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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
 Posted - 12/13/2007 : 9:17:19 PM
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I was 12 years old when this movie was released during the 4th of July weekend of 1985. I was in that immediate post-Sesame Street phase when a kid is embarrassed to have ever liked something that s/he has just grown out of. In June ‘84, I had gone with my father and little sister to see Sesame Street Live when it came to Spokane, and despite my embarrassment at going to a Sesame Street function, I wound up having a blast. Still, a 12-year-old’s bravado doesn’t allow for case history, so I had no interest in seeing Follow That Bird. I had moved on to more sophisticated things, and pitied the fools who watched jibbah-jabbah like Sesame Street. Apparently, neither did anyone else, as it vanished from theaters and public awareness before too long. A tie-in with Quilted Northern toilet paper (or it might’ve been MD toilet paper, I forget) with Martha Raye doing the ads couldn’t generate interest either.
I bought 1978’s Christmas Eve on Sesame Street for my sister and her kids through Amazon last week. Amazon recommended Follow That Bird as well. My curiosity was piqued. Why did this movie fail commercially at a time when you’d think it’d clean house? So I bought it and watched it. I’m still not certain why it failed commercially, but the causes of its disappointment dramatically (not failure, just disappointment) were easy to spot. Some were inherit to the Sesame Street format, others due to a few decisions that turned out to not be the best thing for the franchise’s first cinematic outing.
Certainly the time was right for a Sesame Street movie. The success of all three Muppet movies in 1978, 1981, and 1983, the popularity of the Muppet Babies Saturday morning cartoon, and Sesame Stree (SS, henceforth) was already the ultimate kid’s show of all time and already the ultimate merchandising cash cow. The nation was filled with parents who automatically deem anything with the SS name to be worthy of their own and their kids’ attention. Whatever the SS equivalent of a Trekkie is, the nation was filled with them and their young.
So what happened? Why does this movie leave the viewer unsatisfied? It’s not horrible, just….lacking.
Not that the franchise can be accused of squeamishness. By going to a medium that is all about entertainment first and everything else second, SS was stepping out from behind the shield of “C’mon, it’s educational!” and opening itself up to audience judgment purely as an entertainment franchise. Hence, flaws that are dismissable in an education medium become less dismissable.
One of the two most persistent flaws is made obvious in the very title. While Big Bird is fine as a character in an ensemble, as the lead character in an ensemble production, he has neither the gravitas nor the hamminess to pull it off. I’m certain that had the movie been titled Follow That Cookie, the result would’ve been much more dynamic and fulfilling.
The second most persistent flaw is the very ensemble-ness of the franchise. SS simply has far too many Muppet and human characters to give each one a moment to shine in an 89-minute movie. The Muppet Show, by contrast, was able to manage in movie format by not having as many key Muppets to give shine moments. There’s Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and Gonzo. The others, like Animal, the Chef, and Beaker, are just living props who only need a scene or two because that’s all they got on the TV show. It’s like Star Trek: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are the big guns, the rest only need a token appearance because they were props anyway.
On SS, on the other hand, Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and The Count are all characters who have TV episodes that spotlight them; so their marginalization in Follow That Bird is a let-down. It’s like Star Trek: TNG: All seven are fleshed-out, so focusing on Picard and Data in the movies leaves us wanting.
In addition to the Muppet ensemble, there’s also the human ensemble; which, in addition to doubling the number of characters who need screen time and marginalizing some of them, highlights the point at which the SS franchise drops the ball on the educational level. SS does well at creating racial diversity, but it does so at the expense of intellectual diversity. Specifically, the only thing that distinguishes one human character from another is skin color. Other than that, they’re clones. There was an episode of Farscape where the characters jumped into each others bodies, i.e. the actors got to play each others’ roles. If that were to happen with the human characters on Sesame Street, you’d never notice. Whatever the dilemma of the day is, there’s never any dissention over how best to solve it. Everyone is in agreement right off the bat. I can’t believe that there’d be no educational value in an episode that featured a conflict between human characters over how best to solve a problem. In Follow That Bird, the writers had an opportunity to actually give the human characters some…**shrug**…character…without having to worry about offending whoever it is that gets offended by intellectual diversity. The opportunity was not taken, and it’s impossible not to notice.
The story of Follow That Bird is simple enough: A social worker named Mrs. Finch decides that Big Bird would be happier among his own kind and offers to get him adopted into a bird family. Big Bird agrees, goes to a new family, finds out that it’s not much fun, and leaves the family to return to Sesame Street. The SS gang splits up to go find him while he is pursued by both Mrs. Finch and a pair of devious rural carnival hucksters. Hijinks ensue; Big Bird is eventually reunited with his friends; the hucksters get what’s coming to them offscreen; Mrs. Finch realizes the error of her ways; and the message of “diversity” (once again: Not intellectual diversity, though), which had been nicely subtle in its delivery up ‘til now, is smashed over my head so hard that hematomas in the shape of the Children’s Television Workshop logo showed up on the subsequent CT scan.
Both the SS and Muppet Show franchises made full use of celebrity guests, and Follow That Bird is no exception. Brief cameos by a few big names allow said celebrities to sleep well knowing that they’ve done their part to save the world from itself.
Okay, I’m being a bit snide there, but let’s face it: The sacrosanctity that some of these folk feel SS has is kinda embarrassing. Once again, they’re like Trekkies. For gleeful serendipity, I’ll mention Patrick Stewart himself as a good example. Have you heard his description of how he feels about his appearance on SS? Good God, it may be the greatest kids’ TV show in history, but it’s still just that: A TV show. Christ!
Still, there’s enough good stuff in here that I still don’t see why it wasn’t a big hit with theater audiences. **shrug** Maybe audiences weren’t willing to pay money to see something in a theater that they could just as easily see for nothing on TV.
Rather than dissect (‘cause how do you dissect a film for the littlest kids?), I’d rather just go character by character. This will suffice to give a sense of what works and what doesn’t work about Follow That Bird.
Here we go.
HUMAN CHARACTERS
Bob: Gives a The Plan speech before everyone sets out to find Big Bird. Other than that, a few token lines just to remind you he’s there. This is a shame, because while there are no bad singers among the cast, Bob is the best singer there. I was expecting that if any human got to solo, it’d be him.
Linda: Bob’s deaf girlfriend gets a suspenseful scene, although it’s kinda laughable that she’s the one to do it, because what she does requires functioning auditory receptors. Her hair style is a shortish look was en vogue in ’85 (think Linda Lavin in the final season of Alice and you’ve got the idea), so I didn’t recognize her until she started signing. The signing is done without subtitles, which is cool. She seems to able to read everyone’s lips, as she reacts to speech not directed at her.
Gordon: He gets to have some out-of-character fun here. He spends most of the movie in a Volkswagen with Olivia and Cookie Monster, with predictable but fun results. Gains the distinction of being the first (and maybe only, I dunno) human character to explicitly encourage Cookie Monster to eat an inedible object, and also encourages Big Bird to jump out of a moving vehicle. He gets to be in the only real Action Scene in the movie at the climax (Granted, it’s the most inactive Action Scene you’ll ever see, but for SS, you’d never expect conflict resolution in this fashion. Dialogue reveals that the movie knows it, too). Why Gordon? I dunno, but he does look kinda like Louis Gossett, Jr., doesn’t he?
Olivia: Gordon’s main squeeze gets the only solo singing of any human, and she sounds great! I didn’t know her voice was that pretty. Shame the song sucks: A treacly where-are-my-friends-now song sung partially in triple-split-screen with Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. “The Rainbow Connection” it ain’t.
Luis: Gets two lines and that’s it. Wasted.
Maria: She gets the most lines and screentime of the humans. She spends the movie riding with Oscar in the Grouchmobile and acting the straightman to Oscar’s wretchedness. Gets to do the preachy speech at the end, and also gets a giggle-worthy one-liner regarding Linda’s deafness.
Mr. Hooper: Already deceased both in real life and on the show, he gets mentioned by Big Bird once. And the drawing of Mr. Hooper from the episode when his death was explained to B.B. is still hanging near his nest. Nice!
David: Not-yet-deceased in real life and not-yet-written out of continuity on the show, David is totally absent here. Garbage!
Susan: David’s honey is seen in one crowd scene early on and gets one line in the final scene. Garbage 2: The Wrath of Cookie Monster!
MUPPET CHARACTERS
Big Bird: As before, making him the star was an error. He stumbles into one predicament after another by being naïve enough to trust everyone he meets. This gets old quick. And there are a couple moments where he comes off as a flat-out dunce. Does the bulk of the singing in the movie, too. The voice ain’t bad at all, but the songs themselves are pretty forgettable, with one exception.
Snuffleupagus: Big Bird’s not-so-imaginary friend says good-bye to B.B. at the start, hello at the end, and does a Ben Kenobi-style disembodied chat with B.B. in the middle.
Kermit: One scene as a news reporter describing the disappearance of Big Bird, and that’s it. I don’t know why. Granted, he wasn’t the lynchpin of the franchise like he was on The Muppet Show, but still. Even more bizarre is his portrayal here of not even being part of the SS gang. Weird.
Ernie and Bert: They biplane after B.B. and give us a fun scene and sing a duet. Ernie treats us to his trademark giggle after terrifying Bert with his aviation acrobatics. The long shots of the stunt pilots in wearing Ernie and Bert costumes is a kick. This may be the only time in the history of musicals when taking time out to sing a song actually causes the characters to screw up what they’re trying to do.
Grover: Spends the movie as Super Grover. I dug the Super Grover skits as a kid, so I was hoping he’d do something genuinely heroic. Instead, he trips over his cape, crashes to Gordon’s VW, and fails to bend cage bars.
Oscar the Grouch: Aside from Big Bird, he gets the most screen time. He starts the movie by singing the Grouch Anthem, which he demands we stay sitting down for. S**t, I wish the fluffies who sing the National Anthem at baseball games would do the same, it’d be much more tolerable (I do wonder, though, how many people in the theater actually did rise when the off-screen voice announced that it was time to rise for the Grouch Anthem). Oscar gets to have a blast at Maria’s expense, especially in the Grouch Diner. He also gets probably the best one-liner laugh in the movie when first assigned with Maria, which ain’t saying much, because one-liners aren’t really SS’s bag.
The Count: He doesn’t do much, just brief shots of him counting to one of something here and there….until the end credits, and then he does the most maniacal counting I’ve ever heard him do. He counts the first ten credits, and his voice gets louder and shriller and starts cracking with delight. Wow! After all the credits are done, he reappears and screeches some more, his laughter and thunderclap end the movie.
Cookie Monster: My favorite Muppet doesn’t do as much as I’d expected. Devours half of Gordon’s car, and almost blows the whole rescue operation by devouring cookies at the wrong time. Only gets one OM-NOM-NOM moment, and it’s offscreen and muted. C’mon, SS, whatdya think that audience is here to see?
Harry Monster: The barbell-loving beefcake Muppet had almost as much madcap potential as Cookie Monster, as a recurring theme of his was that he doesn’t know his own strength. But he’s only seen once during a 360-pan during the preach at the end. That’s it. In 2004, his character was written out of continuity, a victim of the Red Bastard.
Telly Monster: I never liked Telly Monster because he’s a neurotic worrywart. He only gets a few lines here, and he worries his way through them.
GUEST CHARACTERS
Mrs. Finch: Bird Muppet social worker who finds Big Bird a family. Has an exaggerated posh British accent. Wants B.B. to be among his own kind. Not a villain, really, although B.B. treats her as such. Mrs. Finch has good intentions but doesn’t recognize that B.B. is happiest among his friends even if they’re not birds like him. Addresses B.B. as “Big.” Unusual that SS should chose a social worker, of all professions, to be the de facto villain. Early in the movie, she asks her boss, “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?” Later, a kid will repeat this line. Sorry movie, but even if you’re a kid’s film, once is good.
Sid and Sam Sleaze: Stereotypical Hollywood hicks who capture B.B. for carnival display. The subtlest joke in the movie comes when the one who wears the faded Baltimore Orioles cap says that no one pays money to see birds.
The Dodos: The family that adopts B.B. Exaggeratedly moronic family. No surprise that B.B. doesn’t wanna stick around. Well-meaning family, but they don’t kiss him goodnight, they don’t know how to play Let’s Pretend, and they’re generally annoying. When B.B. leaves, they pretty much drop out of the movie, thank Christ.
CELEBRITY CAMEOS
Chevy Chase: I never did like Chevy Chase. Even as a kid, I’d look at him and automatically dislike him. For the past decade, it seems that everyone else does the same. He gets a brief bit as a news reporter who mispronounces “Sesame Street” and recites lyrics from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Sandra Bernhart: The most distinctive female jaw in Hollywood puts itself to good use as a waitress at the Grouch Diner. She pretty much just looks as nasty as she can. With her gap-toothed rictus, it comes off well.
John Candy: He doesn’t get to interact with the Muppets. He’s a motorcycle cop who busts the carnival hucksters.
Waylon Jennings: The only celebrity who seems to have been chosen for a specific reason, Waylon gives B.B. a ride in his poultry truck and sings a song that was probably written by Waylon himself. It’s a reasonable good pop-country song with mildly kid-level lyrics. This was the only song that I really got into.
George Lucas: According to IMDB, he is seen briefly in an unspeaking cameo as Big Bird gets off airplane #1138 upon returning to Sesame Street. But on the DVD, that scene isn’t in there at all. B.B. simply appears back on Sesame Street.
RANDOM STUFF I NOTICED
- Big Bird mug shots!
- New sets were built, so we actually see Sesame Street in genuine outdoors.
- Follow Grover’s farewell advice to B.B. and you’ll live for quite a while.
- Indiana Jones-style in-flight map, but why do the town names bash rural America? The TV show was friendly to agrarian places.
- 20-Minute Work-Out footage!
- I want a TV like The Count’s. In fact, I want a bachelor pad and a car like his, too.
- Did Oscar just hit on Maria?!? Hey Luis, you gonna take that from the grouch?!?
- Half the characters pronounce it “BIG bird” and the other half pronounce it “big BIRD.”
- The Grouch Diner scene is Muppet Show-level rambunctious.
- 11-year-old Alyson Court sings great in her debut role. No wonder she’s grown such a resume in kid’s programming since.
- Someone must’ve slipped some opium poppies into B.B.’s birdseed. He’s hallucinating.
- Bert? Whadja bring the bottle caps for? Serves you right, you O.C. conehead!
- How’d they trade places?
- That polka-song Ernie and Bert sing sounds like something The Count should be singing.
- That was the most pointless split-screen I’ve ever seen!
- Child abduction is hilarious!
- Beautiful song, B.B., but the audience might be even more proactive if you trying yelling for help instead.
- “Count, baby, what’s happenin’?” I love it!
- Maria gets a nice leg shot. She’s kept herself in shape.
- OM-NOM-NOM-NOM!!!
- Title supplied by Gordon.
- At 1:11:49, on the left side of the screen. Do you see it?….yeeeeessssss…..The hate…is swelling in you now……
- Herry Monster! Sorry you got the shaft dude, you deserve better!
- “[i]Someone must associated with the producer!” Count, you know somethin’ you ain’t tellin’ us, bud?
- Count says “Hi Mom” after reading Joan Ganz Cooney’s credit. She was the founder of the Children’s Television Workshop.
- Jim Henson and Frank Oz have no credits other than the Muppets they played.
- I was wrong. Waylon Jennings didn’t write that song. **shrug** It’s still a good song, though.
- Damn, Count, you’re had a blast with those credits, didn’tcha?
BOTTOM LINE
Little kids will like it, no sweat. Adults looking for a nostalgia fix, though, might be unsatisfied by the lack of screentime for several characters. Still, it's a reasonably fun romp through a more pleasant world that existed before Red Death came unto us all.
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2007 : 10:45:40 PM
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Damn, now I'm gonna have to rent the bloody thing to get all you were referrin' to. Maybe I'll rent it for my friend-girl's nephew to watch.
BTW, I thought that Olivia was Gordon's sister, and Susan was his wife (and maybe Olivia and David were goin' steady).
Still, don't stuff like this take you down memory lane? I still crack a smile whenever I think of Oscar being grouchy or Cookie being Cookie. And yes, I did have a crush on Maria (and from what I've seen, she still looks great). |
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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2007 : 11:15:42 PM
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I lost my Sesame Street romance scorecard while watching this movie. I don't remember what the Gordon-Olivia-Susan-David thing is. Now that you've got me thinking, I think you're right about Olivia being his sister. That would explain why when she sings the song at the campfire, Linda is hanging on Gordon, while Olivia is a hair's breadth from hanging on Cookie Monster.
I still say they blew it by not giving Cookie any set pieces. **daydream mode on** I still have this visual of him going to a place called The Cookie Lounge, looking into the camera and saying, "Sound like me kind of place!" When he goes in, it's a G-rated mock up of a strip club. Paying no attention at all to the ladies, he gapes in lustful awe at the cookie banner behind the stage, goues nuts, and proceeds to devour the poles and everything while scantily clad ladies scream and scatter in all directions. **daydream mode off**
Wouldn't that kick ass, Bert? |
Edited by - Food on 12/13/2007 11:20:56 PM |
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Short recap of Follow That Bird (1985)
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