TOKYO -- Elmo has undergone something of a metamorphosis in Japan. Sure, he still has his fuzzy red look, falsetto voice and hearty laugh in Japan's first local production of "Sesame Street." But ...

The man who voices Sesame Street's popular character Elmo is denying he had gay sex with a minor, as Sesame Street honchos try to assure fans that the high-pitched puppet is "bigger than one man." ...