Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Honkers

Today's post was written by Michael Baldasare with edits by Ryan Dosier.
 
HONKERS

Performed by...
Various

First appearance...
Sesame Street Season 12 (1980-1981)

Most recent appearance...
Sesame Street Season 39 (2008), Elmo's World: Families

Best known role... 
Odd creatures with noses that produce honking sounds when squeezed

WHO ARE THE HONKERS?
The Honkers are the fuzzy Muppets who communicate by squeezing their noses, making a honking noise--hence the name. They made their debut in Sesame Street's twelfth season. Honkers have been seen in many colors, including pink, green, blue, purple, and more. Baby Honkers, which are hatched from eggs, have been seen on the show a few times as well. The Honkers should not be confused with the similar Dingers, who communicate by ringing a bell on top of their head rather than honking their nose.

Only a handful of Honkers have been given names on the show. The most well known is Homer Honker, a green Honker with blue hair, best known for his role as Oscar the Grouch's car horn in Follow That Bird. Henrietta, a pink baby Honker, has also appeared on the show. Honkers have appeared in various songs on Sesame Street as well, most notably "Honk Around the Clock" and the Ernie song "The Honker Duckie Dinger Jamboree." 

Honkers have been relatively rare on Sesame Street in the past few years. They made frequent appearances in "Elmo's World" sketches and would appear in the Street Stories once in awhile. Honkers make frequent appearances in Sesame Street books and sometimes on merchandise. Around the 40th anniversary of the show in 2009, a large billboard featuring the Honkers was on display in Times Square in New York City.

WHY DOES SESAME STREET NEED THE HONKERS?
The Honkers are great at making music and a very colorful group of fuzzy Muppets. The eclectic mix of colors and the wacky idea behind the creatures make them incredibly unique in the Sesame Street pantheon of characters. They add color and life and laughter to Sesame Street's large group of fuzzy faces.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com