Plaza Sésamo

Plaza Sésamo (Spanish: Sesame Square), is one of the first international co-productions of the American children's television program Sesame Street. Its first season premiered in Mexico in 1972, and was immediately a ratings hit. It also aired throughout Latin America, to a potential audience of 25 million children in 34 countries. Unlike some of the earliest co-productions, which consisted of dubbed versions of Sesame Street with local language voice-overs, Plaza Sésamo was a true co-production. Half of the show was adapted from the American show, and half was original material, created in Mexico by Mexican writers, performers, and producers. The first season consisted of 130 half-hour episodes. The show's goals, similar to the process begun in the U.S., were developed by local experts in television, child development, and early education during curriculum seminars in Caracas, Venezuela. Plaza Sésamo's goals emphasized problem solving and reasoning, and also included perception, symbolic representation, human diversity, and the child's environment. Other goals included community cooperation, family life, nutrition, health, safety, self-esteem, and expressing emotions. Early reading skills were taught through the whole language method. The show's budget for the first and second seasons was approximately US$1.6 million.