Sesame Street Special "The Magical Wand Chase"

[Phillip]

Special - The Magical Wand Chase
HBO Premiere: Saturday November 11, 2017
PBS Premiere: Monday March 25, 2019

This Saturday don't miss an all-new one hour Sesame Street special on HBO. "The Magical Wand Chase" will premiere on Saturday November 11 at 7 pm eastern, 6 pm central.

It's up, up and away as Elmo, Abby and friends take to the skies above Sesame Street in colorful hot air balloons. When a playful bird snatches Abby's magic wand, the pleasant ride instantly becomes a high-stakes adventure. The chase is on as Grover, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Rosita and the rest race through new neighborhoods, meet new friends, and discover new and different cultures that lie just around the corner. Will our heroes find the wand and still make it home in time for dinner?

"The Magical Wand Chase" features guest star Elizabeth Banks.

If you saw "The Magical Wand Chase", please like this post and share your thoughts below.

 

[ConsummateVs]

I'm glad everyone is out of the house right now so I was able to watch this special in peace without any interruptions.

So, what were my thoughts on it? Well, I liked it. It wasn't quite as great as I thought it would be (while I wasn't expecting some big cinematic feature film, I was kinda hoping it would be more like Follow That Bird), but I still enjoyed it. I liked the bits with Grover and Cookie Monster the most. I would have liked to have seen more characters in it (like Ernie and Bert), but it was nice to see Rosita in a major role. I also really liked how we got to explore more of the other areas around Sesame Street. So overall, it wasn't amazing, but it was still good.

Also, on a side note, I'm starting to like Abby Cadabby more and more now. I used to not care for her that much, but she's grown on me now.

 

[antsamthompson9]

This special was alright. I was kinda hoping for characters besides the core seven though. This is the very first Sesame Street special with Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobson voicing Big Bird and Oscar.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

This special was alright. I was kinda hoping for characters besides the core seven though. This is the very first Sesame Street special with Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobson voicing Big Bird and Oscar.

So no more Caroll Spinney anymore then?

 

[antsamthompson9]

So no more Caroll Spinney anymore then?

I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. If his voice isn't heard in the season 48 premiere next week, then I'd say he's retired. Which is for the best, Caroll's Big Bird and Oscar voices haven't sounded very good lately.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. If his voice isn't heard in the season 48 premiere next week, then I'd say he's retired. Which is for the best, Caroll's Big Bird and Oscar voices haven't sounded very good lately.

I would love to see the new season, but do not get HBO sadly.

 

[somethingofafan]

So no more Caroll Spinney anymore then?

I seem to recall one of the Below the Frame videos stating that he is involved in Season 48. Haven't heard about 49 yet.

 

[D'Snowth]

Oops. I thought the special was next week instead of this week. Welp, that's one on me.

As for Caroll, I don't know how far in advance this special was made, but he's clearly not in too good of shape right now. As I said, when I met him last month at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo, his voice was really soft and weak, and more often than not, his wife Debi, or one of his chaperones would finish his sentences for him whenever he'd lose his train of thought. Even during the Q&A panel when the cast was speaking about how they got onto SST, Debi had to remind him of specific little details about how Jim came to hire him for Big Bird and Oscar. Someone had mentioned he had a pretty nasty fall a while back, and I noticed he had a number of scrapes and bruises across his face (and some of his teeth even look chipped). I think we can assume that age is catching up to him at this point.

The only thing I remember hearing was that he was going to try to keep going until at least Season 50, but I'm not so sure if he can even make that far.

 

[Oscarfan]

Kinda felt a little rushed. The 43 minute runtime contributed to that. A little more music would've been nice too. I liked the opening song though and yeah, Muppets look great in the real world. And the credits sequence was nice, with all the main characters who weren't in the special getting a little cameo.

 

[HiHo3892]

So no more Caroll Spinney anymore then?

I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. If his voice isn't heard in the season 48 premiere next week, then I'd say he's retired. Which is for the best, Caroll's Big Bird and Oscar voices haven't sounded very good lately.

Oops. I thought the special was next week instead of this week. Welp, that's one on me.


As for Caroll, I don't know how far in advance this special was made, but he's clearly not in too good of shape right now. As I said, when I met him last month at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo, his voice was really soft and weak, and more often than not, his wife Debi, or one of his chaperones would finish his sentences for him whenever he'd lose his train of thought. Even during the Q&A panel when the cast was speaking about how they got onto SST, Debi had to remind him of specific little details about how Jim came to hire him for Big Bird and Oscar. Someone had mentioned he had a pretty nasty fall a while back, and I noticed he had a number of scrapes and bruises across his face (and some of his teeth even look chipped). I think we can assume that age is catching up to him at this point.

The only thing I remember hearing was that he was going to try to keep going until at least Season 50, but I'm not so sure if he can even make that far.

Caroll was on set with his fellow muppeteers a few weeks ago, so I would assume he's still involved in some capacity or perhaps just visiting the set. As for the voices, I would still take Caroll's over Vogel. I don't think Vogel is right for Big Bird anymore. Caroll needs a new understudy. Vogel's BB is too deep and nasally to the point that it's essentially an entirely different character. Even Vogel has acknowledged the fact that the two sound very different and has stated that his Big Bird is not Caroll's Big Bird. When Matt Vogel was younger he could do the voice, but now it just sounds too rubbery, deep, nasally and cartoonish (if that makes sense.)

I think Jacobsen does a good Oscar, but I'm sorry, I don't buy Vogel as Big Bird. It doesn't feel like the character should feel. Feels more like Barney and less like a 6 year old.

Perhaps Noel Macneal or Peter Linz? (who have both performed Big Bird when Spinney and Vogel were not available.)