Ji-Young’s puppeteer hopes the new muppet will help teach children to be able to recognize racism and speak out against it.
SESAME Street is getting a new muppet and she is the 7-year old Ji-Young.
Of Korean-descent, the muppet is set to debut on the show’s Thanksgiving special this week.
Celebrating with her are Shang-Chi star Simu Liu, TV host Padma Lakshmi, and tennis star Naomi Osaka on See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special on November 25.
The special will air on Sesame Street's YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
In an interview, Ji-Young explained that she was meant to live in Sesame Street: “In Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong. But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.”
While her introduction is making history as the first Asian-American muppet in the Sesame Street canon, her puppeteer has been working with the show since 2014.
Kathleen Lim, 41, was accepted into the Sesame Street workshop in 2014 and became part of the team a year later.
“I feel like I have a lot of weight that maybe I’m putting on myself to teach these lessons and to be this representative that I did not have as a kid,” Kim said.
Kim’s other puppetry credits include the Fred Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and as Toeknee the imaginary friend on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens.
According to Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice-president of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop, the new cast is their response to the events of 2020 – George Floyd’s death and the rise of anti-Asian hate incidents.
Earlier, Sesame Workshop also introduced Tamir, the first black muppet to openly talk about subjects like racism.
Tags: #SesameStreet, #JiYoung, #AsianAmerican, #inclusivity, #representation