The Unseen Photos of Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street expands on the film’s exploration of the origins and legacy of Sesame Street with exclusive interviews and previously unpublished photographs from the first season of the globally beloved children's series. Author and filmmaker Trevor Crafts, who was given unprecedented access to archival footage and photography, presents more than 150 of photographer David Attie’s behind-the-scenes images of Jim Henson, Will Lee, Loretta Long, Bob McGrath, Frank Oz, Matt Robinson, Caroll Spinney, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, and dozens of other pioneering puppeteers, animators, actors, and Sesame Street Muppets. Crafts uses Attie’s remarkable photos and additional interviews from the film to dive deeper into the story of how show creator Joan Ganz Cooney, along with Sesame Workshop cofounder Lloyd Morrisett, director Jon Stone, and Muppet creator Jim Henson, took the values and goals of the civil rights movement and revolutionized children’s television.
The book is a tribute to the enduring achievements of an ingenious group of artists, educators, and television pioneers who believed that the values of equality, education, and inclusion should not just be championed but also made available to all—a dream that Sesame Street has carried forward for more than fifty years.