Another Kids' Guide to Life entry
Well, some may have forgotten about this thread- but I still remembered it- and I've finally gotten around to doing another review!!!
So here you have it-
A Sesame Street "Kids' Guide to Life" video- "Learning to Share"
It's a 1996 video with an approximate runtime of about 45 minutes according to the box (though the video itself says 50- take your pick)
This video guest stars Katie Couric!
This video starts with a quick live action clip of Katie hailing a taxi to Sesame Street- like the others in the series.
-The video then has the "Kids' Guide to Life" theme song with the video being culled from various live action movies on Sesame Street throughout the years.
-Another thing to note- the back of the box inexplicably has the songs listed out of order!
Anyway- on to the
Plot-
Elmo is playing with his toy train in front of the Fix It Shop and he's so much into it that he barely notices Tara (the little girl in the wheelchair) greeting him- who then greets Maria and joins her in the Fix It Shop.
New Song- Elmo sings a song called "This Is My Train" which is all about how he loves trains. (has live action video clips of trains interspersed.)
Note the chief lyric- "This is Elmo's train!"
Zoey comes along and asks to play with Elmo's train and he starts freaking out and finally says "No!" He says he's scared she'll break it. Elmo emphasizes that it's HIS.
In the store, Maria and Tara are fixing a TV and watching Elmo and Zoe "playing together nicely".
They try out the TV and ind "Cooperation Today" on with their most famous cooperator- Katie Couric interviewing Jack and Jill. They argue about who will tell her what they're doing until Katie suggests doing it together. They keep arguing about who will carry the pail- Katie suggests doing it together- but they don't listen- and Jack breaks his crown and Jill comes tumbling after. Katie explains how they can hold it together and this time they do it and actually get water!
-Meanwhile, Zoe and Elmo are still arguing about the train. (Elmo sings brief reprise of "This Is My Train") Zoe gets upset and is about to go home, when Elmo suddenly gets those two voices of good and evil in his head. And Elmo finally decides to share so he can play with his friend. Elmo does the "chugga chugga" and Zoe does the "Whoo Whoo" and wears the engineer's hat. They find some old banana peels and put them in the train to take them to Oscar.
Classic Song-
Cookie Monster and monster friend have to share one cookie- and Cookie Monster sings that great song, "What Is a Friend?"- in which Cookie Monster actually gives up the last cookie for his friend!!! I love this song- this is basically Cookie Monster's version of John 15:13!
-Of course, he decides to eat the wall instead!
Back on "Cooperation Today", Katie inteviews the three little pigs, who are building houses of straw, sticks and bricks when the big bad wolf comes along. Katie suggests cooperating to make one house- but the pigs won't listen until the wolf remembers his lines and blows the straw and stick houses down. Then the pigs go to work on making a brick house together while the wolf is distracted by a phone call on Katie's cellular phone- from Little Red Riding Hood! When he's done, the pigs are done too- and the house stands firm!
- Classic song- "Two Heads are Better Than One"- with the Two-Headed Monster and Herry Monster!!!
On the street- Elmo and Zoe are playing with the train and have made it to Mr. Hooper's Store. (Another brief reprise of Elmo singing "This Is My Train")
Zoey wants a turn pushing train- and Elmo has another conversation with the voices. And he decides to trade with Zoe- but only for 2 seconds and then demands his turn again. Zoe says they should have equal turns and then Elmo agrees.
- Classic song- "Sharing" with Grover and Prairie Dawn!!! (on a park bench sharing a sandwich and raisins)
-On the street- Big Bird is building a tower out of blocks in the arbor area and Big Bird notices the train is headed toward his tower. He yells out for Elmo and Zoe to stop but they don't hear him in time- and the train knocks down his tower by accident. Big Bird gets very upset about it and yells at them about it as Elmo and Zoe try to apologize- Big Bird finally calms down and forgives them- and then they realize that the blocks and train go together- and they decide to make tracks out of the blocks to lead to Oscar's trash can.
New song- "Share" is sung with Elmo, Zoe and Big Bird
-Back in the "Cooperation Today" set- Katie is about to show us how people cooperate internationally, when an anything Muppet interrupts her with a breaking story on Sesame Street of cooperating and sharing! She rushes back to Sesame Street to cover it live. (This is where we see the clip of Katie hailing a taxi for Sesame Street)
Big Bird, Zoe and Elmo make it to Oscar's trash can and Katie arrives to interview them. Then they give Oscar the banana peels. (Oscar refers to them as the cheerful monsters and the big yellow turkey) And Grungetta and Oscar both pop up. Oscar gets upset about hearing Elmo tell him about cooperation because grouches hate cooperation- but then he thanks Elmo when he gives him the peels. And Oskie (as Grungetta calls him here) even shares with Grungetta and gives her one. But imagine his chagrin and how upset Oscar gets when he finds out he was caught sharing on national TV! He and Grungetta slink off.
And then Jack and Jill and the 3 pigs show up to tell Katie about how cooperating worked for them.
And then-
New song- "Cooperation Song" with Big Bird, Zoey, Elmo, Jack and Jill, 3 pigs and Katie Couric singing it.
-At the end- Katie Couric sits on the railing of the 123 stoop and gives parents a special message about sharing and cooperation with their little kids. Zoe and Elmo run by playing here and there throughout it. At the end, Zoe and Elmo argue about whose turn it is to talk- then tell Katie they were just kidding- and the say "Good bye" together!
Credits roll with reprise of "Cooperation Song" playing and video clips from video rolling. I think I spotted Gaby somewhere in the clips as one of the kids on the street.
-And then there's a special offer from Sesame Street Magazine!
- Okay- so overall I thought this was a great entry for the "Kids' Guide to Life" series and definitely a great Sesame Street video overall. This is probably one of the best "Kids' Guide to Life" videos- as it has quite a few classic songs and even classic characters!
Maria is the only Sesame Street human in it and she has a brief role. Katie Couric does a large part of guest starring- but doesn't overshadow the Muppets. Nice to have Big Bird included with Elmo and Zoe so it isn't just centered on them. And it was way cool to have both Oscar and even Grungetta show up!
And yes, there's some other songs that could have been used- but I haven't seen these particular songs with Herry, the Two-Headed Monster, Grover and Prairie Dawn in a long time! And I love the Cookie Monster song too!
All in all- it's a great video that accomplishes what it sets out to do- and includes some nice classic clips along the way.
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