How Snuffy "just missed" the adults

He wasn't invisible.

They didn't think that the joke was responsible, they just simply thought it wasn't helping the problem.

I meant to say the grown up's thought he was imaginary.

I could understand that had Snuffy been a menacing character that Big Bird was afraid of and couldn't get anyone to take him seriously. But, Snuffy was Big Bird's best friend. To say that not believing in Big Bird's friend is similar to not believing children when they report abuse was a bit of a stretch in my opinion. Still, I do think it was time for Snuffy to be seen because the joke did run its course.

Well, is not so much that the parents would'nt believe there children, It's that children thought that if the grown ups didn't believe Big Bird, that meybe a grown up they loved or trusted wouldn't believe them if they tried to tell them something that was true, so if it should have to come to that, they wouldn't be afraid top speak up because they were afraid nobody would believe them.

I know that was the popular belief when they changed it, I just question whether or not it was valid. I don't feel that watching those old episodes with Snuffy made me vulnerable to abuse and I think parents could allow their children to watch these episodes today with a clear conscience. I think the tragedy of child abuse and trust in families goes far beyond a television show. JMO

I could be wrong about what you might be thinking, but even though he was thought to be imaginary in those productions, there was no mention of him being imaginary, there were no scenes where Snuffy left right before the other characters arrived (although in FTB, when Big Bird really does imagine Snuffy, he stops imagining Snuffy right before Ernie and Bert fly their plane past Big Bird), and in FTB, the only characters who Big Bird talks to about Snuffy are the Dodos, who are not regular characters, and by the way they respond about him being a Snuffleupagus instead of a bird, it is hard to tell if they beleived Big Bird or not.

It does all add up later when you see "Follow That Bird" - but oh well. But what would have been great is if Snuffy snuck away to find Big Bird and ended trapped with the Sleaze Brothers and later Big Bird went to "Snuffy's" rescue! Then they'd both be trapped!

There was a book called Big Bird Visits The Carnival (i could be wrong on the title) which is slightly based on the movie. In this book the carnival comes to town, at a walking distance from Sesame Street. Big Bird planned on going to the carnival with Snuffy, but Snuffy couldn't go because he had to practice soem tricks for soem reason. So, Big Bird went alone and ended up meeting the Sleeze brothers, who let him perform on stage at the carnival. They paint him blue and Big Bird willingly performs on-stage, but then they lock him in a cage. Later that night, Snuffy decided to go tot eh carnival to look for Big Bird (even though the carnival was probably closed) and found Big Bird in a cage. Snuffy had learned a special trick that he'd been wanting to do for awhile but hadn't gotten the opportunity. While the sleeze brothers were busy counting their money, he sneakily took the keys from the pocket of one of the brothers without getting caught, and Big Bird was freed. In this book we never got to see their reaction to losing Big Bird. Anyway, I think this book was one of the few times that it was a good thing that others didn't see Snuffy. And yes, it was mentioend a few times in this book (by oscar) that Snuffy was Big Bird's imaginary friend.

Does anybody know if Big Bird ever barely missed Snuffy in the way that the adults missed him?

Yeah, he was never invisible or imaginary to begin with.

The funny thing about Oscar is he actually met Snuffy sometime in the midst of the 16th Season, just a handful or so of episodes before all of the humans met him. It always puzzled me why they decided to have Oscar meet Snuffy first. I take it this book must have been written right before that episode was taped. Does anybody remember the episode when Snuffy first met Oscar? I remember Snuffy was supposed to meet Bob for the first time, out in front of Oscar's Trashcan, but Bob stepped away, and that's when Snuffy ended up meeting Oscar. I remember this episode ended in the area right between the steps and Oscar's can at night, with the nighttime music.

Well, the book was written to promote Follow That Bird, and was most likely written before oscar met Snuffy (also, storybooks don't always follow continuity with the series, and vice versa). It's strang ethat it seems like they were trying to avoid direct mention of Snuffy being Big Birds imaginary friend (I would guess they purposely didn't bring it up since it was made so soon before the adults finally met snuffy and the writers probably knew about the episode and decided not to make the movie dated) yet the book mentions him being "imaginary" a few times.

When oscar saw Snuffy, did he refuse to tell the adults that Snuffy was real (being a grouch he would probably want Big Bird to suffer from others not believing him), or did he tell the adults and they thought he was playing a mean trick on them or something, or was there no further contact with oscar and the adults for him to get the chance to talk about Snuffy?

Is there anyone else who has seen the Oscar meets Snuffy episode from 1985?

I'm pretty sure Oscar told Susan at the end of the episode. It was night time and I remember first she went to Big Bird's nest area, to tuck him in for the night. They had a conversation, and I can't exactly remember what they said, but I can't remember much of what they talked about, then she went around the other side to Oscar's Can and had a chat with him. I'm not 100% sure, but I think he did mention something to her about meeting Snuffy that day. But she probably did think he was just playing a trick on her. Is there anyone on this board who remembers this episode, and remembers exactl what happened? Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks

In the very first episode, Gordon's very first words to Sally were: "You're gonna love Sesame Street, Sally. EVERYTHING happens here!" We see Muppets and monsters interacting with the kids and the grown-ups, but after 15 years, the grownups still stubbornly refuse to believe that Snuffy could possibly exist. So right away, Snuffy was not part of "EVERYTHING".

I remember one episode towards the end of the "just missed Snuffy" saga, where all the adults were still dismissing Big Bird.

Susan: "Can you PROVE he's real?"
Big Bird: "Can you prove he's NOT???"

And for once, the normally level-headed Susan was stuck for an answer.

It always seemed to unsettle me. With all the other wonderful things that have occurred on the street, and even using the power of imagination to help some things become real, none of the grownups would give Big Bird the tiniest bit of slack, to even consider "Well, maybe he COULD be real".
So it was satisfying when Snuffy finally did get revealed.

Maybe they were just taking percaution.

I sure your right, It was just the show.

OK.

Thanks, but I've already corrected my error.

Yeah, Snuffy wasn't imaginary - he was real the entire time - the adults just "missed" him so to speak by turning the corner at the wrong time or something like that.

I'm well awear of this fact, It's just that when I was growing up, during summer reruns, they used to air episodes way before my time ( they did the same thing with Mister Rodgers Neighborhood), and I just did not notice the whole snuffy thing back then.