Noticing New Things in "Follow That Bird"

[D'Snowth]

This is similar to the thread for noticing new things while rewatching TMM, because in rewatching FTB, there's a few minor things I hadn't noticed before until recently, especially with the 25th anniversary edition DVD:

• In the long shot as we see, from Ernie and Bert's perspective, moving in on Big Bird, there are a couple of crew members standing in the field next to Big Bird, as well as a couple of parked cars (really only see this in widescreen).
• In certain shots during "Upside Down World", half of Ernie's tongue comes loose from his mouth.
• In "Ain't No Road Too Long" (again, this is only in widescreen), you can see two really big rods coming out of Grover as he makes a dive out of frame.

Just to name a few.

 

[D'Snowth]

I was creating a page for FTB on TV Tropes, and as I was listing a few tropes that the movie sets examples of, some thing occured to me that really makes this not only the superior SST movie compared to EIG, CE, and AIWL, but a superior Muppet movie in general: there's hardly ANY fourth-wall breaking in this movie.

Save for Oscar's introduction, as well as him glancing at the camera and chuckling in the Don't Drop Inn, and Count's credit reading, no one in the movie addresses the audience... and when you consider how the show itself is, this is kind of unusual, yet some how, it really brings the movie to another level of believability, and realism.

 

[Hubert]

That is an interesting point. It makes me even like the movie even more thinking about that, (though I do like fourth wall breaking), it's almost like sending a message that we're not targeting our usual audience here going for educational stuff.

 

[minor muppetz]

I was creating a page for FTB on TV Tropes, and as I was listing a few tropes that the movie sets examples of, some thing occured to me that really makes this not only the superior SST movie compared to EIG, CE, and AIWL, but a superior Muppet movie in general: there's hardly ANY fourth-wall breaking in this movie.

Save for Oscar's introduction, as well as him glancing at the camera and chuckling in the Don't Drop Inn, and Count's credit reading, no one in the movie addresses the audience... and when you consider how the show itself is, this is kind of unusual, yet some how, it really brings the movie to another level of believability, and realism.

The Muppets Take Manhattan doesn't have any fourth-wall breaking at all.

The movie has another fourth-wall-breaking moment or two. When Big Bird enters the farm and sees chickens, he looks at the audience and says, "maybe they'll invite me to dinner!" And Grover sort of talks to the audience when he contemplates breaking the bars to Big Bird's cage (not sure if that's really fourth-wall-breaking or him talking to himself... I doubt he's trying to talk to whoever is listening nearby).

 

[D'Snowth]

Once again noticed something new that I don't recall ever noticing before, but the rear windows of Miss Finch's van actually have bars on them... never noticed that, but now that I have, it really adds to the artistic license of making Miss Finch seem all the more villainous.

 

[minor muppetz]

I just realized, at the end of the "Easy Going Day" number, when Miss Finch shows up, it seems like even though she knows there's some people in the way of the road, she doesn't immediately notice Big Bird is one of them until he turns around and notices her.

Big Bird tells the kids who see him in the cage to call Sesame Street, but shouldn't he have asked them to call the police? Big Bird can talk to anybody, so he could tell the police he didn't want to be there (unless he thinks the police would take him back to the Dodo's). Even if it's a case of Big Bird being too young to think to do that, shouldn't his friends have thought to contact the police about it, instead of sneaking the keys out to free him?

 

[D'Snowth]

As the caravan first pulls out of Sesame Street to go find Big Bird, Oscar looks... dead! Seriously, his head's flopped lifelessly down to one side. That's kind of... disturbing...

 

[D'Snowth]

During Big Bird's "Bluebird of Happiness" number at the Sleaze Brothers' (F)unfair, as he sings, "I'm such a long way from any rainbows," a pan through the audience shows a row of nothing but twins.