Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird | |
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Directed by | Ken Kwapis |
Written by | Tony Geiss Judy Freudberg |
Based on | Sesame Street by Joan Ganz Cooney Lloyd Morrisett Big Bird by Jim Henson |
Produced by | Tony Garnett |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Curtis Clark |
Edited by | Evan Landis |
Music by | Van Dyke Parks Lennie Niehaus |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $14 million [1] |
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Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (or simply Follow That Bird) is a 1985 American musical road comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, and written by Tony Geiss and Judy Freudberg. Based on the children's television series Sesame Street created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, it was the series' first theatrical feature-length film. It stars Muppet performers Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson and Frank Oz alongside Sandra Bernhard, John Candy, Chevy Chase, Joe Flaherty, Waylon Jennings, and Dave Thomas with Sesame Street regulars Linda Bove, Emilio Delgado, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Alaina Reed, and Kermit Love in supporting roles and the voices of Laraine Newman, Brian Hohlfeld, Cathy Silvers, Eddie Deezen, and Sally Kellerman.
Produced by Children's Television Workshop and Muppets, Inc. (one of the few Sesame Street productions they directly produced), and filmed at the Cinespace Film Studios and on location in the Greater Toronto Area, Follow That Bird was released in the United States on August 2, 1985, by Warner Bros. and received mostly positive reviews from critics. However, it was a box office disappointment, grossing $14 million.
The Feathered Friends' Board of Birds, an organization whose purpose is to place stray birds with bird families discusses the case of Big Bird. A strict social worker, Miss Finch, is sent to Sesame Street to find and bring Big Bird to a worthy family of dodos in Oceanview, Illinois. However, he begins to feel uncomfortable staying with them as they all think poorly of non-birds. He reaches his breaking point when they suggest he should have a bird as a best friend instead of Mr. Snuffleupagus, who is watching over his nest back on Sesame Street.
When Big Bird leaves the Dodos' home to return to Sesame Street, he ends up on the news where Miss Finch tells reporter Kermit the Frog that she intends to find him and bring him back to the Dodos. His friends on Sesame Street also see the news and band together to locate him before Miss Finch does, and take several vehicles on their quest after Bob instructs them to head to Toadstool, Indiana to meet up with him. While on the way home, Big Bird hitches a ride with a trucker who encourages him to persevere and later meets two kids named Ruthie and Floyd at a farm, who allow him to sleep in their barn overnight. The next morning, Miss Finch arrives and he sneaks away in a haystack.
Con artist brothers Sid and Sam Sleaze operate a fraudulent carnival called The Sleaze Brothers Funfair, and plot to catch Big Bird and put him on display for profit. When he arrives in Toadstool, Miss Finch does so at the same time and chases him through a parade. After escaping, Big Bird meets the Sleazes at their carnival and asks if they have a place to hide, resulting in them putting him in their cage and deciding to paint him blue and tout him as "The Bluebird of Happiness", though he sings sadly about wishing to be back home. Despite this, he brings in plenty of customers.
After the show, two kids sneak backstage to see Big Bird, who asks them to call Sesame Street to inform his friends of his whereabouts. The next morning, his friends sneak into the circus tent and try to set him free. However, the Sleaze Brothers quietly wake up and just as Maria unlocks the cage, they drive off in their truck towing the cage with Big Bird still in it. Gordon and Susan give chase and rescue him after he jumps from the moving truck. Shortly afterwards, a state trooper pulls the Sleazes over for speeding and arrests the pair.
Upon arriving back on Sesame Street, Big Bird is happy to be back home. His happiness is short-lived when Miss Finch arrives to place him with another bird family, still insisting that Big Bird would be "happier with his own kind." However, Maria tells her that he is happy on Sesame Street where it does not matter that his family consists of humans, monsters, Grouches, and other species. Realizing Maria is right, Miss Finch officially declares Sesame Street to be his home and leaves with her job complete. Afterwards, Big Bird reunites with Mr. Snuffleupagus. As everyone celebrates Big Bird's return, Oscar the Grouch gets carried around the block in his trash can by Bruno the Trashman in order to get away from everyone's happiness.
Additional Board of Bird members performed by Bob Stutt, Nikki Tilroe, Lee Armstrong, Rob Mills, and John Pattison.
Additional Muppets performed by Kevin Clash, Frank Meschkuleit, Terry Angus, Matthew Pidgeon, Stephen Brathwaite, Tom Vandenberg, Francine Anderson, Ron Wagner, Martine Carrier, Karen Valleau, Michelle Frey, Gus Harsfai, Patricia Lewis, Charlotte Levinson, Carolanne McLean, Peter McCowatt, Brian Moffatt, Myra Fried, Jani Lauzon and Sandra Shamas.
The film was shot on location in Ontario, Canada (Bolton, Schomberg, Woodbridge and Georgetown), and at Toronto International Studios (now Cinespace Film Studios) in 1984. The street set, rebuilt to make it look more realistic than in the television series, was expanded in the film to include a music store, a fire station, an auto body shop, a family clinic, a bakery, a bookstore, and a grocery store.
According to Noel MacNeal, after completing the footage of Big Bird on the farm with Ruthie and Floyd, the filmmakers discovered that the film was badly scratched and unusable. The actors, crew, and performers promptly had to return to the same location months later in winter, whereupon many of the green leaves in the film are spray-painted and after each take, the kids would run to put their coats on. Early in production, the crew noticed that Oscar's trash can looked too new, so they banged it up and dirtied it to match the one in the television series.
While filming Bert and Ernie's "upside down world" song, Jim Henson and Frank Oz were actually in an upside down biplane eighteen feet from the ground.
After filming wrapped, the filmmakers did not believe that the voice of Cheryl Wagner, who had performed Miss Finch while simultaneously voicing her, seemed appropriate for the character, so her voice was dubbed over by that of Sally Kellerman. This would be her only Muppet film before her death in 2022.
Before Ken Kwapis was chosen to direct, John Landis (who had previously performed Grover in the "Rainbow Connection" finale in The Muppet Movie ) was asked by Warner Bros. However, Landis had to decline due to scheduling conflicts with Into the Night .
Due to having a criminal record, Northern Calloway was banned from entering Canada for the film's production causing his character David to not appear.
This is the only Sesame Street feature film to star both Henson (as Kermit the Frog and Ernie) and Richard Hunt and the last Muppet film to involve them before their deaths in 1990 and 1992.
Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 1985 | |||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Producer | Jim Henson Steve Buckingham | |||
Sesame Street chronology | ||||
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1. "The Grouch Anthem"
2. "Big Bird's Goodbye/The Runaway" - Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Kermit the Frog
3. "Ain't No Road Too Long"
4. "Big Bird on the Farm/One Little Star" - Big Bird, Ruthie, Floyd, Olivia, and Mr. Snuffleupagus
5. "Easy Goin' Day"
6. "Don't Drop Inn/Workin' on My Attitude" - Ronnie Milsap (Written by Eddie Setser and Troy Seals)
7. "Upside Down World"
8. "I'm So Blue"
9. "The Chase/Sesame Street Theme" - Big Bird, Gordon, and Olivia
10. "All Together Now"
The film was a critical success upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 92% based on 12 reviews, with an average score of 6.40/10. [2]
The Orlando Sentinel called the film "a flip and funny 'road picture' for children that doesn't let its kind heart get in the way of its often biting wit." [3] Walter Goodman observed in The New York Times that "by and large, the script by Tony Geiss and Judy Freudberg and the direction by Ken Kwapis don't strain for yuks; what they seek, and more often than not attain, is a tone of kindly kidding." [4]
Despite critical acclaim, the film underperformed at the box office [5] due to having opened the same day as Fright Night and Weird Science , and faced heavy competition from Back to the Future , Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome , Pee-wee's Big Adventure , Disney's The Black Cauldron and National Lampoon's European Vacation among other films.[ citation needed ] It grossed $2,415,626 on its opening weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, its total gross was $13,961,370. [6] This production, along with other unsuccessful ventures, hurt the Children's Television Workshop financially during the 1980s, though they did recover afterwards.[ citation needed ]
The film was first released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1986. It received three successive home video re-releases by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment in 1993, 1999 and 2002, and also on DVD (which was presented in a full-screen presentation). Another DVD release followed in 2004, which was re-issued as a special "25th Anniversary Edition" in 2009 in its original widescreen aspect ratio and new bonus features. [7]
Big Bird is a Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the children's television show Sesame Street. An eight-foot-two-inch-tall (249 cm) bright yellow anthropomorphic bird, he can roller skate, ice skate, dance, swim, sing, write poetry, draw, and ride a unicycle. Despite this wide array of talents, he is prone to frequent misunderstandings, on one occasion even singing the alphabet as a single word. He would refer to grocer Mr. Hooper as "Mr. Looper", among other mispronunciations. He lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street brownstone and right next to Oscar the Grouch's trash can. In Season 46, the nest sits within a small, furnished maple tree, and is no longer hidden by used construction doors. He has a teddy bear named Radar.
Caroll Edwin Spinney was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street from its inception in 1969 until 2018.
Aloysius Snuffleupagus, more commonly known as Mr. Snuffleupagus or Snuffy for short, is one of the characters on Sesame Street, a PBS/HBO educational television program for young children. His head bears resemblances to giant anteaters and mammoths, but he has no tusks or (visible) ears. He also has a tail similar in shape to that of a dinosaur. He has thick, brown hair and a trunk, or "snuffle", that drags along the ground. Snuffy is also Big Bird's best friend, and has a younger sister named Alice.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is a Sesame Street Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on Sunday, December 3, 1978.
Kermit Ernest Hollingshead Love was an American puppet maker, puppeteer, costume designer, and actor in children's television and on Broadway. He was best known as a designer and builder with the Muppets, in particular those on Sesame Street.
A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas musical television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States. Its teleplay was conceived by longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl, and directed by Peter Harris and Eric Till. This television special was filmed at 9 Channel Nine Court in Toronto, Ontario. The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies. It also stars Gerry Parkes as Doc from the North American wraparound segments of Fraggle Rock, and Henson as himself in a cameo appearance at the end. In the plot, the Muppets surprise Fozzie Bear's mother with a Christmas visit to her farmhouse, unaware of her planned getaway to Malibu.
Julie on Sesame Street was a variety special broadcast in the United States on ABC on November 23, 1973 at 9 PM ET / PT. Sponsored on ABC by technology/telecommunications conglomerate GTE, the special starred Julie Andrews and Perry Como, and they were joined by several of Jim Henson's Muppets from the PBS children's series, Sesame Street. No human members of the Sesame Street cast appeared in this special. Andrews and "special guest star" Como interacted with the Muppet characters, sharing comedic banter and singing songs such as "It's Not Easy Being Green" and "Picture a World" on the Sesame Street "neighborhood" set.
"Bein' Green" is a song written by Joe Raposo, originally performed by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. It later was covered by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, and other performers. "Bein' Green" is considered the signature song of Kermit the Frog.
Eric Jacobson is an American puppeteer. He is best known for his involvement with the Muppets, performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as Sesame Street characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles that he inherited from the characters' original performers, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney, and Jim Henson.
Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting is a 1989 television special celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Bill Cosby, the special aired on Friday, April 7, 1989, on NBC.
Elmo Saves Christmas is a Sesame Street Christmas musical fantasy comedy drama television special which was released on PBS on December 2, 1996. It was released to VHS that same year. Inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells, Elmo wishes for Christmas to occur every day, only to be taken to the future to learn the adverse consequences of his wish. The program was filmed in Sesame Street's usual home, the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. Footage from the film It's a Wonderful Life also appears in the program and after the credits.
Elmopalooza! is a Sesame Street 30th anniversary special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. It was taped in the middle of the 29th season of Sesame Street, and features music video remakes of several classic songs from the show performed by celebrity guests.
Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a one-hour Sesame Street special that aired on PBS on November 16, 1983. The title comes from a song in the special, "Don't Eat the Pictures", sung by Cookie Monster. It was available as a video tape by Random House in 1987, and it was re-released on VHS by Sony Wonder in 1996 and on DVD in 2011. The special has everybody reprising their roles from the children's television series, Sesame Street. The story takes on getting locked in at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art as they embark on an adventure to find their friend Big Bird, who has gotten lost finding Snuffy. They must stay there until the morning while avoiding a night watchman. The special features the regular human cast of Sesame Street along with several puppet characters, including Cookie Monster, Telly, Bert & Ernie, The Count, Grover, and Oscar the Grouch. Snuffy also appears, even though his names are revealed to be Mr. Snuffleupagus and Aloysius Snuffleupagus; however, at this point in the show's history, he is still the imaginary friend of Big Bird, never seen by the other characters on Sesame Street.
Michael Earl was an American puppeteer. A four-time Emmy Award-winner whose credits include Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street (1978–1981) and Dr. Ticktock in Ticktock Minutes, a musical series of PSA's on PBS he also co-created, scripted and wrote lyrics for that garnered 11 Southern Regional Emmys, a 1998 National Emmy for Best Public Service Announcements, a Gabriel Award, two Parents' Choice Awards and numerous other honors. Earl performed the original Shrek character in a motion-capture development test film for DreamWorks and puppeteered lead characters in Paramount Pictures' Team America: World Police.
A wide variety of characters have appeared on the American children's television series Sesame Street. Many of the characters are Muppets, which are puppets made in Jim Henson's distinctive puppet-creation style. Most of the non-Muppet characters are human characters, but there are many characters that are animated.
Sesame Street, Special is a pledge-drive special that is based on the children's series, Sesame Street. It aired on PBS stations in March 1988 as part of PBS' March fundraiser.
Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration is a 2019 musical television special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the special aired on November 9, 2019, on HBO, followed by a November 17 airing on PBS. It stars the cast and Muppets of Sesame Street, including Kermit the Frog, from the past and present. Many retired cast members and characters reunited on the street for the first time in years since their last appearances. This is the final Sesame Street special to feature long-time Muppet performer Caroll Spinney, who performed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for 50 years as well as the cast members Emilio Delgado and Bob McGrath, who played Luis and Bob, respectively, for 45 years.
didn't fly high at the box office but it should soar when released to the home-video audience.