Sesame Street
Title: Sesame Street
Created by: Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett
Genre: Educational
Character: Count von Count
First Appearance: November 27, 1972
Portrayed by: Jerry Nelson (1972–2012), Matt Vogel (2013–present)
Voiced by: Jerry Nelson
Analysis:
Count von Count is one of the Muppet characters on the children’s television series Sesame Street. His creation was inspired by Bella Lugosi’s portrayal of Count Dracula. He is said to have grown up in old Transylvania, in the Carpathian Mountains, and worked as a professor of counting at the Institute of Technology in Moldavia. He has several pet bats with Eastern European names such as Misha, Grisha and Sasha. Apart from these ties, the count also seems to be linked to the Romani people, with respect to the style of music for his songs.
He displays the usual traits associated with vampires: fangs, no reflection, no appetite for food and ability to hypnotize (which in the later episodes he stopped doing, in a bid to make him more child-friendly).
The trait for which he is most known, and from which his name derives, is his compulsion to count. According to some folk legends regarding vampires, people would place various grains at the grave of a vampire in the belief that it could not stop itself from counting each grain. In a similar manner, the Count loves to count anything around him and hates it if anyone interrupts him from his counting.
In addition to his obsession with numbers, another distinguishing feature is his foreign accent, particularly for an English-language children’s show. It is not common for characters representing non-natives to have such a prominent role, which gives children a vivid representation of the melting pot that America prides itself on being. It is a great opportunity for them to see and hear characters who speak their language, but with a distinct accent, and have it be normalized, seeing as the other characters accept and embrace Count von Count.
