On Thanksgiving Day, Sesame Street will introduce its first Asian American muppet character, Ji-Young, a young Korean American girl, in the special See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special. Helping to introduce the groundbreaking character are a number of Asian American celebrities, including DC Comics’ Jim Lee and now, Lee is taking to social media to celebrate his inclusion in the special, writing that he is “excited, thrilled, and honored” to be part of welcoming the character to the iconic children’s program. On Monday, Lee shared a photo from the upcoming special featuring himself along with Ji-Young, performed by Sesame Workshop puppeteer Kathleen Kim, as well as a few familiar Sesame Street muppets (Tamir, Abby Cadabby, and Elmo) and Alan Muraoka, who plays Alan, the current owner of Hooper’s Store on the series. For Lee, getting to be part of welcoming Ji-Young to Sesame Street was deeply personal. In his post, Lee, who is himself a Korean immigrant, credited Sesame Street as a major component of how he learned English as a child.
I am so excited, thrilled and honored to announce that I’ll be appearing on @sesamestreet this Thanksgiving day, welcoming its newest resident, a 7-year-old Korean-American girl named Ji-Young! It’s crazy and surreal to even write these words but as a young immigrant boy… pic.twitter.com/CA1yFtm1VW
