Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch finds fame—and misery—as a garbage artist

A Squarespace website made for the reluctant sculptor gets more attention than he expects

Published On
Nov 25, 2019

Editor's Pick

“Sesame Street,” the beloved children’s educational program, first aired 50 years ago this month. As part of its anniversary celebration, local refuse grump Oscar the Grouch gets an unexpected taste of fame in an endearing short film directed by Jim Jenkins via O Positive that features web hosting services from Squarespace.

A chance encounter on Sesame Street with a tech-savvy art lover lands Oscar his first website. Across the world, art mavens mistake his piles of garbage for inspired sculptures—and his antisocial demeanor for the affected disdain of a true artistic genius.

Despite his increasingly vehement protests, Oscar is swept up in a whirlwind of critics, gallery owners and adoring fans all trying to get a piece of the latest talent on the scene. Oscar, who just wants to be left alone, rejects his newfound fame and bemoans the loss of privacy, the constant attention, the chatty people who love—rather than hate—everything he does.

And in his darkest moment, Oscar finally gets what he wants.

Real-life fans of Oscar the Grouch and his “art” can now purchase limited-edition art capsules from Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit responsible for “Sesame Street,” at OscarTrashArt.com. They’re created by actual garbage artist Justin Gignac and contain junk and memorabilia like week-old eggs, a feather from Big Bird or cookie bits dropped by Cookie Monster.

Credits

Date
Nov 25, 2019
Client :
Squarespace
Chief Creative Officer :
David Lee
Director of Brand Creative :
Ben Hughes
Creative / Senior Art Director :
Leilanni Todd
Creative / Senior Copywriter :
Matt McCarron
Creative / Senior Art Director :
Tim Scales
Director of Creative Production :
Sandra Nam
Head of Production / Brand :
Amy Kommatas
Creative Producer :
Jen McKenzie
Business Affairs Manager :
Kiersten Bergstrom
Director of Brand Strategy Content Partnerships :
Kevin Nabipour
Partnerships / Senior Manager :
Natasha ​Ivankovitser
Creative Producer :
Kim Santella
Photographer :
Craig Reynolds
In Partnership With :
Sesame Workshop
Production Company :
O Positive
Director :
Jim Jenkins
Director of Photography :
Stuart Dryburgh
Production Designer :
Julian Laverdiere
Executive Producer/Line Producer :
Marc Grill
Editorial :
ARCADE
Editor :
Geoff Hounsell
Assistant Editor :
Jeff Lopus
Executive Producer :
Sila Sawyer
Producer :
Andrew Cravotta
Finishing + VFX :
Method
VFX Supervisor :
Doug Luka
Lead VFX Artist :
Steve Morris
Executive Producer :
Graham Dunglinson
Producer :
Irka Seng
Color :
CO3
Colorist :
Tom Poole
Color Producer :
Alexandra Lubrano
Music + Sound Design :
Q Department
Mix :
Digital Arts

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