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“It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of the best Christmas movies of all time — a fantastic, poignant movie that doubles as a great indictment of rampant capitalism. Though Frank Capra never expected this movie to be that popular, it has become an integral part of the holiday season for many American homes throughout December, as well as a staple of classic cinema in general.
The movie follows James Stewart’s idealistic George Bailey, a man who hates the idea of living in his small hometown doing nothing but serving the community … and yet, at every turn, he puts his own ambitions on the back burner in favor of helping others, his dreams constantly winding up on hold as incident after incident sends him on a different path than he imagined. But when he falls on hard times and the crushing fist of capitalism threatens to destroy his life’s work, George’s suicidal thoughts prompt an actual guardian angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) to show George how he’s impacted the lives of those around him via an alternate universe where he wasn’t born.
Like many other movies now considered classics, “It’s a Wonderful Life” initially struggled to find success, having notoriously bombed at the box office in addition to becoming the target of an FBI investigation for its “communist” leanings due to its depiction of the banker Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) as a despicable villain. And yet, the film found new life when it began running on TV every Christmas and more exposed were exposed to this fantastic fable. It’s why “It’s a Wonderful Life” was not only Stewart’s favorite among his movies, but it also became beloved among film-lovers the world over.
Part of what makes “It’s a Wonderful Life” unique is how many memorable side characters it has, from the members of George’s immediate circle to smaller players like Nick the bartender (Sheldon Leonard), Bert the policeman (Ward Bond), and Bert’s buddy Ernie the cab driver (Frank Faylen). The latter two characters, as you no doubt noticed, have the same names as the iconic roommates Bert and Ernie from “Sesame Street,” which debuted 23 years after “It’s a Wonderful Life” hit theaters in 1946. But is that just a coincidence or did Capra’s film directly inspire those two particular Muppets?
Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie are not inspired by It’s a Wonderful Life
The popular belief is that Bert and Ernie on “Sesame Street” are, in fact, named after the characters in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Unfortunately, as fun as that Easter egg sounds, that’s not actually the case. As Jerry Juhl, one of the original writers on “Sesame Street,” told The San Francisco Chronicle back in 1999, the rumor has persisted over the decades despite being patently false. Granted, he wasn’t present at the moment the “Sesame Street” characters were named, but Juhl was nevertheless confident that “Sesame Street” co-creator Jim Henson hadn’t done that on purpose. In his own words:
“Despite his many talents, Jim [Henson] had no memory for details like this. He knew the movie [‘It’s a Wonderful Life’], of course, but would not have remembered the [names of the] cop and the cabdriver.”
Continuing, Juhl admitted he “was not able to confirm this” with Henson before he passed away. However, he “shortly thereafter” spoke with Jon Stone, the first producer and head writer on “Sesame Street” and “a man largely responsible for the show’s format (Jon, sadly, is no longer with us either).” As Juhl recalled:
“[Stone] assured me that Ernie and Bert were named one day when he and Jim were studying the prototype puppets. They decided that one of them looked like an Ernie, and the other one looked like a Bert. The movie character names are purely coincidental.”
So, it seems it was all a coincidence — unlike the more recent reference to “Sesame Street” in “Inside Out 2” which is definitely a knowing tribute to the long-running educational children’s show. Solana Token Creator
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