Sesame street presents follow that bird
Sesame street presents follow that bird
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Follow That Bird
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see also: songs
The film’s theatrical poster; art by Steven Chorney.
Sesame Street’s North by Northwest spoof.
Copies of the film presented on home video prior to 2009 featured a cropped 1.33:1 screen aspect ratio. The deluxe edition DVD released in 2009 presents the film in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio.
Elmo’s very brief appearance. Seen with an unnamed yellow monster, Roosevelt Franklin, and Prairie Dawn.
Big Bird’s dream family, animated by The Animation House Limited.
Caroll Spinney attends a screening of Follow That Bird.
Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird is the first feature-length film to star characters from Sesame Street.
Contents
Synopsis
The plot involves an organization of birds called the Feathered Friends sending Big Bird to Oceanview, Illinois, to live with a bird family called the Dodos. However, after deciding that he isn’t happy with them, he heads back to Sesame Street, not realizing that it will take more than just three hours to get back home.
Big Bird’s road trip makes the news, and his friends on Sesame Street team up to find him. Also searching for him is overbearing social worker Miss Finch, who wants to return him to the Dodos. Big Bird’s travels include a ride with a truck driver and an easy going day with farm children Ruthie and Floyd. He has a less friendly encounter with Sam and Sid Sleaze, crooked carnival operators who cage him as an act. In the end, Big Bird’s friends find and rescue him and the bird returns to his true family and home, on Sesame Street.
Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird
Sesame Street Presents
Follow That Bird
Directed by
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by
Cinematography by
Editor(s)
Studio(s)
Distributor
Release date(s)
Running time
Language
Gross revenue
This is also the final Muppet film to be released before the deaths of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt.
Contents
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).
Muppet performers
Special Muppet performers by: Kevin Clash
Humans of Sesame Street
Other humans
Cameo guest stars
Voices
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
Musical numbers
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
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.
Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird
Contents
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 doesn’t 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’s been brought in by the many customers that he has attracted, and knowing that he and Sid will be rich.
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, 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 Sleeze 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 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’s 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 left. 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. As Sesame Street goes back to normal, 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).
Muppet performers [ ]
Humans of Sesame Street [ ]
Other humans [ ]
Cameo guest stars [ ]
Voices [ ]
Production [ ]
Sound department [ ]
Musical numbers [ ]
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]
Box office [ ]
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]
Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird
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 Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. Based on the long-running popular children’s television series Sesame Street created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, it was the first theatrical feature-length Sesame Street film. The film stars Muppet performers Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson and Frank Oz alongside Sandra Bernhard, John Candy, Chevy Chase, Joe Flaherty, Waylon Jennings and Dave Thomas.
This is the only Sesame Street feature film to both star Henson and Richard Hunt. This was also Henson’s final performance as Kermit the Frog (as well as Ernie) in a theatrical Muppets film before his death five years later in 1990. The film was followed by The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in 1999.
Contents
Synopsis [ ]
The plot involves an organization of birds called the Feathered Friends sending Big Bird to Oceanview, Illinois, to live with a bird family called the Dodos. However, after deciding that he isn’t happy with them, he heads back to Sesame Street, not realizing that it will take more than just three hours to get back home.
Big Bird’s Road trip makes the news, and his friends on Sesame Street team up to find him. Also searching for him is overbearing social worker Miss Finch, who wants to return him to the Dodos. Big Bird’s travels include a ride with a truck driver and an easy going day with farm children Ruthie and Floyd. He has a less friendly encounter with Sam and Sid Sleaze, crooked carnival operators who cage him as an act. In the end, Big Bird’s friends find and rescue him and the bird returns to his true family and home, on Sesame Street.
Notes [ ]
Songs [ ]
Moviepedia
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Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
Directed by
Produced by
Written by
Studio
Distributed by
Release date
August 2, 1985 ( 1985-08-02 )
Running time
Country
Language
Rating
Box office
Contents
| Spoiler warning: The following contains plot details about the entire movie. |
Big Bird is sent to the fictional town of Oceanview, Illinois, to live with a family of dodos by Miss Finch (performed by Cheryl Wagner and voiced by Sally Kellerman), a social worker who thinks he needs to be with his own kind upon being sent to him by the feathered friends. The Dodos think exactly the same, even saying he should have a bird as a best friend instead of Mr. Snuffleupagus. 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 and Telly becomes extremely worried. In a Volkswagen Beetle is the group of Gordon, Olivia, Linda, and Cookie Monster. Count von Count departs in his Countmobile. Bert and Ernie 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 there because of Miss Finch’s arrival.
While out imagining his friends in a cornfield, Big Bird is spotted by Ernie and Bert in their plane. But he doesn’t know that they are in it and thinks it’s Miss Finch wanting to take him back to the Dodos. When Ernie steers it toward him, Big Bird flees in fright. Ernie turns it upside down to get Big Bird’s attention and begins singing «Upside Down World», with Bert beginning to join in, 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 scam artists named Sam and Sid Sleaze (Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty) 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 (dubbed «The Mushroom City»), Indiana. Shortly after arriving, Miss Finch finds him there and gives chase through. On the outskirts of Toadstool, 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’s been brought in by the many customers that Big Bird has attracted. Sid and Sam are excited because this is only the beginning. They can tell that he is going to make them rich!
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 Cookie Monster gets crazy by some nearby cookies and Grover also tried to bend the cage bars. They strap the cage to their truck and and attempt to drive off with him in tow. Eventually, Gordon and Olivia give chase and succeed in rescuing him from the truck. Shortly afterwards, the Sleaze Brothers are pulled over by a police officer (John Candy) and his young sidekick, and arrested on charges of counterfeiting, extortion, fraud, impersonating a dentist, and even stealing a kid’s apple at their carnival (as seen earlier in the film).
Back on Sesame Street, Big Bird is happy to be back home but then looks on as Miss Finch arrives to announce that she has found another bird family for him. Maria convinces her that he can be, and is, happy there on Sesame Street—that it does not make any difference that his family consists of humans, monsters, cows, Grouches, Honkers, and the other varieties of eclectic species. What matters is that they are family. After considering what she’s heard and realizing how far his friends went to try to bring him back, Miss Finch declares that Sesame Street is his home. He is also reunited with Snuffy, who watched his nest while he was away. Gordon brings the Volkswagen (which was partially eaten by Cookie Monster) to Luis to see if he can fix it. As Sesame Street goes back to normal, Oscar is carried around the block in his 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 Joan Ganz Cooney, the co-creator of Sesame Street, «mom» when her name is credited as one of the executive producers). By the end of the credits in a brief «bonus scene» he announces 278 credits and does his trademark laugh accompanied by a thunderclap (no lightning flash was present as was in his usual running gag).