Big Bird in Japan

[FrogInTheGlen]

I did a couple of searches for a thread on this movie and didn't see one...

I loved "Big Bird in Japan" growing up. In fact, this movie was one of the reasons I took a couple of quarters of Japanese in college! I loved the scene where Big Bird is trying to order food at the restaurant and doesn't get that the display food is fake.

Does anyone remember the scene at the fish pond? Kaguyahime told Big Bird that if you clap twice, the fish will gather. I tried that when I was at Knott's Berry Farm last month, and it totally works!

 

[Clean Glutch]

I got this movie recorded on an old video. It was an old video of christmas specials and other stuff. I believe the movies i have on it are The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Big Bird in Japan, some Garfield Christmas special and some California Raisins christmas special. I recently found some old videos back when i was little and its pretty cool to see whats on them.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I just found Big Bird in Japan on DVD, I was really thrilled because I've always loved it. It's funny of course with Big Bird suffering from major culture clash, lol. His homesick song is always so lovely to hear. But the story of the Bamboo Princess is also quite sad and touching.

 

[superboober]

The music is defintely the high point here; every single song hits the mark, with 1-2-3 is Ichi Ni San (I guess the spelling's thus) being my favorite. While I personally find it the weakest classic Sesame era special (the same problem that I think plagues China--that the entire core cast should have joined Big Bird on his journey if they'd had the budget to do so--is in full evidence here), it's still miles above your average family special, and yes, the pathos they throw in are great. And they chose a great variety of Japanese landmarks to examine; thanks to this, I knew about Kyoto's existence long before geography classes would have revealed it, among others. They should have done these international travel specials more often, to equally exotic locations.

 

[FrogInTheGlen]

Oh, I definitely think this one has "Big Bird in China" beat by a mile. I've always thought so. I also agree that at least one of the Sesame Street adults should have been with him on the trip. How realistic is it really for a 6 year old and a dog to be running around a foreign country with no supervision?

 

[CensoredAlso]

I actually didn't mind that Big Bird and Barkley were pretty much alone in these specials. They had great chemistry and to me it was a case of "less is more." Not saying I don't ever want to see the other characters, I just think it worked in these cases.