Sesame Street has something special cooking for Thanksgiving, and yes, it involves a very big bird.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu posted a photo today with children’s character Big Bird on the set of the famous children’s show.
Another Sesame Street character also appeared in the post: Ji-Young, the first Asian American muppet to appear on Sesame Street.
It’s honestly one of the most adorable things ever. Take a look below.
Liu isn’t the only comic book star to appear on the show, either. DC Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee also posted a photo from the set with Ji-Young.
“I am so excited, thrilled and honored to announce that I’ll be appearing on @sesamestreet this Thanksgiving day, welcoming its newest resident, a 7-year-old Korean-American girl named Ji-Young! It’s crazy and surreal to even write these words but as a young immigrant boy who literally learned English from reading comic books AND watching Sesame Street⏤I can say this is a dream!” he said.
Ji-Young loves playing the electric guitar and skateboarding, but she also plays an important part in the show in terms of her race, according to The New York Times. The new muppet is going to help combat anti-Asian bias and harassment. Ji-Young will make her official Sesame Street debut on Thanksgiving Day with a special episode called See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special.
Ji-Young talked to the Associated Press recently about the origin of her name.
“So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong. But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.”
Ji-Young’s puppeteer is Kathleen Kim, 41, who started doing puppetry in her 30s. She got accepted into a Sesame Street workshop in 2014 and things blossomed from there. “I feel like I have a lot of weight that maybe I’m putting on myself to teach these lessons and to be this representative that I did not have as a kid,” Kim said.
Sesame Street is now streaming on HBO Max, and the new special drops on Thanksgiving Day.