Positive and Negative: Elmo In Grouchland

[MuppetSpot]

I wonder how Joey Mazzarino feels having been a writer on both of the 1999 Muppet movie flops


BTW they should do that next, either a Grover or Cookie Monster movie.

Judging how Joey said in the Toughpigs interview MFS was one the worst times in his life probably disappoint with the finished results with EIG on the other hand I don't know. Yes I agree we should have a Grover or Cookie Monster movie.

 

[Drtooth]

MFS was all because of behind the scenes drama and a lousy director, and quite a bit of Joey's script was tossed out for banality. Uncle Matt was going to be in the movie, the ending was supposed to be more subtle and kept Gonzo's heritage ambiguous. EIG just felt like everything about the film was to get the film out quick to make sell Elmo toys, and no matter the quality of the film, it was a reverse Producers situation. They had a sure fire, no fail idea in making a movie about such a popular figure at the height of his popularity, only for it to fail because preschool based kid's films seldom do well. Especially since you can see these guys free on television every day.

 

[Censored]

Ernie and Bert being in the movie: Good. Their roles in the movie: Not so good. They live on the street with everyone else. Why were they not directly involved in the adventure.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, it's kind of like how on the series proper, they eventually become confined to their apartment due to Jim and Frank's busy schedules preventing them to be available to actually perform many of their characters (especially Ernie and Bert) in street scenes.

 

[Censored]

Well, it's kind of like how on the series proper, they eventually become confined to their apartment due to Jim and Frank's busy schedules preventing them to be available to actually perform many of their characters (especially Ernie and Bert) in street scenes.

Actually, throughout Sesame Street's run as a whole, Ernie and Bert had their time on the street. There were even some plots that had them interacting with others on the street throughout the whole episode. Sure, their apartment was their main place to be, but they always popped up on the street here and there to remind us that it was all one big community. Follow That Bird got it just right with them sitting in their apartment, hearing the news about Big Bird and then getting involved with the others. In any case, as I recall, Ernie and Bert were NOT in their apartment in Elmo In Grouchland. They seemed to be in some strange land of nowhere.

 

[MuppetSpot]

I honestly think why E&B was 4th wall-breaking because, of Frank's busy schedule and I think those scenes could have work if they were telling the story instead of just popping up when ever.

 

[Drtooth]

Ernie and Bert being in the movie: Good. Their roles in the movie: Not so good. They live on the street with everyone else. Why were they not directly involved in the adventure.

I shouldn't have to reinstate the main reason the film was to sell Elmo toys, and the reason we even got a second theatrical Sesame Street film was due to Elmo's popularity. FTB "got it right" because even though the movie was about Big Bird, it wasn't Big Bird the movie. FTB was supposed to be an ensemble piece, EIG wasn't. FTB is a Sesame Street movie, EIG is an Elmo movie with other Sesame Street characters in it. Even the ones that went on the adventure with them were barely there. It's obvious to me this movie was rushed out to cash in off the plush toy. FTB was made for the sake of making a Sesame Street movie to go along with the three other Muppet movies. Had FTB did better at the box office, I think we'd get a true follow up instead of something that was kind of cynically produced.

Plus, this was before Oz's roles were recast, so Frank was busy with other things. If Ernie and Bert were in the movie as a whole, Bert would have been performed by someone else and dubbed in later. And while not necessarily a bad thing, I feel that's a huge problem with MFS, putting too many of Frank's characters into one scene just for him to dub over all of them. Fozzie, Piggy, and Animal felt a little distant.

Though there's one thing I must reflect upon. EIG used Ernie and Bert in a way Statler and Waldorf should be used in a Muppet film. I don't see why they never bothered making a Muppet film where Statler and Waldorf actually stop the film to comment on it.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Though there's one thing I must reflect upon. EIG used Ernie and Bert in a way Statler and Waldorf should be used in a Muppet film. I don't see why they never bothered making a Muppet film where Statler and Waldorf actually stop the film to comment on it.

Ooh, that's a good point!

 

[Censored]

I shouldn't have to reinstate the main reason the film was to sell Elmo toys, and the reason we even got a second theatrical Sesame Street film was due to Elmo's popularity.

You know, I tend to agree with that. At the same time, I don't think that one sound bite can be used to explain away every single observation about Elmo In Grouchland. So, it was a commercial for Elmo toys; it could have just as easily still been a commercial and had Ernie and Bert interact with the rest of the cast. Commercial or not, it was presented as a movie and critiques, along with comparisons to Follow That Bird, are inevitable. Besides, the fact that Grouchland was in the title as well suggests that it was at least not all about Elmo. Therefore, expectations about other characters are reasonable.

 

[minor muppetz]

One thing I've always found odd about the Bert and Ernie scenes, which I recently saw brought up at Tough Pigs, was that Bert is the one who overreacts when things get too unsettling and Ernie is the one who calms him down and reassures him that things will be fine. Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Bert should have been the one with the common sense to know that things would turn out okay, Ernie should have been the one to react like Bert did.