Follow That Bird Revisited

[Buck-Beaver]

I'm sick this weekend and mostly bed-ridden so to alleviate my boredom I decided to pop in to the DVD player my "Follow That Bird" DVD which I got as a Christmas present but never got around to watching.

It's a pretty sparse DVD. The "special features" are a theatrical trailer and the ability to jump to a specific song in the movie. I hadn't seen "Follow That Bird" since the late 80s but I was reminded just what a great little movie this is, so much better than Elmo in Grouchland. It's a shame there hasn't been many "Sesame" projects of this scale since.

It was also neat to see the trailer, which must have been put together early in post-production. In it the voice of Grover is clearly not Frank Oz (I'm guessing another performer was used in the scene and the voice was dubbed later). There is also a shot of Cookie Monster stealing cookies from Sid Sleaze (Joe Flaherty) and the arm of one of Cookie's puppeteers is clearly visible. Neither of these errors were in the finished film of course.

Anyways, it's a great movie and if you're a Sesame fan and have never seen it you should. I think the DVD sells for about $15 in most places.

What does everyone else think of the movie?

 

[Pug Lover]

I have it on VHS,and have to agree with you.It is definetly one of the best muppet movies.I also agree that it was better than Elmo's Adventures In Grouchland.Correct me if I'm wrong,but there were three Sesame Street movies.Follow That Bird,Big Bird In China and Elmo In Grouchland.The only one I haven't seen is Big Bird In China.But I'm with you Buck-Beaver,I highly recommend Follow That Bird to fans who haven't seen it.

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

"Big Bird in China," like "Big Bird in Japan" and "Don't Eat The Pictures," was originally made for TV, so there have only been two Sesame Street theatrical films.

Hope this helps...

 

[Amazing Mumford]

Follow That Bird is a very nostalgic movie for me. I was born in 1980, and was in prime Sesame Street age when FTB came out. We took a family car trip from Minnesota to St. Louis in the summer of '85 and listened to nothing but the FTB soundtrack (cassette back then of course) all the way there and all the way back. That's right--a solid 24 hours in the family station wagon with nothing but Sesame. My parents still laugh about it to this day.

The best part, of course, was seeing the characters off the street and in the real world. It's been years since I've seen the whole thing but I recall loving Bert and Ernie in the airplane, Super Grover, and the Dodo Family. Good times.

I'm gonna have to watch it again sometime to fill in some of the blanks. Thanks for bringing it up, Buck-Beaver!! If you miss old-school Sesame Street, I highly recommend watching this movie.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I've always loved "Ain't No Road To Long". It's one of my favourite songs from Sesame.

 

[Ryan]

I've always loved "Moving Right Along". It's one of my favourite songs from Sesame.

Buck, that's from The Muppet Movie!

{slaps Buck}

Maybe that'll teach ya!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Buck, that's from The Muppet Movie!

{slaps Buck}

I have no idea what you're talking about. Heh heh.

I said "Ain't No Road Too Long" was one of my all-time favourite Sesame songs. You must be confused!

Say, did anybody know that Hoots is in this? Except he's not Hoots and I don't think Kevin Clash does him. He's just a generic owl in the "Feathered Friends" meeting at the beginning of the film. Elmo also appears briefly, but this was before he took over Sesame so there are just a few shots of him hanging out of a window in the background.

 

[Super Scooter]

Elmo also appears briefly, but this was before he took over Sesame so there are just a few shots of him hanging out of a window in the background.

Also before Kevin Clash performed him.

 

[Ryan]

Also before Kevin Clash performed him.

No, Kevin just began performing him then. Brian stopped performing Elmo around '79. Richard did him for a year or two after that.

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

Elmo's voice in Follow That Bird, though, sounds nothing like his real voice...