American - Cartoonist | December 26, 1933 -
I know I don't own Big Bird, but I own his soul, I feel.
Caroll Spinney
BirdSoulFeelKnowOwnBig
I was suffering a divorce, and I was very unhappy because my children were very young. It hit me when a woman, a fan, was chatting with me. She was pleased to meet Big Bird because her children liked him and liked the show, but she didn't know that my face was streamed with tears.
ChildrenBirdWomanSufferingTears
Oscar is the exact opposite of how I think you should behave. I just think of it as a negative view of the positive mind I have. Big Bird is sweet and nice and also sympathetic, as kids can identify with him even though he looks like such a bizarre character - great 8 feet 2 inches, a beak 18 inches long.
PositiveCharacterGreatBirdMind
When he first started - Jim Henson, who created Bid Bird and Oscar - he said Big Bird was just a big, goofy guy. And it was - a script came along and I said, 'I think Big Bird would be much more useful to the show if he were a child learning all the things we were teaching in the show.' And so he didn't know the alphabet, even, for instance.
LearningBirdChildThinkKnowSaid
Frankly, I think if I won the lottery and won a billion dollars, I'd still want to continue doing this job. I love expressing myself through it. I've gotten to really love acting. And I've gotten to know Big Bird from the inside out so thoroughly it's like playing my kid. I can't imagine deliberately stopping.
LoveMyselfBirdJobThinkDoing
You can exaggerate with puppets. You're not trying to look like real people. The way the Muppets are designed is really appealing. Puppets are best if they're exaggerated creatures.
BestPeopleTryingYouLookWay
I was called such names as a kid. Being the smallest boy in the class with a name like Caroll. I remember going home and saying to my mom, 'What were you thinking?'
HomeMomSayingThinkingNameYou
Most people don't hold a job for 45 years. They pass on or want to retire. I don't want to retire. My real goal is to do 50 years on 'Sesame Street,' and I only got 4-and-a-half years to go.
JobPeopleGoalGoWantStreet
I've played Big Bird for over half my life, and now I'm in my 80s. It does feel older than 79. Someone said it's just a number, and I said, 'No, I genuinely feel older.'
LifeBirdFeelMy LifeSomeoneSaid
Big Bird went through his very human kind of struggles as a child. No other children's character has been that complete and detailed.
CharacterChildrenBirdChildKind
I found out animation is incredibly boring. You draw and draw and draw, and it's only a few seconds done in a week.
WeekYouDoneBoringAnimationOut
I see no reason to quit. I can't imagine walking away from being Big Bird. I mean, that's an awfully good job that there's not too many of them. So I just want to keep doing it till I can't do it anymore.
GoodBirdJobWalkingDoingWant
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