<P> Initially, the Puppet characters on Sesame Street did not actually appear on Sesame Street itself, but were relegated to the intermediary segments . Muppets creator Jim Henson wanted them to be integrated into the series, suggesting a giant bird and creature living in the neighborhood's trash can . The character was developed by Sesame Street head writer Jon Stone and Henson, based on the personality of a "magnificently rude" waiter . Puppeteer Caroll Spinney found inspiration for the voice in the driver of a New York City taxi he took to the studio . </P> <P> Most sources suggest that the character's name is derived from Oscar's Tavern . In recent years, however, the family of Canadian folk musician Oscar Brand has suggested he was the namesake; Brand was an early board member for the show's non-profit production company, Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop). Writers eventually added other Grouches, an entire species explored in the film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland and various television episodes . </P> <P> The initial puppet, built by staff builder John Lovelady, was yellow, but since there was already a very large yellow character named Big Bird (also puppeteered by Spinney), they decided to change Oscar to orange . Oscar remained orange only for the first season of Sesame Street and then changed to green which became his permanent color . This was explained within the show by a visit to Swamp Mushy Muddy . </P> <P> According to Sesame Street's Robert W. Morrow, Oscar was created to indirectly demonstrate racial and ethnic diversity . Since his manners and tastes were different from those of the other characters, his creators hoped to address social issues by using his differences as a metaphor for racial and ethnic differences . Some viewers, however, saw Oscar as a "surrogate for poor, urban Americans" during the show's early seasons . </P>

Why did they change oscar the grouch from orange to green
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