Big Bird in China

  • Caroll Spinney: Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch
  • Brian Muehl: Barkley, Telly Monster
  • Frank Oz: Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover
  • Jerry Nelson: Two Headed Monster ( head one)
  • Richard Hunt: Two Headed Monster ( Two Head )
  • Jim Henson: Ernie
  • Ouyang Lianzi: Xiao Foo
  • Katherine Lakoski: Singing Fenghuang
  • Yes Lu -Lin: Laughing Fenghuang

Big Bird in China is a children's film by Jon Stone, who was created in 1983 under cooperation of the U.S. film production company Children's Television Workshop and the Chinese state television China Central Television. The film is based on the television series Sesame Street and is the first Sesame Street Special, which plays outside the United States and was shot.

Action

Big Bird is located in a Chinatown, where he discovered a dealer with an old document with the mythical bird Fenghuang it. The dealer stated that the bird lives in China and is hard to find. There have four locations shown on the font to be visited, where the Monkey King Sun Wukong is a reference for identifying Fenghuangs. Together with the dog Barkley travels Big Bird then in a small boat to China. Once there, they learn the girl Xiao Foo know which accompanied them on their journey. The trail leads them to Beijing to sights like the Great Wall or the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong at the stations, they shall each take the monkey king who will assist them to find Fenghuangs. Along the way they encounter school children or dancers and learn the chicken dance and a song to learn Chinese words. In the end, they learn of Fenghuang, which were passed through the stations a plan from him, so Big Bird learns all about China, after which they return home.

In a subplot Oscar the Grouch is also seeking to reach China by digs through his garbage can out there. When he finally arrived, he located the land for boring and returns back immediately.

Background

In his memoirs, describes the players of Big Bird by Caroll Spinney, as he had come up with the idea for a Sesame Street special in China. His first stay was in 1979 as part of a TV show, the Bob Hope turned in China and in various vaudeville artists and musicians played and also Big Bird made ​​an appearance. This performance inspired him to initiate a Sesame Street broadcast from that country. Was erstausgestrahlt In the same year as the film appeared on NBC also a children's book of the same name under the leadership of Jon Stone.

Reception

Reviews of the film after its premiere in May 1983 fell from predominantly critical. While Arthur Unger to determine in The Christian Science Monitor contented that Big Bird had to endure only in moderation, Tom Shales noted in The Washington Post that both the sending Bob Hope and Big Bird in China in the audience left the impression, the main activity in China consisted of the performance of folk dances. In addition, Ronald Reagan had never been to China, Big Bird, however, twice, giving the impression could be created that Big Bird is a kind of semi- official representative of the Foreign Ministry. Richard Stengle criticized in the time that the film in no way reflects contemporary China and normalities such as cities full of cyclists in favor of a mythical China fade. The film also frequently show images of children that act scared when they see the grotesque appearance of Big Bird.

Awards

Big Bird in China was awarded at the Emmy Awards 1983 Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program. In the category of Outstanding Video Tape Editing - Limited Series or Special, the film was nominated.

1983 in film Screenplay Film score Richard Hunt (puppeteer)
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