Editing Iftah Ya Simsim (section)

==Original series==
''Iftah Ya Simsim'' was the first children's educational TV program of its kind in the Arab world and the first ''Sesame Street'' co-production in the region. It was the first co-production to use [[Modern Standard Arabic]] (MSA).<ref name="gikow-259" />

=== Production ===
Its development was similar to that of the American version of ''Sesame Street'' in the late 1960s. The GCC considered creating a co-production for many years, so consultations were held among its member countries regarding how to do so.<ref name="alkhayr-464" /> Many of the early co-productions were simple, dubbed versions with local language voice-overs and instructional [[Cutaway (filmmaking)|cutaways]], but the GCC wanted to create their own original version.<ref name="opensesame" />

They established the Joint Program Production Institute (JPPI) to work with the CTW to create a ''Sesame Street'' co-production in addition to creating several children's TV shows. The JPPI formed a team, which visited the CTW in New York to negotiate the production of 130 30-minute programs,<ref name="alkhayr-464">Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 464</ref> purchasing the rights to create an Arab version for US$2.5&nbsp;million, and bringing in experts from throughout the Arab world "to introduce an all encompassing Arabic curriculum that would teach and cultivate Arab values and culture".<ref name="opensesame"/>

There were three stages in the production of the show. The first stage was pre-production research, which identified basic education needs for children under the age of six.<ref name=":0" /> The second stage involved the creation of a pilot reel to test children on the show's effects and for review by educators, sociologists, psychologists, and other experts, who were invited to a seminar. Finally, the series was filmed and aired. Research began in August 1977; the team was led by an educator and included a linguist and a psychologist, all of whom were on the faculty of [[Kuwait University]]. The show was tested on different socioeconomic groups of children, between the ages of three and six, in kindergartens and preschools in four representative cities from Arab countries. The team proposed curriculum goals based upon the research and, during a seminar, Arab and CTW educators agreed on ten final goals.<ref name=":0">Al-Khulaifi, pp. 7—8</ref>

''Iftah Ya Simsim'' premiered in Kuwait and Morocco in September 1979, and was broadcast in all Arabic-speaking countries.

=== Content ===
The show focused on Arab heritage, like the wedding rituals of countries in the region, and included Arabic poems and songs.<ref name="opensesame" /> 

''Iftah Ya Simsim'' emphasized scientific thinking and the effects of technology on society. It sought to provide children with experiences that enriched their knowledge about their environment and improved their reasoning, through teaching them mathematical and geometric concepts. The show introduced its viewers to Arab history through segments which, for example, showed castles that were the center of historic battles.<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 466</ref> Geography was highlighted, especially the location of countries and their cities and capitals, which had the secondary effect of helping children increase their feelings of belonging and feeling proud of their Arab heritage. Children's social awareness, especially their comprehension of social roles and their functions, was also emphasized.<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 467</ref>

Unlike the American show, ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' covered the topic of spirituality because of the importance of religion in Arab culture,<ref>Al-Khulaifi, p. 42</ref> so the producers' goals included teaching children about Islamic principles, positive social behavior, personal manners, and the importance of traits like honesty, respect for parents, loyalty, and social interaction.<ref name="alkhayr-464" /> According to researchers Misbah Al-Khayr and Hashim Al-Samira'i, the program reinforced "the values and ethics that are derived from the teaching of orthodox Islam&nbsp;... to help children develop a sound moral vision on the basis of which they will build their family relationships, and which will reinforce the values of cooperation, love, and justice".<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 468</ref>

The producers wanted to present the characteristics of the Arabic language and its alphabet.<ref name="alkhayr-464" /> Because pre-production research showed that, although many dialects are spoken in the region, 90% of Arab children were able to understand Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), it was chosen as the show's language.<ref name="alkhayr-465">Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 465</ref> Linguist [[Kees Versteegh]] stated that the language used in ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' was "based on an explicit didactic and linguistic concept".<ref name="versteegh">{{Cite book|title = The Arabic Language|last = Versteegh|first = Kees|publisher = Columbia University Press|year = 2001|isbn = 0-7486-1436-2|location = New York|url = http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=1&reading_id=35&sequence=4|access-date = July 12, 2014|archive-date = July 14, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230015/http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=1&reading_id=35&sequence=4|url-status = dead}}</ref> The show's developers decided to use specific aspects of the language. Despite the absence of case endings in the dialects spoken by many of its users, the producers used them and other features of MSA. They also spelled out what features should be used sparingly, like passive verb forms, and what features they wanted to completely avoid, such as some prepositions. According to Versteegh, "These principles have been followed rather closely".<ref name="versteegh" /> Children who appeared on the show made few grammatical errors in MSA, and although colloquialisms were used rarely, there was an informal quality in their conversations and speech patterns. Versteegh postulated that it was due to the use of intonation patterns and interjections, instead of the use of grammatical and lexical items from the vernacular use of the language. He also said that ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' proved that it was "possible to use an informal register of Modern Standard Arabic".<ref name="versteegh" /> Versteegh reported that although the show was criticized in some Arab countries, Egypt in particular, for containing too many colloquialisms, he thought the criticism was biased and that "the selection of lexical items in any pan-Arabic programme will probably never satisfy everybody".<ref name="versteegh" />

=== Characters ===
New [[Muppets]] were created, inspired by cultural traditions in the Arab world, from the shadow puppets of Syria to the puppets of Egypt, some of the oldest puppets in the world.<ref name="alkhayr-465" /> These characters included a [[camel]] named Nu'man (نُعمان),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gettas |first=Gregory J. |date=December 1, 1990 |title=The Globalization of Sesame Street: A Producer's Perspective |journal=Educational Technology Research and Development |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |volume=38 |issue=4 |page=56 |doi=10.1007/BF02314645 |issn=1042-1629}}</ref> a green and yellow [[parrot]] named Malsoon (مَلْسون), a lavender-colored [[monster]] with a long nose named Yagut, and a large purple ribbon-wearing cat called Abla.

Characters from the American show, like the [[Cookie Monster]], [[Bert and Ernie]], [[Grover]], and [[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]], were transposed into Arabic versions: Kaaki, Bader and Anees, Gharghour, and Kamil. The show's version of [[Count von Count|the Count]] kept his distinctive laugh and accent when speaking MSA.

The show's opening included a song alongside footage of children across the Arab world running past familiar landmarks like the [[Egyptian pyramids|Pyramids]] and playing in playgrounds and ancient alleyways before running into a white fort that had its gates open wide. The show's set consisted of an intricately traditional Arab neighborhood called ''Sharee Eshreen'' (20th Street).<ref name="opensesame" />

=== Legacy and influence ===
According to researcher Ibrahim Al-Khulaifi, "In a few months, ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' became one of the most popular and successful programs for children in many Arab states".<ref>Al-Khulaifi, p. 8</ref> Critics called it "one of the most successful pan-Arab collaborations of educators, creators, writers and artists from the Middle East".<ref name="national">{{Cite news|url = http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/television-series-will-help-promote-arabic-language|title = Television series will help promote Arabic language|date = December 14, 2013|work = The National|location = Abu Dhabi|access-date = July 2, 2014}}</ref> The show continued to trigger nostalgia in its fans, some of whom watched its reruns well into the 1990s. Rym Ghazal of ''The National'' claimed "No Arabic children's television show was as popular and influential in the Middle East in the 1980s as ''Iftah Ya Sim Sim''...because it offered an alternative way of learning that hardly existed in the Arab world at the time, just as ''Sesame Street'' had previously done in the West".<ref name="national" />

''Iftah Ya Simsim ''inspired "a flood of studies",<ref name="alkhayr-465" /><ref>“Volume Information.” ''Educational Technology Research and Development'' 38, no. 4 (1990). <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/30218572</nowiki>.</ref> from scientific research to doctoral or masters theses submitted to Arab, European, and American universities. No studies were conducted during the show's first five years, largely due to lack of government cooperation and unsuccessful attempts marred by subjects dropping out of the studies.<ref>Al-Khulafi, pp. 9—10</ref> In 1981, however, the JPPI invited children from Arab countries to Kuwait to access how they assimilated the program. Their attitudes about the show were assessed by education, social, and media specialists, who found that most viewers had benefited from watching it. Parents reported that their children's language use and ability improved, and the JPPI received many letters of appreciation and was commended for their efforts in producing the show.<ref name="alkhayr-465" /> In 1984, in one of the first studies conducted researching the show's effects on its young viewers, Ibrahim Al-Khulaifi compared the relationship between the viewing behavior by the Kuwaiti preschooler of ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' and certain developmental and environmental variables. He found that variables such as socioeconomic status, parental education (especially that of the mother), sex, age, year in school, birth order, and family attitudes about the show influenced the frequency of viewing.<ref>Al-Khulaifi, p. 108</ref>

Misbah Al-Khayr and Hashim Al-Samira'i, in an article from the 1995 book ''Children in the Muslim Middle East'', reported on a study that sought to evaluate the influence of ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' on its [[Baghdad]]i viewers' knowledge about language, general information, mathematics, science, and moral principles. The study found that 85% of all children residing in Baghdad had watched it and that they interacted with and were attached to many of its characters. 

The show's viewers demonstrated an increase in their understanding and knowledge in all areas, especially information about their social and natural environment.<ref name="national" /><ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, pp. 465—468</ref>