Big Bird Looked Way Different in This Early ‘Sesame Street’ Concept Art

'Sesame Street' star Big Bird has gone from children's television star to internet sensation over night, thanks to recent statements by Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential debate. The guy even got to go on 'SNL' this past weekend for Seth Meyer's latest edition of Weekend Update. In short, everyone was reminded that we can't get enough of Big Bird, which is why now is the perfect time to gawk over this early concept art of him and his fellow 'Sesame Street' castmates.

As we've realized through early movie concept art from 'Star Wars,' 'X-Men' and the like, our favorite characters could have looked much different than their present forms. In the case of Big Bird, Jim Henson originally sketched a lovable puppet that was a little less... feathered, as seen in his early drawings obtained by io9 (shown above).

Also featured in these sketches are early designs for Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, Bert and Ernie, and Cookie Monster, all of whom look slightly more terrifying (Oscar in particular) and more... how should we say... "on drugs" than usual -- note the droopy eyes. You can see all the early concept art for these 'Sesame Street' characters below. Do you prefer the sketched-out versions more than the current ones?