The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
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| The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland | |
|---|---|
 The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland movie poster | |
| Directed by | Gary Halvorson |
| Written by | Mitchell Kriegman Joey Mazzarino |
| Produced by | Alex Rockwell Marjorie Kalins Co-Producer: Timothy M. Bourne Kevin Clash Executive Producer: Stephanie Allain Brian Henson Martin G. Baker |
| Starring | Kevin Clash Fran Brill Jerry Nelson Carmen Osbahr Martin P. Robinson David Rudman Caroll Spinney Steve Whitmire Frank Oz |
| Cinematography | Alan Caso |
| Edited by | Alan Baumgarten |
| Music by | John Debney Martin Erskine Michael A. Reagan |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Jim Henson Pictures Children's Television Workshop |
Release dates | October 1, 1999 |
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$26,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $11,634,458 |
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (sometimes referred to as Elmo in Grouchland) was the second theatrical feature-length film based on the characters of the popular television series Sesame Street (after 1985's Follow That Bird). It co-starred Mandy Patinkin and Vanessa L. Williams. This film was produced by Jim Henson Pictures in association with the Children's Television Workshop, and released to movie theatres on October 1, 1999 by Columbia Pictures. It was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina rather than New York City and had a soundtrack on CD and cassette with songs from the "wiggly big show". The story was by Mitchell Kriegman and screenplay by Mitchell Kriegman and Joey Mazzarino.
The film opens in which Ernie and Bert try to the start the movie. However, the countdown from 10 to 1 appears when the viewers count backwards.
Plot
Elmo is on Sesame Street in New York City. Oscar drops Elmo's special blanket into his trash can and Elmo dives into the can to retrieve his blanket. But the two have gone through a door that takes them to Grouchland. There, a greedy man named Huxley steals anything in Grouchland and takes Elmo's blanket. Elmo is determined to rejoin his blanket and begins his journey. He asks a kind girl named Grizzy to help Elmo get back his blanket. However, Grizzy eventually decides to stop helping because Huxley's house is on the top of the faraway Mount Pickanose, leaving Elmo on his own. All the people from Sesame Street come to Grouchland to get Elmo back. When they seek assistance from a policeman, he arrests them and informs them that "It's against the law to ask for help in Grouchland!" And, instead of saying, "You have the right to remain silent." He said, "You have the right to scream your head off..."
The Pesties trap Elmo in a tunnel using a trap door. However, he gets out with the help of fireflies. Then, he meets the Queen of Trash (Vanessa Williams). He leaves her dump by solving an ultimate challenge- giving the queen 100 raspberries in 30 seconds. Elmo succeeds and continues walking to Huxley's house. He is then attacked by a humongous chicken, but gets away. Soon night comes and he stops at a rock to rest, discouraged.
The Sesame Street muppets and the citizens of Grouchland then go to Huxley's house to fight for their trash.
A caterpillar wakes up Elmo during his nap on the rock. He tells Elmo to look inside his body and he'll see he will be brave. Soon Elmo gets his blanket back from Huxley. The Pesties try to stop Elmo, but the citizens and Sesame Street muppets defeat their efforts. Elmo, happy to get back his blanket, goes with the Sesame Street muppets back to his own town. Elmo apologizes to Zoe for not sharing his blanket and hurting her feelings earlier and lets her hold it.
At the end of the film, Ernie and Bert leave. Bert sees some credits and Ernie tells him to leave.
Main Cast
- Mandy Patinkin as Huxley
- Vanessa L. Williams as Queen of Trash
Voice cast
- Kevin Clash as Elmo, Grouch Cab Driver, Pestie, and Grouch Jailer
- Fran Brill as Zoe, Pestie and Prairie Dawn
- Jerry Nelson as Count von Count, Grouch Mayor, Grouch Cop, Pestie, and Mr. Johnson
- Carmen Osbahr as Rosita
- Martin P. Robinson as Telly Monster, Pestie, and Laundromat Manager
- David Rudman as Baby Bear, Ice Cream Customer, Pestie, Colander Stenchman, The Caterpillar and Alarm Clock Bird
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
- Steve Whitmire as Ernie, Sharon Groan, Stuckweed, Football Stenchman, and Bad Humor Man
- Frank Oz as Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster
- Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Pestie, and Grizzy
- Dave Goelz as Humongous Chicken
- Joey Mazzarino as Bug
Sesame Street Human Cast
- Ruth Buzzi as Ruthie
- Alison Bartlett O'Reilly as Gina
- Emilio Delgado as Luis
- Bob McGrath as Bob
- Loretta Long as Susan
- Sonia Manzano as Maria
- Roscoe Orman as Gordon
Shorts
In 1999, the first short was "Elmo's Song" right before the film. It went platinum and in 2000, it won a Grammy Award for Best Known Film Recordings and Children.
The short starred Elmo, Rosita, Baby Bear, a lamb, and Snuffy. It ran for 6 minutes long, because it debuted before the film in a movie theater. In this short, Snuffy chases the meatball and Mary's little lamb and the little lamb bumps into Snuffy and falls down. A lamb says "I don't know", and Baby Bear and Rosita come when Snuffy tells that he just lost the meatball or it is nothing but mush by now, or Snuffy says good-bye. Elmo tells to Rosita and Baby Bear that Elmo taught the lots of kids today about songs and he got it on a camera, and suddenly, we hear a sound, and a lamb is scared, that Rosita tells that it is coming right far us, and they get out. A meatball runs on Sesame Street, and Snuffy says "No!" and Elmo is squashed by the meatball! Rosita and Baby Bear run towards the camera, and Rosita says that the meatball almost squashed Elmo, and Snuffy tells that friends are important than meatballs, and Elmo sings "Elmo's Song" with Rosita, Baby Bear, Snuffy and a lamb.[citation needed]
Reception
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This film received moderately positive reviews (76% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a (C on boxofficemojo.com). The film performed poorly theatrically, despite the popularity of Sesame Street and the Elmo character. The film faced stiff competition from mostly adult-oriented films, for at the time of its release, it was the only family film playing in most theaters. The film opened at #8, with a weekend gross of $3,255,033 from 1,210 theaters, averaging $2,690 per venue. In total, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland made about less than half of the budget, with a total of $11,634,458 (on a $26,000,000 budget) during its two-month theatrical run. Similarly, its companion piece Muppets From Space, released the same year, suffered the same fate and performed poorly theatrically as well.
Book series
The movie inspired a trilogy of children's books, published in 1999. These were: Happy Grouchy Day, The Grouchiest Lovey and Unwelcome to Grouchland. The book series was written by Suzanne Weyn and illustrated by Tom Brannon.
External links
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland on Muppet Wiki
