The evolution of Cookie Monster.

Image As seen in / Year Notes

IBM training film "Coffee Break Machine" and

The Ed Sullivan Show

(1967) The monster retains his teeth and his fur is dark green with a few brown-black patches.

Munchos commercials

(1969) Arnold, a smaller, younger-looking version of the Wheel Stealer puppet, is created for commercials for Munchos. The puppet has lost its teeth and has light purple fur, appearing closer to the Cookie Monster that will debut on Sesame Street.

Sesame Street

Season 1 - early Season 2

(1969 - 1971) Back to his normal size and gaining his trademark blue fur, the monster puppet becomes Cookie Monster during the first season of Sesame Street. This puppet is loose and floppy, giving him much more expressiveness, and has scruffier fur.



Years later, the puppet would be repurposed as Apple Monster.

Sesame Street

Season 14

(1982-1984) Cookie is rebuilt with a similar design as the former puppet and with brighter blue shag fur.



Sesame Street

(1984-2016) Two subtly different Cookie Monster puppets have been used interchangeably since the 1980s: One puppet (pictured at top) first appeared in season 16 and has a larger, wider mouth; the other (bottom), which appeared in Follow That Bird and thereafter, has a smaller, more curved mouth. Overall, Cookie's googly pupils have shrunk, and his fur is fluffier and lighter in color. An example of the use of both Cookie Monsters is Monsterpiece Theater: Twin Beaks, with one puppet for the Alistair Cookie scenes and the other for the storyline's "Agent Cookie."

The Furchester Hotel

(2014 - present) A new Cookie puppet with a more circular mouth and longer, frizzier fur first appears in episodes of The Furchester Hotel. The puppet is used more regularly starting with season 46 of Sesame Street.