Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird (commonly shortened to Follow That Bird) is a 1985 American musical dramedy film, directed by Ken Kwapis, starring many Sesame Street characters (both puppets and live actors). This was the first of two Sesame Street feature films, followed in 1999 by The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. The film was produced by Sesame Workshop Which was Called Children's Television Workshop At The Time The Jim Henson Company and Warner Bros. Pictures, and filmed at the Toronto International Studios, and on location in the Greater Toronto Area. This Movie was air on CBS in the USA.
This is also the final Muppet film to be released before the deaths of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt.
Plot[]
At the beginning of the film, the members of the Feathered Friends' Board of Birds (consisting of the Madame Chairbird, a sparrow, a turkey, a puffin, a robin, and an owl) discuss their situation about Big Bird and hope that they can find a bird family to put him with. The group's social worker Miss Finch (performed by Cheryl Wagner and voiced by Sally Kellerman) is sent to Sesame Street to find Big Bird a worthy bird family and bring him to the selected family. After leaving Sesame Street, New York City, New York, Miss Finch brings Big Bird to the fictional town of Oceanview, Illinois to live with a family of dodos. The dodos all think very poorly of non-birds, even saying he should have a bird as a best friend instead of Mr. Snuffleupagus (who is currently watching over Big Bird's nest). This causes him much distress.
When Big Bird runs away from his new home and ends up on the news, Miss Finch tells Kermit the Frog that she will reclaim him. His friends back on Sesame Street also see the news and band together to find him before Miss Finch does. In a Volkswagen Beetle is the group of Gordon, Olivia, Linda, and Cookie Monster. Count von Count departs in his Countmobile. Ernie and Bert go out to search in an airplane. Grover flies as Super Grover (later falling into the Volkswagen). Maria, much to her dismay, has to ride with Oscar the Grouch, Telly Monster, and Homer Honker in Oscar's Sloppy Jalopy. They all head out across America in search for their beloved Big Bird. Oscar, however, decides to go his own route wanting to have some fun, which greatly annoys Maria and Telly.
Big Bird has various adventures in his attempt to get home. First, he hitches a ride with a turkey truck driver (Waylon Jennings) who tells him not to give up trying to get to his goal. He then meets two kids named Ruthie and Floyd (Alyson Court and Benjamin Barrett) at a farm and stays with them for a while. He ends up having to leave because of Miss Finch's arrival.
While out imagining his friend Mr. Snuffleupagus in a cornfield, Big Bird is spotted by Ernie and Bert in their plane. But he does not know that they are in it and thinks it's Miss Finch wanting to take him back to the dodos. When Ernie steers it towards Big Bird, he flees in fright. Ernie turns it upside down to get his attention and begins singing "Upside Down World" with Bert beginning to join in singing, but when they turn it back up Big Bird is gone and Ernie blames it all on Bert.
Big Bird is also sought by two sinister scam artists brothers called the Sleaze Brothers, consisting of feeble-minded Sid (Joe Flaherty) and crafty Sam (Dave Thomas), who operate a lousy carnival called The Sleaze Brothers Funfair. They want to capture him to put him on display. Eventually he arrives in Toadstool, Indiana (dubbed "The Mushroom City"). Shortly after arriving, Miss Finch finds him there and gives chase through the city. On the outskirts, the Sleaze Brothers have set up their carnival and Big Bird shows up asking if they have a place to hide him from Miss Finch. They then put him in their "hiding cage." Shortly afterwards, they decide to paint him blue and tout him as "The Bluebird of Happiness." However, his performance is not one of happiness but of sadness as he sings a song about wishing to be back home with his friends. However, he brings in a lot of customers as Sam is seen backstage during the performance happily counting the pile of cash that has been brought in by the many customers that he has attracted, and knowing that he and Sid will be rich. Sid, meanwhile, breaks down in tears during Big Bird's performance.
After the show, two kids sneak backstage to see him. Upon noticing them, he asks them to call Sesame Street to tell his friends where he is. They do so and the next day, his friends sneak into the circus tent to try to free him. However, the Sleaze Brothers quietly wake up because Super Grover yells loudly and tries to bend the cage bars. They strap the cage to a truck and attempt to drive off with him in tow. Eventually, Gordon and Olivia give chase in the Volkswagen and succeed in rescuing Big Bird, after telling him to jump from the moving truck. Shortly afterwards of going super fast, the Sleaze Brothers are pulled over by a police officer (John Candy) and his kid sidekick (whose apple was stolen at the Sleaze Brothers' carnival earlier in the film) and arrested on charges of counterfeiting, extortion, fraud, impersonating a dentist, and apple theft.
Back on Sesame Street, Big Bird is happy to be back home and looks on as Miss Finch arrives. Miss Finch tells Big Bird that she is sorry that the dodos did not work out and that she has found another bird family for him. Maria convinces her that he can be, and is, happy there on Sesame Street where that it does not make any difference that his family consists of humans, monsters, cows, Grouches (to their dismay), Honkers, and the other varieties of eclectic species there. What matters is that they are family. After considering what she has heard and realizing how far his friends went to try to bring him back, Miss Finch declares that Sesame Street is his home. Before leaving she says "Well I've done it again, placed another stray bird in a good home, case dismissed, back to work" and then leaves. Big Bird is then reunited with Mr. Snuffleupagus. Gordon brings the Volkswagen (which was mostly eaten by Cookie Monster) to Maria and Luis to see if they can fix it. At the end of the film, Oscar is carried around the block in his trash can by Bruno the Trashman in order to get the happiness of Big Bird being back on Sesame Street out of him.
At the beginning of the end credits, the Count begins to count the movie credits (in a nod to the original series, He calls the co-creator of Sesame Street Joan Ganz Cooney "mom" when her name is credited as one of the executive producers). By the end of the credits in a brief "bonus scene," the Count announces 278 credits and does his trademark laugh accompanied by a thunderclap (no lightning flash was present as was in his usual running gag).
Trivia[]
- The street set used in this movie is a rebuilt version of the show set, made to look more realistic. The expanded street includes a bakery, a clinic, a grocery store, a fire station, an auto body shop, a music store, a barber shop, and a bookstore. A sign above the Fix-It Shop touts a "local restaurant around the corner."
- The Dodo family's home address is 35 Canary Row, Oceanview, Illinois.
- The movie was filmed on location in Ontario, Canada, and at Toronto International Studios. Thus, in addition to the regular Sesame Street puppeteers, many of the performers from Fraggle Rock were used for the film.
- Despite the movie being taking place between Sesame Street's 16th and 17th seasons, it was filmed shortly after production wrapped on it's 15th season in the summer of 1984, and even before the 16th season was filmed.
- The movie was also filmed shortly following the departure of Brian Muehl, making this the first time his characters he perviously played were recasted. In this case, Telly Monster is now performed by Martin P. Robinson and Grundgetta is now performed by Pam Arciero. Fred Garbo Garver also plays Barkley for the first time, continuing the role through the show's 24th season, and Richard Hunt performs Elmo (uncredited).
- In addition to its own storybook adaptation, the movie inspired five storybooks: Big Bird's Day on the Farm, Big Bird Visits the Dodos, Big Bird Joins the Carnival, Count All the Way to Sesame Street, and Welcome Home, Big Bird which takes place after the movie.
- The aircraft that Big Bird flies on from Sesame Street to Oceanview, Illinois is a Fokker F27 Friendship.
- A widescreen DVD presented in the film's original 1.85:1 screen-aspect ratio was available for the first time in 2009, when a 25th-anniversary Deluxe Edition DVD of the film was released. Previously, all region-1 copies of the film were presented full screen 1.33:1.
- Just before Big Bird's entrance roller-skating down the street, he is visible through the Fix-It Shop window waiting for his cue for just a moment or two before he skates home.
- The turkey truck driver's license plate reads "GOBBLE."
- The scene with Big Bird running from Ernie and Bert's approaching plane is a spoof on a visually similar scene from the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, in which Cary Grant's character hides in a cornfield after a crop duster attack. The subsequent pesticide cloud, in this version, is replaced by Bert's falling bottlecap collection.
- Richard Hunt puppeteered the Count for the film while Jerry Nelson dubbed over the voice.
- The "first draft second revision" of the screenplay was written on April 3, 1984.
Cast[]
Muppet performers[]
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bruno the Trashman
- Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, Ernie
- Frank Oz as Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Lavender boy, monster
- Jerry Nelson as Count von Count, Herry Monster, Biff
- Richard Hunt as Elmo (uncredited), Gladys the Cow, Feathered Friends Member
- Martin P. Robinson as Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, Grouch Diner Patron, Poco Loco
- Cheryl Wagner as Miss Finch (performer)
- Tim Gosley as Homer Honker
- Fred Garver as Barkley, Feathered Friends Parrot, Hoots the Owl
- Trish Leeper as Mommy Dodo (performer)
- Gord Robertson as Daddy Dodo (performer)
- Shari Weiser as Marie Dodo (performer)
- Jeff Weiser as Donnie Dodo (performer)
- Noel MacNeal as Madame Chairbird
- Pam Arciero as Grundgetta
- Kathryn Mullen as Feathered Friends Magistrate, Grouch Diner Parton
- Bryant Young as Mr. Snuffleupagus (rear end performance)
Special Muppet performers by: Kevin Clash
Board of Birds Members are performed by: Terry Angus, Kevin Clash, Tim Gosley, Trish Leeper, Rob Mills, John Pattison, Martin P. Robinson, Bob Stutt, and Nikki Tilroe.
Humans of Sesame Street[]
- Bob McGrath as Bob Johnson
- Roscoe Orman as Gordon Robinson
- Linda Bove as Linda
- Emilio Delgado as Luis Rodriguez
- Sonia Manzano as Maria Figueroa
- Alaina Reed as Olivia Robinson
- Loretta Long as Susan Robinson
- Kermit Love as Willy
Other humans[]
- Joe Flaherty as Sid Sleaze
- Dave Thomas as Sam Sleaze
- Alyson Court as Ruthie
- Benjamin Barrett as Floyd
Cameo guest stars[]
- Waylon Jennings as Turkey Truck Driver
- Sandra Bernhard as Grouch Diner Waitress
- Chevy Chase as Newscaster
- John Candy as State Trooper
- Paul Bartel as Grouch Diner Cook
Voices[]
- Sally Kellerman as Miss Finch (voice)
- Laraine Newman as Mommy Dodo (voice)
- Brian Hohlfeld as Daddy Dodo (voice)
- Cathy Silvers as Marie Dodo (voice)
- Eddie Deezen as Donnie Dodo (voice)
Production[]
The movie was filmed on location in Ontario, Canada (Bolton, Schomberg and Georgetown), and at Toronto International Studios in 1984. The street set was built to look more realistic in this movie. The expanded street set includes a music store, a fire station, an auto body shop, a family clinic, a bakery, a bookstore and a grocery store. Early on, the Sesame Street people noticed that Oscar's trash can on the set was too new and clean looking, so the crew had to bang it up to make it dirty. According to Noel MacNeal, after filming the footage of Big Bird on the farm with the kids, the filmmakers discovered that the film was badly scratched and unusable. The actors, crew and performers had to return to the same location, but it was months later, and it happened to be winter. Many of the green leaves the audience sees are spray-painted, and after each take, the kids would run to put their coats on. Also: 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.
Sound department[]
- Sound: Bryan Day, Michael LaCroix
- Supervising Sound Editors: Richard L. Anderson, Charles L. Campbell
- Sound Editors: Allan Bromberg, Steve Bushelman, Paul Timothy Carden, Warren Hamilton, Bob O'Brien, Mark Pappas. Allan Schultz, Sherman Waze
- Assistant Sound Editors: Michael Murphy, Stephanie D. Singer
- ADR Mixer: Christian T. Cooke
- ADR Editor: Beth Bergeron
- Sound Re-Recording Mixers: Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell, Don White
- Special Sound Effects: Alan Howarth
- Foley Artists: John Kelly, John Roesch
- Foley Recordist: Carolyn Tapp
- Foley Recording Mixer: Ken King
- Foley Mixer: Greg Orloff
- Technical Director of Sound: Donald C. Rogers
Musical numbers[]
- "The Grouch Anthem" – Oscar, Grouch chorus
- "Ain't No Road Too Long" – Waylon Jennings, Gordon, Olivia, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Oscar, Maria, Telly, Olivia, Miss Finch, Honker
- "One Little Star" – Big Bird, Olivia, Mr. Snuffleupagus
- "Easy Goin' Day" – Big Bird, Ruthie, Floyd
- "Upside-Down World" – Ernie, Bert
- "I'm So Blue" – Big Bird
Release and Reception[]
The film opened on August 2, 1985. The film was a critical success upon its release. 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."[1] 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."[2]
On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 91%.[3]
Box office[]
In spite of the near-universal critical acclaim, the film was a box office bomb due to it opening the same day as Fright Night and Weird Science and heavy competition with Back to the Future, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Black Cauldron, National Lampoon's European Vacation, and reissues of Gremlins, Ghostbusters and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It grossed only $2,415,626 on its opening weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, its total gross was $13,961,370.
Bonus[]
Return of the Fairy Tale Helpers
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo[]
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Jonas Brothers
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Jordin Sparks / Nature Nick
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Batman / Pentatonix
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Mykal-Michelle Harris / Jonathan Van Ness / H.E.R
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Dani & Dannah Lane / AJR
Elmo's Playdate[]
Elmo's Playdate: Scavenger Hunt
Video release[]
The film was first released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1986. The film would get re-released onto VHS three times by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment starting in 1993, then a second time in 1999, and then again in 2002. A DVD release followed in 2004, which was later re-issued as a special "25th Anniversary Edition" in 2009, with new bonus features and cover art.[4]
While there has yet to be a Blu-ray Disc release of the film, it was once available for streaming on Netflix, albeit sporadically.
Best Of Elmo 5 Soundtrack CD[]
Do the Monkey, Do the Lion, Do the Bear
Transcript[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Except For Wit, Wisdom, Big Bird Film Is All Heart". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-06-01.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "FILM: BIG BIRD ON THE BIG SCREEN WITH THE 'SESAME STREET' GANG". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-28.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-04-28.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Follow That Bird". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2012-06-01.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
