They have the technology and they have rebuilt him. Elmo is now an animatronic toy, a “robot Elmo”, no longer just a giggling, shaking gag, but a sophisticated, articulate, mechanical doll capable of physical storytelling, of expressing himself with subtle, refined movements. He talks with his hands, his feet, his rump, his neck, his mouth, his head, he can stand on one foot, crouch, lean forward to whisper and rear his head waaaay back for a belly laugh. He can hold a hand up to his mouth, flap his arms in exaggerated gestures, pop his head back and forth on his neck, vibrate his head in a sneeze, and hunch himself forward and tell you with absolute sincerity that he loves you. All of this he employs to tell his stories and jokes.

There’s one where he meets a giant and Elmo shakes to show his fear, he leans back with his head open all the way to show himself trying to see the giant’s face way, way, way up in the sky, he holds his hand up to his mouth to show his shock and then shakes his belly with a laugh when he realizes that the giant is more afraid of him. He acts everything out, does the voices of each of the characters, and even supplies sound effects and a musical score. It is a major leap in Elmo technology.

Since 1996’s Tickle Me Elmo, Fisher Price has produced a new variation on the vibrating, laughing doll each year and they have all, essentially, been built around a gag. Laughing, laughing in different ways, dancing, singing, laughing and slapping the floor, all simple mechanical tricks married with Sesame Street’s unique, expressive humour. But after a dozen years, the gags have started to wear thin the technology is no longer revolutionary, and the little red monster’s popularity needs a serious change.

A couple of years ago, an inventor walked into Fisher Price’s offices with his own doll design. It had an armature, a complete mechanical skeleton, with multiple joints and servos powered by computer chips capable of such fine movements that they could be accurately synchronized with Elmo’s own television segments from Sesame Street. Fisher Price quickly bought the concept and spent nineteen months working with puppeteers and computer programmers to develop original routines and sequences.

Last year's Elmo X TMX stands next to this year's Elmo Live!

The result, Elmo Live!, is physically the closest match to the real Elmo puppet, both in shape, colour, and manner. Kids can activate him by squeezing his nose (he lets out a honk and says “sorry”), patting his tummy, foot, or back. Some touches will launch him into simple routines where he tells a joke (complete with rim shot if the joke is a good one, crickets when it’s a dud), long, engaging tales, and interactive games. Elmo will occasionally ask kids to play a singing game of stature, where they must follow his movements as he sings then freeze when he stops. He will stretch out his arms for a hug and respond when you touch his back. He has a built-in accelerometer sensor which tells him when he’s been knocked over (he’ll ask for help getting back up) and a power-saving mode which puts him to sleep if he hasn’t been played with for awhile. In some of his routines he likes to perform kicks and moves that can place him off-balance, so Fisher Price has included a blue stool that you can place behind him to give him some support. I find that most of the time he can perform his arm swinging, feet tapping moves without it. And, if he gets to be too annoying, there’s also a power switch to turn him off.

Last year’s Elmo toy, Elmo X TMX, now looks antiquated by comparison. Its arms flapped like penguin flippers, his mouth didn’t even open, and his red fur looks less genuine next to this year’s model which also has seven times the amount of stories, songs, and jokes. In some ways Elmo is only just catching up to other robot toys, such as Wow Wee’s Robosapien line and Mattel’s Furreal Friends, but one area where clearly is the new king is talk. Elmo speaks, quickly, energetically, with enthusiastic gestures, but most importantly a perfectly synchronized mouth, that opens and closes not just as quickly as the rapid-fire speech demands, but in variable degrees of open and close, the same way that human puppeteers do in order to convey speech patterns and the way we exhale breath as we speak. My favorite part of his performances are the little voices Elmo does to act out the characters of his tales. In giving you the illusion that he’s alive, I think it is just as important as his iconic laugh.

Arriving in stores on October 14th for $70, Elmo Live! is a fairly lightweight toy and, despite the electronics inside, huggable and cuddly. He operates on 6 AA batteries and although rated for a suggested age of 18 months and up, because of his long stories I think he’ll be best appreciated among kids old enough to really listen. Of course he is aimed at big kids too and his sophisticated ability to match the real puppet’s manners and appearance will make him an easy keepsake for collectors. In terms of innovation and the ability to connect with fans, I think Elmo Live! is just as important the original Tickle Me Elmo.

A note on availability. After selling Elmo dolls for now twelve years, Fisher Price feels they can accurately forecast the supply needed to meet demand and expect they won’t face the same shortages experienced with the original Tickle Me Elmo. However, they do admit that there is no plan for resupply shipments until February or March of 2009, that the retail shipments they have planned for the holidays are all there is. If the animatronic nature of the new Elmo should cause a rise in demand, they do not have the manufacturing resources to respond until the new year.