Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a voracious monster and one of the main characters on " Sesame Street . " Covered with blue fur and possessing a pair of googly eyes , Cookie Monster has an insatiable appetite . As his name implies , his primary craving is cookies , but he can ( and often does ) consume anything and everything , from apples and pie to letters , flatware , and hubcaps . When Cookie Monster eats something , he makes a very distinct , loud munching " noise " , often interpreted as " OMM - nom - nom - nom . . . " Cookie Monster has a deep , growly voice , and generally speaks with simplistic diction , saying everything with " me " - for instance , " Me want cookie ! " , as opposed to " I want a cookie ! " ( though in early seasons , Cookie spoke the other way around , and only occasionally would " me " slip in ) . Cookie occasionally displays an unexpectedly complex vocabulary , however , and is at his most gentrified when in his Alistair Cookie persona , hosting " Monsterpiece Theater " . Origin . " Jim Henson ' s Designs and Doodles " explains Cookie Monster ' s early life : " In 1966 , Henson drew three monsters who 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 . " These monsters had insatiable appetites for the snack foods they were named after . Each time the Muppet narrator , a human - looking fellow , fixes himself a tray of Wheels , Flutes and Crowns , they disappear before he can eat them . One by one , the monsters sneak in and zoom away with the snacks . Frustrated and peckish , the narrator warns viewers that these pesky monsters could be disguised as someone in your own home , at which point the monsters briefly turn into people and then dissolve back to monsters again . " As it turns out , the commercial was never aired — but all three monsters had a future in the Muppet cast . The Crown - Grabber was used in an " Ed Sullivan Show " sketch , in which he ruins a girl ' s beautiful day . Known from then on as the Beautiful Day Monster , he made a number of appearances on " Sesame Street " and " The Muppet Show " . The Flute - Snatcher turned into a background monster from " The Great Santa Claus Switch " and " The Muppet Show " . And then there ' s the Wheel - Stealer , who was destined for greater things . In 1967 , Henson used the Wheel - Stealer puppet for an IBM training film called " The Coffee Break Machine . " In the sketch , the monster devoured a complex machine as the machine described its purpose and construction . His greed gets the better of him , however , as the machine ' s recording continues ( within his stomach ) , announcing that it is wired to self - destruct . The monster promptly explodes . This sketch was also performed in October 1967 on " The Ed Sullivan Show " . Two years later , a similar - looking puppet ( sans teeth ) was used for three commercials selling Munchos , a Frito - Lay potato chip . This time , the monster was called Arnold . After the three ads were produced , Henson had the opportunity to renew the contract . He chose not to , because at that point he was working on " Sesame Street " - - and that monster puppet was moving on to the next stage in his career . Sesame Street . The monster gained his signature blue fur when he first appeared on " Sesame Street " as a generic unnamed character with an undefined personality . Early on in the show ' s first season , he often played the role of a toddler who got in the way of everything without thinking , acting fussy when he didn ' t get his way , and was scolded whenever he ate Kermit ' s property during lectures . Ironically , in these early appearances , Cookie seemed somewhat scary to younger viewers , as he personified the childhood fear of " being eaten by a monster . " A defining moment in Cookie ' s evolution was a skit written by then head - writer Jeff Moss , in which the googly - eyed monster kept nipping at Ernie ' s milk and cookies . Another breakthrough , according to Jon Stone , was a game show sketch where the winning contestant ( who was actually a different furry blue monster ) chose a cookie over other luxurious prizes . Ultimately , this craving would be fully integrated into his character ( and his name ) by the second season . With that , Cookie Monster quickly became one of the most popular and beloved characters on the show . Cookie Monster ' s theme song , " C is for Cookie , " is one of the most famous songs from " Sesame Street " . In " Sesame Street Magazine " ( May 1985 ) , CTW ' s associate research director Istar Schwager allayed the fears of some parents about Cookie Monster ' s bad habits : " Each of the characters on " Sesame Street " is designed to exaggerate a familiar human foible , and Cookie Monster is babyishness personified . . . When parents object to Cookie Monster ' s grammar , we remind them that children learn from a variety of sources - - including other " Sesame Street " characters who speak properly . Cookie ' s eating habits , too , are a point of concern for some parents . The inedible things that Cookie eats ( a car fender ! ) make it clear to children that his behavior is out of the ordinary . Other characters , such as Captain Vegetable , of course , are vocal advocates of good eating habits . " Arlene Sherman recalled in a 1998 Museum of Television and Radio seminar ; " We used to have a typist that corrected Cookie Monster ' s grammar ! " When " Sesame Street ' s " format changed in 2002 , Cookie Monster hosted a regular segment called " Letter of the Day . " In each episode he is presented with a cookie , upon which is written the letter of the day , in icing ( and later , actual foam letters ) . Despite his best intentions , and various implausible schemes , he always succumbs to temptation . To counter concerns that the character encourages poor eating habits , a number of " Healthy Habits for Life " segments and plotlines were introduced in Season 36 , in which Cookie encourages viewers to eat a balanced diet , and enjoy cookies as a " sometimes food . " However , the idea of Cookie Monster setting a good example for children with respect to their eating habits has been used since the 1970s , with public service announcements and individual sketches ( most notably the rap spoof " Healthy Food " ) . However , the move toward highlighting healthy eating habits in 2005 led to a persistent rumor circulating in the media and on the internet that Cookie Monster would be dropped from the show , or renamed " Veggie Monster . " " Sesame Street " poked fun at the media firestorm in a Season 37 episode . In a sketch in a 2006 episode , Matt Lauer of " The Today Show " confronts Cookie Monster about the rumors that he ' s giving up cookies and becoming a " Fruit Monster . " Cookie Monster refutes the rumor , explaining that he eats the fruit first , and then has cookies for dessert . Cookie Monster also says that the media is always blowing things out of proportion . ( " See Is Cookie Monster now the Veggie Monster ? for more . " ) In a 2004 " Sesame Street " episode , Cookie Monster revealed in song that before he started eating cookies ( and became " Cookie Monster " ) , he was called Sid . In a 2010 post on the " Sesame Street " Twitter feed , Cookie Monster tweeted : " Me wasn ’ t born with name ' Cookie Monster ' . It just nickname dat stuck . Me don ’ t remember me real name . . . maybe it was Sidney ? " Cookie Monster later confirmed this in 2017 , in response to a Google question featured in an online video from Wired . In an interview with NPR , Cookie Monster explained he eats everything , demonstrating by eating his headset and a plate of broccoli . However , upon being served sardine ice cream , he says he draws the line at sardine ice cream . In a later interview , he added that he also drew the line at eating bugs . Beginning in 2013 , Cookie Monster starred in a series of segments called " Cookie ' s Crumby Pictures " , where he spoofed various movies . In 2016 , Cookie Monster joined a team crime - fighting team in a series of segments entitled " Smart Cookies . " In 2017 , he starred in a new segment , " Cookie Monster ' s Foodie Truck , " learning about the origins of certain foods while cooking in his own food truck . Cookie also appears in " The Furchester Hotel " , where he is the head waiter and room service . Eating Cookies . Cookie Monster has devoured hundreds of cookies in his 40 - plus years on " Sesame Street " . However , the cookies used on the show are not really cookies at all . Prop makers instead used rice crackers , which are painted to resemble cookies instead , as the oils from the actual food would be damaging to the puppet . On " The Furchester Hotel " , Cookie Monster ' s cookies are made from actual cookies , using only certain types of ingredients when baking . They are then painted and colored hot glue globs are used as chocolate chips . For use in the series , they typically bake 200 cookies per week . Approximately , a total of 1500 cookies were baked over the course of the series . At a 2014 Nerd HQ panel at San Diego Comic - Con , David Rudman claimed writer Tony Geiss once mistakenly ate a couple prop cookies , unaware they were fake . Casting History . Main Performers Alternate Performers _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _