Synopsis
Big Bird is sent to live far from Sesame Street by a pesky social worker, who thinks it would be better for him to live with other birds. Unhappy, Big Bird runs away from his foster home, prompting the rest of the Sesame Street gang to go on a cross-country journey to find him.
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Cast
- Caroll SpinneyBig Bird / Oscar the Grouch / Bruno the Trashman (voice)
- Jim HensonKermit the Frog / Ernie (voice)
- Frank OzCookie Monster / Bert / Grover / Additional Muppets (voice)
- Richard HuntGladys the Cow / Feathered Friends Owl / Additional Muppets / Grouches (voice)
- Kathryn MullenFeathered Friends Magistrate / Grouch Diner Patron / Little Girl / Additional Muppets (voice)
- Jerry NelsonCount von Count / Herry Monster / Additional Muppets (voice)
- Paul BartelGrouch Cook
- Sandra BernhardGrouch Waitress
- Waylon JenningsTruck Driver
- Laraine NewmanMommy Dodo (voice)
Recommendations
- 88
Miami Herald
I like Sesame Street a lot, and this is the first time that they have made a real movie, not a television show, and I think they should make another one soon. [02 Aug 1985, p.C5] - 80
Washington Post
This first film from Sesame Street is this summer's sweetest surprise, a wholly good-natured children's comedy with enough wit and whimsy left over to win parents' hearts, too. Like the TV series, it's not violent, not threatening and not to be missed. [02 Aug 1985, p.23] - 75
The A.V. Club
Follow That Bird isn’t really the most memorable movie in terms of music or storyline—there’s a reason you don’t remember any of the songs from the movie like you do the ones from Sesame Street, the show—but it contains moments, both comical and tragic, that are absolutely indelible. - 63
Slant Magazine
While kids will and have enjoyed the film as a sweet-and-occasionally-exciting road trip with all their favorite Sesame Street friends, parents are presented with far deeper themes to consider. - 60
The New York Times
The teaching of letters and numbers, for which Sesame Street is famous, is played down here in favor of messages about getting along. - 60
Variety
Simple premise has the slightly goofy yellow, eight-foot fowl Big Bird taken away from Sesame Street by the officious Miss Finch so he can grow up among his own kind, a bird family named the Dodos, in Oceanview, Ill. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
Naturally, Big Bird meets some intriguing people going East. Lots of cameos are here to delight parents who take the kids to see this movie. - 50
Chicago Tribune
The script of Follow That Bird simply plays like a TV vignette blown up to movie size, failing to fill both the screen and our imagination. [06 Aug 1985, p.5C]
