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It's been a month and such a thread hasn't been started. I just got it recently, so I thought we'd start a thread about The Best of Elmo 2.
I don't think it was very bad, though it's not the best Sesame Street direct-to-video release. It's a lot better than Being Green and Cookie Monster's Best Bites, but not as good as A Celebration of Me, Grover. I'd say it's just as good as the first Best of Elmo.
The Memorybot is an interesting character, as is the Memorybot's inventor, Dr. Sigmund Sillystuff, who is voiced by Jerry Nelson and sounds a bit like The Count, though the voice sounds softer to me (in fact at times I feel like he doesn't sound like any Jerry Nelson character... Not sure whether it has to do with him performing the voice live on the set, though I think The Count does sound like his usual self in recent appearances). I still think that THIS should have been a 40th anniversary special, though I guess it's possible they were trying to save money on only five performers (only five are credited for the new footage, including Jerry Nelson, and two of those five don't have any major characters of their own). Though I only assume that performers get paid more for new performances than residuals.
As has been addressed previously, this DVD has way too many celebrity guest appearances from the show, some of which hardly even feature Elmo. Only four of the segments do not contain any celebrities, and I don't remember seeing any of those previously. I think my favorite of these non-celebrity segments is Be Doodle Dum, a real catchy song (and I think that's the oldest segment on the DVD). I REALLY like the way the characters look in that segment. Elmo's Riding is also a good segment, but I don't care too much for Elmo's Ducks or Planets, Moon, and Stars.
With all the celebrities included, I am surprised that none of them are pictured on the packaging. Some of them are mentioned in the description on the back, but it's also surprising that they didn't try to work their names onto the front of the cover (there are Sesame Street DVDs that listed celebrities on the front covers, like All-Star Alphabet). Four of the segments included were just recently released as part of Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days. I wish they would have chosen to include more unreleased segments besides those, or at least more that hadn't been released so recently (that seems to be a trend with many of Warner Home Video's releases).
My favorites of the chosen celebrity appearances include Adam Sandler's "Song About Elmo", Jack Black explaining "disguise" (and I'm not a big fan of "The Word of the Street" explanation segments), and Ray Charles' singing "Believe in Yourself" (we should be thankful that the N*SYNC version was ommitted). I had remembered seeing that long ago but forgot what the song was (the only thing I remembered was the introduction, with Ray explaining to Elmo that he's blind and had to read sheet music with his fingers... In fact since he's blind I guess he needed to study the sheet music before playing, as he needed both hands to play the piano). I am appalled that Jason Mraz's "Outdoors" was included (couldn't they have just released an outdoors-themed DVD and include that segment there?). And of course I wish that one or two of Elmo's appearances with Kermit was included (since Sesame Workshop sometimes refers to Kermit as "Sesame Street's #1 guest star", couldn't they have just listed him as one of the video's celebrities?).
The packaging says it has stuff for "Elmo fans, old and new"... If that were true then this should have had some of Elmo's 1980s sketches. I think I'll give this DVD 3 and a half stars.
Also, this is the first DVD I've seen that contains a trailer for the 40th anniversary DVD (which appears in the "previews" feature... The DVD also contaisn previews for two Sesame Street DVDs before the main feature, and two promos after the end credits).
I don't think it was very bad, though it's not the best Sesame Street direct-to-video release. It's a lot better than Being Green and Cookie Monster's Best Bites, but not as good as A Celebration of Me, Grover. I'd say it's just as good as the first Best of Elmo.
The Memorybot is an interesting character, as is the Memorybot's inventor, Dr. Sigmund Sillystuff, who is voiced by Jerry Nelson and sounds a bit like The Count, though the voice sounds softer to me (in fact at times I feel like he doesn't sound like any Jerry Nelson character... Not sure whether it has to do with him performing the voice live on the set, though I think The Count does sound like his usual self in recent appearances). I still think that THIS should have been a 40th anniversary special, though I guess it's possible they were trying to save money on only five performers (only five are credited for the new footage, including Jerry Nelson, and two of those five don't have any major characters of their own). Though I only assume that performers get paid more for new performances than residuals.
As has been addressed previously, this DVD has way too many celebrity guest appearances from the show, some of which hardly even feature Elmo. Only four of the segments do not contain any celebrities, and I don't remember seeing any of those previously. I think my favorite of these non-celebrity segments is Be Doodle Dum, a real catchy song (and I think that's the oldest segment on the DVD). I REALLY like the way the characters look in that segment. Elmo's Riding is also a good segment, but I don't care too much for Elmo's Ducks or Planets, Moon, and Stars.
With all the celebrities included, I am surprised that none of them are pictured on the packaging. Some of them are mentioned in the description on the back, but it's also surprising that they didn't try to work their names onto the front of the cover (there are Sesame Street DVDs that listed celebrities on the front covers, like All-Star Alphabet). Four of the segments included were just recently released as part of Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days. I wish they would have chosen to include more unreleased segments besides those, or at least more that hadn't been released so recently (that seems to be a trend with many of Warner Home Video's releases).
My favorites of the chosen celebrity appearances include Adam Sandler's "Song About Elmo", Jack Black explaining "disguise" (and I'm not a big fan of "The Word of the Street" explanation segments), and Ray Charles' singing "Believe in Yourself" (we should be thankful that the N*SYNC version was ommitted). I had remembered seeing that long ago but forgot what the song was (the only thing I remembered was the introduction, with Ray explaining to Elmo that he's blind and had to read sheet music with his fingers... In fact since he's blind I guess he needed to study the sheet music before playing, as he needed both hands to play the piano). I am appalled that Jason Mraz's "Outdoors" was included (couldn't they have just released an outdoors-themed DVD and include that segment there?). And of course I wish that one or two of Elmo's appearances with Kermit was included (since Sesame Workshop sometimes refers to Kermit as "Sesame Street's #1 guest star", couldn't they have just listed him as one of the video's celebrities?).
The packaging says it has stuff for "Elmo fans, old and new"... If that were true then this should have had some of Elmo's 1980s sketches. I think I'll give this DVD 3 and a half stars.
Also, this is the first DVD I've seen that contains a trailer for the 40th anniversary DVD (which appears in the "previews" feature... The DVD also contaisn previews for two Sesame Street DVDs before the main feature, and two promos after the end credits).
