Cookie monster

Cookie Monster
Sesame Street character
Cookie Monster singing his signature song "C Is For Cookie"
First appearance	1966: unaired Wheels, Crowns and Flutes commercials (as the Wheel Stealer)
Created by	Jim Henson
Portrayed by	Frank Oz (1969–2000, occasionally since 2001) David Rudman (2001–present)
Information
Aliases	Sid, Alistair Cookie, Arnold
Species	Sesame Street Muppet Monster
Gender	Male

Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the long-running children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases, such as "Me want cookie!" "Me eat cookie!" and "Om nom nom nom" (said through a mouth full of food). He often eats just about anything, including ice cream, hot dogs, cake, pizza, doughnuts, lettuce, apples, bananas, watermelon, as well as normally inedible objects. However, as his name suggests, his preferred food is cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are his favorite kind; oatmeal cookies are his second favorite. In a song in 2004, Cookie Monster revealed that, before he ate his first cookie, he believed his name was Sid. Despite his voracious appetite for cookies, Cookie Monster shows awareness of healthy eating habits for young children, and since 2006 he has said that cookies are "a sometime snack," and that he also enjoys fruits and eggplant.

He is known to have a mother, a younger sister, and an identically-designed cousin (who ironically does not like cookies), who all share his characteristic navy blue fur and "googly eyes." He also has a father, who appeared in a Monsterpiece Theater sketch promoting energy conservation, water conservation and environmentalism. Both Cookie Monster's mother and father share his enormous appetite and craving for cookies. He and his Sesame Street friends are popular motifs on T-shirts.

The book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles explains Cookie Monster's origin as follows: "In 1966, Henson drew three monsters that ate cookies and appeared in a General Foods commercial that featured three crunchy snack foods: Wheels, Crowns and Flutes. Each snack was represented by a different monster. The Wheel-Stealer was a short, fuzzy monster with wonky eyes and sharply pointed teeth. The Flute-Snatcher was a speed demon with a long, sharp nose and windblown hair. The Crown-Grabber was a hulk of a monster with a Boris Karloff accent and teeth that resembled giant knitting needles."