Oscar the Grouch

Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street.

Oscar has a green body (during the 1969–1970 season, however, he was orange), has no nose, and lives in a garbage can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song "I Love Trash". He's known as "The Grouch" because of his typically grouchy moods, which tend to be on the whiney side, although he can also be very clever, as well as being of the grouch species. Some say he is very smart.

Oscar can also become mobile with the help of his friend Bruno, the trashman, who carries Oscar around in his can. Bruno is a full-body costume which allows Oscar's puppeteer to manipulate Oscar while remaining hidden by the Bruno costume. Also, as seen in the Elmo's World episode 'Dance', the underside of his trash can is somewhat detachable, with Oscar's legs protruding from the bottom of his trash can. Other evidence of this can be seen in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978), when Oscar is ice skating. For several seasons, Oscar was frequently shown with his friend and pet Slimey, an orange worm. On occasional episodes he has mentioned leaving Sesame Street to attend "the annual Grouch convention in Syracuse, New York".

Oscar is performed by Muppeteer Carroll Spinney. Spinney's other lead character is Big Bird. During the first season of Sesame Street, the street set was arranged such that Spinney, who is right-handed, was forced to operate Oscar's head with his left hand. A subsequent redesign of the set allowed Spinney to switch hands.

Oscar thinks that numbers are silly, according to the song "Knock Three Times".

In Oscar's trashcan

Slimey, Oscar's pet worm
Fluffy, Oscar's pet elephant, only his trunk is ever shown
Rosie the Hippopotamus
A fire breathing dragon
Farm animals, especially a goat and a pig
A swimming pool (or other large body of water)

Characters that have gone into Oscar's trashcan

Elmo
Forgetful Jones
Plácido Flamingo
Snuffy
Telly Monster
Linda
Grungetta
Oscar's mom (puppeteered by Jerry Nelson)
Buffy Sainte-Marie, when she was visiting Sesame Street
David's Grandma, who freaked out on Oscar. She came out clean, Oscar dirty, implying she must have actually beat Oscar up.
Bob, who climbed into Oscar's can, only to get burnt by Oscar's pet fire-breathing dragon, get covered in muck head to foot, and get his clothes torn by the mess.
One of Bob's friends, who fixed something in Oscar's can
Bert, twice in the 1970s, once when Bert moved out of his and Ernie's apartment (he tries to clean up the trashcan, leading to confrontation; some say this was meant to be a spoof of The Odd Couple), and again in an attempt to surprise Big Bird
Maria, in the late 1970s, to get a cup of sugar
Irvine, episode 2606, Oscar's niece was in the can while Oscar was away
Sonny Friendly, season 24, for The Home Game
Wanda Cousteau, season 25, to hide from the hungry Wolfgang the Seal
Ruthie, season 28 or 29, when she was "Grouch of the Day"
Miles Robinson and his band, season 35, playing a gig
Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers who play the grouches in basketball inside the can while Gordon and Gina? peer in. The ball comes out of the can and Dr. J comes out soon after. Gordon says, "My goodness, you're Julius Erving". Dr. J says, "Uh yeah, Can I have my ball back please?"
Rizzo the Rat, A Muppet Family Christmas, "bunked" with Oscar, but not actually seen in the can
Big Bird, Elmo in Grouchland, he was pushed in

When making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Grover responded to a question from Jimmy, stating that he has never been in Oscar's trash can. He also stated that "anybody is allowed Oscar's trash can, but who would want to go in there? Huh?" ^*

International

Sesame Street is localised for some different markets, and Oscar is often renamed. In Portugal, he's Ferrão, and does not live in a trash can, but rather in a barrel. In Turkey, he's named Kırpık and lives in a big basket.

Oscar in pop-culture

Oscar inspired an Apple Macintosh hack written by Eric Shapiro and shown at the 1989 MacHack conference, featuring a singing animated Oscar that appeared from the trash can whenever a file was thrown away. The hack was so popular that some parents lost the entire contents of their hard disks to preschoolers wanting to see more of Oscar. (Late Nights with MacHack, p. 27)

A character bearing an uncanny resemblance to Oscar appears throughout Ultimate Play The Game's Cookie (1983), throwing fishbones and other dangerous items from his trashcan at the hero (see picture).

Oscar has appeared twice on The Simpsons, though unofficially and not by name. The first was in 1998 in the episode Trash of the Titans, during the song "The Garbage Man." The second was in 2000 in the episode Impossible, in which Homer defrauds a PBS member station during pledge week.

"Oscar the Grouch" has been a proverbial term for somebody who acquires many hand-me-downs from people who are getting rid of them.

Quotes

"Go Away and LEAVE ME ALONE!!"--Oscar's trademark phrase
"Uhh..We Grouches never say thanks.."
(talking to a happy person)"Hey, (character) why are you so happy?"
"Heh,Heh,Heh I love the smell of trash and junk in the morning"--when Oscar has trash delivered.
(When someone is angry)"Hey don't stop now, you're just getting to the good parts!"--during an argument.
"And Stay Away From My Trashcan"--Said by Oscar after someone leaves Oscar's trashcan.
"Don't Mention It, ..and Go Away"--said by Oscar does a favor.
"Have a rotten day!"
"SCRAM!"

External links

Muppet Wiki: Oscar the Grouch