Plaza Sésamo
Educational children's television series for preschoolers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Plaza Sésamo (English: Sesame Plaza)[lower-alpha 1] is the first international co-production of the educational children's television series Sesame Street. Its first season premiered in Mexico in 1972, and the last season ended in 2018 during the holiday season and the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street, but the show returned in 2020. It has also aired throughout Latin America, to a potential audience of 25 million children in 34 countries. Unlike some of the earliest co-productions, which consisted of dubbed versions of Sesame Street sketches with local language voice-overs, Plaza Sésamo along with Vila Sésamo were actual co-productions. Half of the show was adapted from the American show, and half was original material, created in Mexico by Mexican writers, performers, and producers. The first season consisted of 130 half-hour episodes. The Plaza Sésamo development process was similar to that of the American show. Its goals were developed by local experts in television, child development, and early education during curriculum seminars in Caracas, Venezuela. Sésamo's goals emphasized problem solving and reasoning, and also included perception, symbolic representation, human diversity, and the child's environment. Other goals included community cooperation, family life, nutrition, health, safety, self-esteem, and expressing emotions. Early reading skills were taught through the whole language method. The show's budget for the first and second seasons was approximately US$1.6 million.
Plaza Sésamo | |
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Also known as | Sésamo (2016-2022) |
Genre | |
Created by | Joan Ganz Cooney Lloyd Morrisett Muppet characters by Jim Henson |
Based on | Sesame Street |
Country of origin | Mexico |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Children's Television Workshop/Sesame Workshop Xerox Televisa Discovery Kids Latin America RCN Televisión |
Original release | |
Network | El Canal de las Estrellas (1970's–2003, Mexico) Canal 5 (1970's–1980's, 2000's–2016, Mexico) Syndication (1970's–present, Latin America and Puerto Rico) Azteca 7 (2020-present, Mexico) |
Release | October 6, 1972 (1972-10-06) – present |
The show's set consisted of a typical neighborhood square (or plaza) found throughout the region. New Muppets and human characters were created. In all, four seasons of Sésamo were filmed. The first season resulted in some of the highest ratings in Mexico. The fourth season, filmed in 1995, was broadcast in the U.S., making it the first foreign-language co-production shown in the U.S. Studies conducted after the first season of Sésamo showed that it had a demonstrable impact on the educational achievement levels of its young audience. Highly significant difference were found in tests about general knowledge, letters, and numbers after children were exposed to the show. Significant gains were made in several cognitive and perceptual areas by regular viewers, even in subjects that were not taught by the show. Characters from the show participated in campaigns promoting health and nutrition; in 2009, Sesame Workshop, the organization responsible for the show, was awarded the "Champion of Health" award by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for its efforts.
Sesame Amigos, a Sesame Workshop production for Spanish-speakers from the United States, debuted in 2015. This series aired Saturday mornings on Univision as part of their Planeta U block until October 2017 when it was replaced by Calimero.