In the early 1990s, following the death of Jim Henson, rumors began to appear that Sesame Street’s Ernie would be killed off to teach children about death. There were various suggestions claiming that Ernie would have died by a disease or by a traffic accident (either being hit by a car or being killed in a fatal auto accident). Due to the rising popularity of the Internet at the time, the rumors became more widespread. However, the producers had no plans to kill a Muppet character.