Four things about Mr. Snuffleupagus

1. His full name is Aloysius Snuffleupagus.

2. For more than 14 years, Big Bird was the only character on Seasame Street who could see Snuffy…he was BB’s imaginary friend.

3. Some of the grownups on the show came to believe Big Bird about the existence of Mr. Snuffleupagus and he was revealed to them in November 1985:

4. Snuffy’s reveal came about because of some high-profile sexual abuse cases:

In an interview on a Canadian telethon that was hosted by Bob McGrath, Snuffy’s performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophilia and sexual abuse of children that had been aired on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they would just be better off remaining silent.

(via @h_fj)

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