abstract
| - The Noodle Family appear in the "Elmo's World" segments of Sesame Street. A group of silent characters, Elmo frequently asks the Noodles to demonstrate how to perform a chore or answer a question; they respond through pantomime, but invariably gets the process wrong, or fails to follow Elmo's instructions. Through trial and error and repeated prompting, The Noodles usually manage to figure it out. Writer Louise Gikow called the Noodles "a dynasty of mimes,...in the tradition of great silent film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd". They make mistakes, but solve them with the help of "enthusiastic kid voice-overs", which empowered children and helped them feel smarter than the adults. They are silent in order to allow Elmo to do all the talking, and to give children the opportunity to respond to what they saw on the screen. Acting similar to clowns, using slapstick and similar types of physical comedy, they physically and humorously act out their replies to Elmo's questions. According to writer and "Elmo's World" co-creator Judy Freudberg, "Mr. Noodle, who never speaks, is all about trial and error. When you throw him a hat, he acts like he's never seen one before. Kids feel empowered watching him because they can do what he can't". According to Sesame Street researcher Lewis Bernstein, the characters, whom he called "bungling", give young viewers "the opportunity to figure it out" before the adults did.
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