-world celebrities.
Educational Context and Viewer Guide
Primary lesson
Finding the right friend takes time. People have different physical boundaries.
Pedagogical goal
The idea is to help kids learn how to express themselves clearly. To get to know some of the unique things animals are like.
Parental note
Judy needs a beast for her fairy tale. She asks Abby for help. Abby uses her magic wand. She summons a lobster. The lobster nips Judy's nose. Abby has another go. She summons a kangaroo. The kangaroo bounces too hard. Judy falls off his back. Leela brings a book. Judy finds a horse. She tames the wild horse. They become close friends. Finding friends takes time. You can help your child deal with social challenges. Talk about different personality traits! Ask them what qualities they think make a good playmate. This helps them form healthy relationships.
Expert observation
This episode looks at how well people are suited to each other. Judy's on the lookout for a good match. She turns her nose up at the lobster. She's not a fan of the kangaroo. Their natural behaviours don't really gel with her physical boundaries. Kids learn to identify their comfort levels. They're always working on setting safe physical limits. You teach your child body autonomy. Just tell them they can say no to rough play.
The story makes it clear what the message is. Judy finds it hard to describe the kind of person she'd like to meet. She just goes with whatever works. She also makes her requests more specific. Leela brings out a reference book. This provides a visual aid. Judy uses the pictures to clarify her thoughts. Kids often don't have the words to express complex desires. You give them the tools they need to communicate effectively. You read books together. You point to pictures. You can ask them to identify the feelings or objects in the illustrations. This helps them to improve their expressive language skills. They learn to express their needs without getting frustrated. If you can talk things through, you can stop those daily tantrums. It helps you to be more emotionally mature.
The secondary segments are all about biological science. Murray goes to a vet school. He's learning how vets treat animals. He's a good listener. He examines a live dog. This makes medical procedures much easier to understand. You prepare your child for doctor's visits. You can play pretend clinic at home. You use a toy stethoscope.
The fairy school bit introduces mythological creatures alongside mathematical ideas. The students visit a petting zoo. They feed five carrots to a hydra. They give a boat to a kraken. Gonnigan asks the unicorn if he can ride. Being polite gets you results. Super Grover shows off some cool physics principles. He's learning about force. He helps a horse pull a heavy cart. All these different lessons help you to think more deeply. You can incorporate maths into your day-to-day activities. You ask your child to count snacks during lunchtime. You know, like when you're talking about gravity and how things fall. You can ask them to push and pull their toys. It's all about connecting TV ideas to the real world.
Usher and Bert define the vocabulary word. They chat about unique traits. Bert shows his paperclips. Usher's got some good moves, he says. Everyone's got different talents. You celebrate the individual strengths of your child. You've got to give them credit where it's due for the specific efforts they've made. You try not to compare them to their siblings. This helps to build a strong self-image.
Summary
What's the Word on the Street? : In Sesame Street Episode 4419 we see the word Unique. It means being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
Judy and the Beast, Street Story: Episode begins with Elmo and Leela. They meet Judy who is waiting Abby, because she needs her magic ability. She needs Abby's help for her story. The name of the story is Judy and the Beast.
But the problem is that she does not have a beast. Abby waves her magic wand and conjures up a beast for Judy. It is a lobster, Judy likes it until the lobster clamps onto her nose. She thinks it is not suitable beast for her story and it should go to ocean.
The next time she wishes a softer beast. Abby uses her wand and the new beast is a kangaroo. First Judy likes but then she thinks that this one is not suitable again.
Leela helps Judy, she has an idea about the beast. She brings a book full of animal pictures and they try to find the best beast for Judy's story.
Episode 4304's street story "Judy and the Beast" ends.
Muppets / Celebrity: Usher, who is an actor and singer, is in Sesame Street Episode 4419. He talks about the word unique with Bert. It is the Word on the Street.
Muppets: Before Abby's Flying Fairy School part, we see Murray at Little Vet School, He gives a lesson on raising hands.
Muppets: The letter of the day is H in Sesame Street Episode 4419. We see Oscar and Cookie Monster at this part. There is a rope and Oscar hangs an H shaped cookie on it and Cookie Monster tries to get it.
Muppets: Grover, Frazzle and some monsters are trying to pull a rope. They eventually discover that the end of the rope is attached to a dinosaur carrying a mouse.
Song: Jessica Mauboy, who is a singer, songwriter and actress, is another celebrity guest in the Sesame street episode 4419. Jessica Mauboy sings a song, the name of the song is "Five Kangaroos."
Cartoon: The number of the day is 5 in the Sesame Street Episode 4419. There are five dogs and five dog bones.
Muppets: Before Elmo the Musical starts, we meet Murray again, he follows instructions of the doctor and gives a check up to Cloudy the dog.
Muppets: The Twiddlebugs takes a caterpillar. But they think it's a cat. The Twiddlebugs finally realize it's not a cat but a caterpillar, but they call it cat anyway.
Elmo the Musical Cowboy the Musical: Jack and Murray introduce "Elmo the Musical. Sesame Street Episode 4419 continues with Elmo's musical. Elmo dreams himself as a cowboy in the West. His nickname is Count-By-Two Kid. Elmo has amazing adventures when he is the cowboy.
Murray is at the Little Vet School, and he announces the sponsors from this school and Sesame Street Episode 4419 ends there. Sesame Street sponsors are the number 5 and the letter H.
