Exactly 40 years ago, Kiffy, the famous hedgehog in Israel and the hero of the series “Sesame Street”, appeared on the educational television screen, which became an integral part of Israeli culture along with characters such as Moisha Opnik, Eric Webentz, Eggplant, Kermit the Frog, Cabbage and Daffy. However, the series “Sesame Street” It was born in the United States in 1969 under the name Sesame Street as a television series that prepares children for school. The American concept combined animated films, short videos, puppet skits, street scenes and songs. In Israel (as in 50 other countries in the world), the series was broadcast in its American version (translated into Hebrew) starting in November 1971 and called “Surprise Street”.
In the 1970s and 1980s, educational television invested resources in the development of original content for children, with its flagship series including “Nice Butterfly”, “The Children from a Neighborhood”, “A Moment with Dudley” and “The House of Pistachio” which were successful. As part of this trend, In 1981, in collaboration with the American production of Sesame Street, it was decided to create an Israeli production that would adapt its content and puppets to the Israeli audience. The one who created and produced the Israeli version is Ruth Ben Shaul, with the writers including Yonatan Geffen, Avner Katz, Itzik Weingarten and Ilana Luft. The director was Rina Papish.
“The idea of the international department of ‘Sesame Street’ in the United States was to take the format to countries that are interested in it and create their own ‘Sesame Street’, which fits the cultural and social content of that country,” explains Papish. “Each section of the program has an educational purpose, and each country has its own own priorities. For us, in Israel, this story was made possible thanks to businessman Ron Lauder, who gave a respectable donation to educational television to produce an Israeli version of ‘Sesame Street.’ – DP), always knows that she and Kifi were born together. When the agreement with the educational television was signed, we traveled as a team to New York to the ‘Sesame Street’ offices and went through a workshop on how to build this hybrid series, how to create the content and how to balance everything.”
According to Papish, the first step in working on the Israeli version was the creation of the scenery. “The set designer and I went around the country and photographed forms of settlement, and he actually put everything into the set, part in the background and part in the foreground,” she says.
“For the ‘Sesame Street’ scripts, we received a sort of message sheet of approximately 1,000 topics determined by psychologists and educators, and we had to flow with the educational needs and adapt them to Israel,” explains director Moti Aviram, who directed “Sesame Street” from the third season until the mid-2000s 2000.
Along with the American characters that were adopted in the Israeli version, such as Eggplant, Eric and Benz, Kermit, and more, there were also characters created in our regions, including Kippi, a hedgehog, a pink hedgehog with orange spikes, who wears green knee-length pants and red gloves, with a burgundy colored bandana wrapped around his neck, and he wears brown slippers checkered, which over the years became the brand “Kippi shoes”. The Kippi doll, which was intended to serve as the Israeli equivalent of the “Bird” (“Big Bird”) from the American version, was designed by Avner Katz, who played the owner of the nearby cafe in the series. “Ruth Ben Shaul Keima It was a big conference and she invited people from all fields of creativity, including screenwriters and talents,” Papish recalls. “There was a sort of brainstorming session, and one of the topics we discussed a lot was the Israeli figure that would be the equivalent of ‘Big Bird’. The idea of the hedgehog was that it was basically like the Israeli saber, prickly on the outside and soft on the inside. Avner Katz drew the character of Kifi. There is a debate that to this day has not been decided between Yonatan Gefen and Abirama Golan as to which of them came up with the idea of the hedgehog first. Avner Katz created the basis for a character that quickly entered the Israeli pantheon.”
The one who was chosen to portray the character of Kifi (between the years 1983-1987) was Sherry Zuriel, then a theater actress at the beginning of her career. “I was a young actress who started acting in children’s shows, but I wasn’t famous at all, and a friend told me that they were doing auditions on educational television and suggested that I be put on the list of test takers,” Zuriel recalls. And I went home in awe. It was the first time I didn’t play with my own voice. The next day I was invited to come to a second audition. On Friday, I got a call from Marina Papish who told me that they were going for me, but explained that they had a problem with the American production that wanted a short guy to play the character of the hedgehog and not a tall girl The Israeli production asked for permission to include a tall woman, and after the permission was received – we set off. I didn’t know ‘Sesame Street’ in the American version. I remember entering the studio and seeing the set they had built for the filming of ‘Sesame Street’, and everyone stood up to meet me and looked at me in amazement. After a lot At some point I realized that probably about 50 people were tested for this position, and I was chosen.”
What did you think of the role?
“The script was excellent, but my problem was getting into a doll. The doll was heavy, the shoes were closed and I couldn’t breathe. I remember that one of the managers came up to me and said: ‘You know Kifi will be a huge star, but you don’t.’ I understood that, and it wasn’t a problem for me. I thought to myself that if I play well – the professionals will ask who plays Kiffy, and besides, it’s a great job. I realized that movement is the main thing in operating this doll.”
On March 13, 1983, the first episode of “Sesame Street” was broadcast on educational television. “The success was immediate,” notes Papish. “Educational television was at its peak then, and ‘Sesame Street’ brilliantly rode these waves of success. I was privileged to direct its first two seasons.”
“From the first day that it aired, the series was successful, and Kifi became a well-known character,” adds Zuriel. “Pretty quickly everyone fell in love with Kifi. There was an amazing atmosphere on the set and we all became good friends.”
In the second season of the series, she was joined by another iconic character, Moisha Opnik, played and dubbed by the actor, voice actor and puppeteer Gilles Ben David. Opnik, who often complains, is a hairy brown monster with a red nose and one long eyebrow above his eyes. He is homeless and lives in a blue tarantula in the street yard. “When we sat down and started talking about the character of Opnik, then each of us wrote characterizations for the character, and I just sat and described my husband and some of the characterizations still fit him,” Pepish laughs.
Gilles Ben David (Photo: Verdi Kahana)
“In 1984, I graduated from university, and I had a friend who started working in the production of ‘Sesame Street’ on educational television,” says Ben David. and make her so loved and charming. Opnik is part of me. I studied acting and my dream was to do Moliere on stage, but because I started working in ‘Sesame Street’ I couldn’t work in repertory theater because I couldn’t devote myself to it as totally as it was required of me. We would work on ‘Sesame’ for about two months, a month of rest and again two months of intensive rehearsals and ten days of filming. I was captivated by the dolls’ box.”
Zuriel recalls an experience from the days of the Gulf War in 1991: “During the war, we were the only ones in Israel who allowed us to do live shows, for Gilles Ben David (Moisha Opnik) and me, with guests in the studio. It helped the children a lot, and it’s something I’m very proud of.”
The Israeli Community
The best Israeli actors participated in the various programs of “Sesame Street”. In the first seasons, Miki Kam (as a friend who lives in the neighborhood), Natan Detner (as a young neighbor and friend of Kifi), Yona Atari (as the older neighbor), Albert Iluz (as a new immigrant) stood out in particular from France), Shmuel Shila (as the owner of a tool shop) and Hanna Roth (as the owner of a bakery). The characters of Eric and Bentz were played by Shlomo Baraba and Yosef Shiloh respectively, the cherubs were played by Israel Gurion and Kermit the frog was played by Eyal Bretonov. , and when the American production saw the seriousness and professionalism of the Israeli project, then at a certain point they gave us a free hand, that is, the dubbing began to be done in Israel by the Israeli dubbing artists,” says Miki Kam. “The street itself was terribly Israeli and there was an adjustment to the place, time and hour. I have a memory of a day when children were invited for a tour of the ‘Sesame Street’ studio, they entered Kiffy’s den and their astonishment and disappointment that there was nothing there – broke all their fantasy. I don’t think it should have been shown to them. By the way, the nickname Kifi stuck with me even though I was never Kifi.”
Albert Iloz (Photo: Yossi Tzbaker)
“I was invited to the series as a guest and I remained there as a permanent part of the cast,” says Albert Iluz. “Since I played a newcomer, I exaggerated my French accent. The entire Israeli society was reflected in ‘Sesame Street’ because there were types from all social strata of the country. Because there were a lot of us Together in rehearsals, we became like a family and felt comfortable. I remember they gave us a tour of the studio where ‘Sesame Street’ is filmed in America, and it was a stunning experience. I loved that they called us by our first names, so the kids recognized me on the street as Albert.”
Mickey Kam (Photo: Ariel Bashor)
“To this day, people remember the phrase ‘A cookie wants a cookie!’ of Ogiflatz”, notes the actor Dov Reiser who voiced Ogiflatz in the series as well as the air seller. “At the time there was only one channel and every house saw it, and as soon as we released ‘Sesame Street’ this light caught on like wildfire. Each episode was proofread by Hasia Wertheim , which was the Orim and the Tummy to Hebrew”.
Deb Reiser (Photo: Aloni Moore)
energies of life
“Sesame Street” in its original Israeli version was broadcast for five years (1983-1987) and 65 episodes were produced. During this period, artists such as Yehoram Gaon, Shoshana Demari, Haim Moshe, Shmulik Kraus, the Dodaim, Gidi Gov and Rotam Abuhav, were guests. The opening song was written by Ali Mohar, composed by Yoni Rechter and performed by Gidi Gov, Mezi Cohen, Dafna Armoni and the children of the Tsadikov Choir. “This is part of the agenda of ‘Sesame Street’ – to give representation to social diversity in all aspects, in design, content and music,” explains Papish . “All the artists wanted to participate in the series. It was a sensation.”
What is the magic secret of the program?
Papish: “It spoke to a wide cross-section, both children and parents. The effort was for the goals to be educational, but for the series to be not only didactic, but also humorous.”
Aviram: “The magic is that you start to believe that the dolls and characters are really real creatures.”
Zuriel: “Behind each chapter were dozens of educational psychology studies. Kifi in the series is 4 years old and he remains 4 years old to this day, and his youth is eternal.”
Reiser: “It was not didactic, but a lot of high humor and a lot of energy of life. You didn’t notice that they were trying to teach you directly, but only along the way.”
Kam: “The magic stemmed from the fact that it was about relationships between one another, between adults and children, between children and themselves, and from the fact that children participated in this program and thus turned it into something for the whole family. It was very Israeli and innocent, and along the way it was educational and emphasized the neighborhood and neighborly and friendship relations.”
Do you think the series is still relevant today?
Papish: “I’m sure it is. I’m already a grandmother and I have five grandchildren, I see what they’re looking at, and when I show them the more naive programs on the children’s channels, they really like it.”
Zuriel: “Definitely. I think that many kindergartens in Israel would be happy to show children half an hour of ‘Sesame Street’ because although the people are dressed a little differently, the street is the same street and the content is excellent and suitable even for today. It should be broadcast because it is still as relevant as ever.”
Ben David: “‘Sesame Street’ is an amazing series made for small children. The children are the next generation, they need to come to school prepared. It is lacking today, especially in terms of content. It is problematic, in my opinion, to put the children in front of a screen and not attach deep importance to content that can prepare them for life.”
Reiser: “Parents who are already 40 years old and were the children of that time – tell me that they wish for the return of ‘Sesame Street’.”