For the first time in 25 years, the Ababic-language version of Sesame Street is airing on stations across the Middle East.
Iftah Ya Simsim (Open Sesame) first began out of a studio in Kuwait City in 1979. Back then, it was one of the first original foreign language spin-offs of the American favorite.
But the Gulf War brought the Kuwaiti capital to its knees and the studio with it. The facility was partially destroyed in the fighting and operations were closed.
Now Cairo Arafat, who remembers watching the show during her own childhood, is relaunching the series out of a studio in Abu Dhabi. She told NPR:
“If you were in Morocco, or in Egypt, or in Syria, and in all the countries throughout the Middle East, children were able to watch the show weekly, or even daily, as the show began to progress season after season,” she explains.
In one, ironically news relevent clip, Grover — or in this case Muppet Gargur — comes over to help clean up after a sandstorm, then everyone learns about recycling. Maybe the real Middle East can take something from Simsim's Middle East?
Have a look at the new version, via YouTube:
As Arafat explained, Simsim over the modern age is just like the original — only souped up in HD quality. Here's a vintage clip.
