“ | ER-NIE! | „ |
~ Bert's catchphrase which also calls him |
Bertram "Bert" (born July 26, 1969) is a yellow humanoid muppet from Sesame Street. His best friend and roommate is Ernie, despite most of the time he can get very annoyed by his actions. Bert is good-natured, easy-going and intelligent, but can lose his temper usually. His favorite animal is the pigeon, and he is very proud of his bottle cap and paper clip collections, and his favorite food is oatmeal. He was performed by Frank Oz who also portrays as Grover, Fozzie Bear, Cookie Monster, Animal the muppet, and is currently performed by Eric Jacobson.
Characteristics[]
Bert is kind and intelligent, but he is also grumpy, boring, and easily-frustrated. His catchphrase is "Yes, I do mind!" He enjoys activities such as paper clip and bottle cap collecting, cooking oatmeal and watching pigeons. Producer Arlene Sherman has called Bert "everyone's idea of a blind date".[2] In one sketch, Bert reads a book called Boring Stories and chuckles, "Wow! These boring stories are really exciting!" In the book Sesame Street Unpaved, Frank Oz says, "I was never really happy with Bert's character until about a year in, when I realized... that he was a very boring character, and I'd use that weakness as a strength for him."
Bert has very boring foods as his favorites. He loves oatmeal, unflavored soda water, and other bland related foods. In one episode when Ernie is hired to sub for Mr. Hooper, he gives Bert a glass of unflavored soda water but adds syrup, ice cream and whipped cream to it, angering Bert who eventually screams a memorable phrase: "I hate ice cream sodas!" Bert's appearance and clothing contrast markedly with Ernie; he is the taller and thinner of the two, wears a turtleneck under a shirt with vertical stripes (as opposed to Ernie's horizontal ones), and has a head that is narrower than it is high and is shaped like a banana. In addition, Bert has visible eyebrows (actually a unibrow), while Ernie does not.
Bert has a pigeon named Bernice, and he created a dance called "Doin' the Pigeon". In one sketch, Bert gets dressed and says he is going to a pigeon lovers party, which is obviously hosted by himself. Bert serves as President of the National Association of W Lovers, a club dedicated to the letter W. Two conventions held by the W Lovers have been shown on the show. Bert has pet goldfish, two of whom are named Lyle and Talbot.
Bert's favorite number is 6, and he has a song he wrote himself about the number 6 "My Favorite Number Is 6", which he sings to Ernie in one episode. His favorite instrument is the tuba. All of these interests are opposed to Ernie's whose favorite number is 8,243,721, and Ernie's favorite instrument is the saxophone, which he is unable to play because he cannot "put down the duckie".
In Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Bert decides to get Ernie a soap dish for Rubber Duckie so it will not fall in the bathtub anymore and sink, but has no money. He offers Mr. Hooper his paper clip collection as a trade but sadly walks off afterward. Then Ernie decides to trade Rubber Duckie for a cigar box for Bert's paper clips. Mr. Hooper however can see by their sad expressions that they do not want to give up their possessions so he gives them back to them as gifts and lets them keep the cigar box and soap dish.
In Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Bert was also part to find Big Bird who left the Dodos to return back to Sesame Street. He was watching with Ernie seeing Big Bird in the news, having left the Dodos to return back to Sesame Street. Bert and Ernie was instructed by Bob to find Big Bird and bring him back to Sesame Street before Miss Finch does. They use a plane on the journey and soon find Big Bird in a wheat field at Ruthie's farm (where Big Bird spent for the night). However when they approach him, he flees in fright believing it's Miss Finch who was insisting to bring him back to the Dodos and to Bert's dismay, Ernie turns their plane upside down in an attempt to get his attention and begins to sing the song "Upside down World" with Bert joining him. However after finishing singing the song and turning the plane back up, Big Bird is already gone and Ernie blames it on Bert. In Toadstool Bert and Ernie are in Oscar's Sloppy Jalopy, they find Big Bird, but due to a parade happening in the city and Miss Finch's interference, they lose him again. Unknown to Bert, Big Bird was soon captured by Sam and Sid Sleaze who run a funfair in the outskirts. In a gas station while fueling their cars they are contacted by Bob (who was notified by 2 kids of what the Sleaze Brothers has done to Big Bird) informing them that Big Bird is in the Sleaze Brothers' Country Fair. The next day, Bert searches Big Bird telling Ernie to get serious until they find him locked on a cage. However as Linda was about to unlock the cage, The Sleaze Brothers wake up, thanks to Grover, they drive off with Big Bird in tow in an attempt to prevent them from bringing Big Bird back to Sesame Street, but Gordon and Olivia give chase on the Volkswagen and successfully rescue him. When Big Bird was finally back at Sesame Street with the Sleaze Brothers arrested for their crimes and kidnapping Big Bird, Bert was happy to see him back and listen of his journey of going back to Sesame Street until Miss Finch (who somehow followed him all the way to Sesame Street) appears, admitting that the Dodos are not perfect for him, but found him another Big family, which Bert objects this, Miss Finch finally realizes how far they bring Big Bird back and proudly declares Sesame Street as his home, apologizing for her actions and leaves.
A typical "Bert and Ernie" skit has Ernie coming up with a harebrained idea and Bert attempting to talk him out of it, ending with Bert completely losing his temper and Ernie remaining oblivious to his own bad idea. Other sketches have involved Bert and Ernie sharing a snack by division but finding that one of them has a bit more than the other leading Ernie to stupidly decide to make it even by eating the extra piece.
Others involved Bert wanting to pursue a boring or unreasonable hobby but Ernie asks him to play a simple game with him (such as "The Rhyming Game") but when Bert refuses Ernie makes puns or loopholes to get him into the game and finally when Bert begins to enjoy himself Ernie wants to do something else and asks him and Bert to desert the game much to Bert's dismay.
Others involved Bert preparing a snack for himself and goes somewhere before coming back to find that Ernie has eaten it up. Despite Ernie's attempts to cover up the crime Bert knows Ernie is lying. For example, in one sketch Bert wants to have his chocolate ice cream but when he finds that Ernie has eaten it, he charges, but then Ernie tries his best to cover up his crime by making a disgusting dish: Mashed Bananas with Ice Cubes and Cold Beef Gravy. At the same time Bert is shouting at him that he knows better. Ernie only gets away with his crime because Oscar the Grouch their good friend comes in their apartment and offers them chocolate ice cream cones in exchange for the disgusting dish.
Bert's age is unclear, but a Sesame Street Live performer, Taylor Morgan, has said that "I just kind of try to think like a 6–year–old or a 7–year–old, because that's how old Bert is." This however cannot be the case, as Bert has a twin brother named Bart who is a traveling salesman. This would seem to confirm that Ernie and Bert are adults.
Bert has a twin brother, Bart; a nephew, Brad; and an Aunt Matilda. Brad has a voice like Beaker, but slightly deeper, and while he still made baby-like noises, he was able to talk. It is most likely that Brad is Bart's son since Bart is the only sibling seen for Bert. In one episode, Bert babysits Brad and wants to give Brad a bath, but Ernie says he must give Brad toys to play with. In that episode, Ernie brought a toy shark with him in one skit; Brad was scared by it, not realizing it was a toy until Bert pointed out the fact.
Bart looks exactly like Bert, and Ernie once mistook Bart for Bert; but Bart wears a suit and fedora and is an entrepreneur who is just like Ernie in personality ("Bart's the name and selling's my game!"). Bart also tells several jokes and laughs at his own jokes and has combed hair which shocks Ernie who expected Bart to be as grumpy as Bert. Bert's Aunt Matilda is never shown, but is often talked about, usually concerning Bert buying presents for her for numerous reason
Bert is one of Mister Rogers's fans. In one sketch, Bert is trying to write a letter to Mister Rogers and Ernie turns on his electric fan and blows Bert's letters away.
One running gag with Bert is when Ernie often removes his nose either accidentally or for humorous purposes.
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