Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen

TIGGLY X SESAME STREET

All images & characters TM/© Sesame Workshop

When we set out to find the right IP partner for our third toy in the Tiggly line, Tiggly Words, Sesame Workshop was at the very top of our list.

When it comes to introducing early literacy to kids around the world, nobody does it better—or with more warmth, humor, silliness, and heart—than Sesame.

Luckily for us, they were just as excited about what we were building.

THE PITCH

FRIDGE MAGNETS?

As these things go, we pitched several concepts to Sesame before landing on the one we all felt was the right fit. This was actually my first concept. We knew we wanted to create a consonant–vowel–consonant (CVC) learning game, and since we were working with physical letters placed on a screen, fridge magnets felt like the perfect jumping-off point.
COOKIE CUTTERS?

My second idea was cookie cutters—a play pattern that felt like a natural fit for Tiggly Words, especially when stamping out some digital dough. Now, if only Sesame had a character we could pair with a cookie concept... hmmm?
(Note: image above is for cookie cutter reference only.)
COOKIES IT IS!

Everyone was on board with the cookie cutter concept, and we got the green light to move into development. Cookie Monster has always been my favorite Sesame character, so I couldn’t have been more excited to bring this project to life.

FUR REAL!

While developing gameplay, we also had to nail down the app’s visual style. For me, it was non-negotiable—we had to use real images of the Muppets. The illustrated versions just didn’t capture the magic. The fur is the heart of it!

The challenge? Sesame’s policy requires a Muppeteer to bring the actual characters to life. Totally fair—who else could do it better?

Still, I asked (okay, begged) for a chance to prove we could do it justice. Thankfully, Louis Henry Mitchell, the legendary guardian of Henson’s creations, gave us the green light for a proof of concept.

I brought in Dale Clowdis, an animator I worked with on The Wonder Pets! who specializes in “photo puppetry”—animating cut-up photos. And, just like I knew he would, Dale crushed it.

That was the moment we started breaking new ground with our lovable, furry friends on the Street.

Not the proof of concept…but this was pretty close to how it looked!

an example of the “photo puppetry” preparation process for animation

DEVELOPMENT

SCRIPT, VO, STORYBOARDS

While we geared up for design, animation, and programming at Tiggly, we worked in parallel with the amazing team at Sesame on scripts, storyboards, and voice recordings with David Rudman (Cookie Monster) and Ryan Dillon (Elmo).
Having the original performers bring these characters to life was an absolute privilege—and it took the entire experience to the next level.
DESIGN

Just as it was important to use the real Muppet characters, I also wanted the environments to feel real, rich with texture, so kids felt like they were actually in the kitchen making word cookies with Cookie Monster and Elmo.
From the reflections in the mixing bowl to the squish of the dough and the delicious details in the icing, cookies, and toppings. Every element was crafted with care to create a tactile, immersive experience.
BRINGING IT ALL TO LIFE!

What good is everything that came before if the play experience isn’t deeply satisfying?
Thankfully, we had an incredible team of programmers, animators, and sound designers who brought it all to life in Unity. Animating the characters is one thing—but letting kids interact with them while making and eating cookies? That’s a high-water mark in the kids' app space, if you ask me. What a team!