Hey, now here's something Filipino cable kids can look forward to these days. Sesame Street just added its first-ever Filipino muppet to its roster, and his name is TJ.
In this latest episode of Sesame Street, we find TJ hanging out with Grover, Kal Penn (yes, that Kal Penn), and Korean-American muppet Ji-Young. The group discussed today's word of the day, which was confidence.
Created by Filipino-American animation director Bobby Pontillas, TJ explained that he was learning Tagalog, too. It’s a language my Filipino family speaks. And I’m confident because I can always ask my lola for help when I don’t know a word,” he added.
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Pontillas is also the director behind the short film One Small Step, which was nominated for an Academy Award back in 2019. According to him, TJ's character was reportedly based on some of his friends' kids, Max and Mateo. He shared the initial concept on his own Instagram page. “I was blessed to collaborate with master puppeteer Louis Mitchell, the loveliest human on earth,” he wrote.
Among the people he was grateful for was Sesame Street Workshop’s director of Talent Outreach, Inclusion, and Content Development Rosemary Espina Palacios, who was said to have brought TJ to life. “I’m so proud to help bring some Filipino representation to the neighborhood, and just in time for API (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month to show the range in our diaspora," she said in a separate post.
This story originally appeared on Esquiremag.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Preview.ph editors.
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