Cecille!

For the 22nd and 23rd seasons of the long-running children's television program, Sesame Street, five two-minute shorts were produced. Created by Will Vinton Studios, in Portland, OR, these shorts featured an orange ball of clay with bright red lips known as Cecille!

The shorts utilized a type of animation known as "claymation". Claymation is made by taking characters and objects made from a special type of clay (sometimes with a wire frame inside the clay), then "animated" using a stop-motion technique. The object or character is moved a tiny amount then the camera records a frame. This is repeated dozens of times until "motion" is achieved. Creation of claymation projects can take months if not years, depending on the length of the film and the motion needed to create the story.

Cecille had her own theme song (sung by Christopher Cerf) and was always introduced with "And now, ladies and gentlemen, Cecille!" The shorts featured a song about a particular topic; Cecile sang about the importance of brushing your teeth, using your imagination in the game of make believe, different modes of transportation, retaining your individuality, and opposites.

The voice of Cecille was performed by Michele Mariana, who has done many works with Will Vinton as well as other children's television shows. She has also acted in the films Shadow Play and Zero Effect.

The Cecille shorts originally aired in the early 1990s. Although the shorts are occasionally shown on Sesame Street today, their impact has been long-lasting as the clips have found new life online, as young adults go searching for Cecille on YouTube.

She can bounce, she can roll
She can spin like a wheel
She's gotta rubber soul
And her name is Cecille

Cecille, no one can match ya!
Cecille, you're off the wall!
Cecille, I'm gonna catch ya!
And when I do I'm gonna have a ball, woooo!

I am lost in a daze, running opposite ways
Since I got mixed up with you
Going fast, going slow, going high, going low
Trying something old and something new
Going far, going near, going there, going here
Being opposite is what I do

I'm going up, down, in, out, over and under
Up, down, in, out, over and under
Up, down, in, out, over and under over you!

See me shrink, see me grow, I'm above, I'm below
First I go, then I stop (then I stop)
Traveling heavy or light, to the left or the right
To the bottom or to the top (to the top)
First I'm short then I'm tall, I'm an opposite ball
Going to and fro, and fro and to

I'm going up, down, in, out, over and under
Up, down, in, out, over and under
Up, down, in, out, over and under over you!

I play a game called make believe
I can be what ever I want to be
Whatever I imagine I can see
When I play the game of make believe

Today I think I make up a spot
Where the sun shines bright and the air is hot
I put a parrot in a palm tree and
A monkey swinging on a rubber band

Pink piranhas in a purple stream
A blue iguanas eating green ice cream
A talking frog or a crocodile
A two foot snake with a ten foot smile!

She's in motion, she's got a notion
To do the tango, with a mango, on a chocolate ocean, uh oh!

That's the game of make believe
And you can play it too, you see
Whatever you imagine you can be
When you play the game of make believe!

Everyone keeps trying to tell me what to be or do
They say I should be green or yellow, red or white or blue
They say there should be two of me, or eight, or twenty-three
But why should I be someone else? I'm happy being me!

People say Cecille, it's time to try a new design!
Be a cone, a cube, a pyramid, oh girl, you'll look divine!
Turn plaid or striped or spotted, fit yourself in filigree.
Well I know they're trying to help me but I'm happy being me!

I wanna be me,
Yes, I wanna be me!
Hate bragging but gee, with all that you see,
That's exactly who I want to be!
I am orange and well-rounded!
I'm proud and I'm free!
Happy as a clam that I am what I am
I wanna be me!
Happy as a clam that I am what I am
Yes, I wanna be me!

I'm gonna bring my love to you
I'll be there no matter what you do
I'll drive a car or take a train
I'll come by bike or boat or plane
I'll ride a horse, I'll paddle a canoe
I'm gonna get to you!

Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah

Just hop a bus, baby, I don't care
Go any place or any where
I'll track you down by land or air or sea
I'll swim across the ocean wide
Through ice and snow I'll slip and slide
There's no escape, you just can't hide from me
I'm gonna get to you!

Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah
I'm gonna get to you!
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah

I'm gonna get to you!

Every night, before I put out the light
I gotta couple of chores to do
I gotta get out the bed roll, put up the tent pole
Stoke up the campfire, too

But still before I can get my shut eye
There's still one job, you know what I mean
I gotta brush down the doggies
'cause the doggies gotta go to bed clean

I gotta shove 'em and shoo 'em
And sometimes lasso 'em
These critters always try to hide
First I gotta shush 'em, then I gotta brush 'em
Up and down and side to side

I do it every morning, every night
And particularly after feeding time
Brushing down the doggies, it makes 'em feel so fine
Look at the shine!

Gotta rub 'em (rub 'em!)
I gotta scrub 'em (scrub 'em!)
I gotta wash 'em off and make 'em clean (do-wah!)
Yeah, brushing down the doggies 'cause the doggies gotta go to bed clean!