Bibos abenteuerliche Flucht (1985)

Bibos abenteuerliche Flucht: Directed by Ken Kwapis. With Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt. Big Bird is sent to live far from Sesame Street by a pesky social worker named Miss Finch. Unhappy, he runs away from there, prompting the rest of the Sesame Street gang to go on a cross-country journey to find him.

“The bird adoption agency comes across the case of Big Bird – who lives alone with no other birds around him. Working for the agency, Miss Finch convinces Bird to leave Sesame Street and move across America to live with the Dodo Family. When Bird misses his friends he leaves his new home to walk back home – not aware of how far it is. On his journey he meets many people, but several groups are out looking for him too – including all his friends from Sesame Street, a pair of circus owners and none other than Miss Finch herself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSesame Street is the benchmark for childrenu0026#39;s television forever as far as Iu0026#39;m concerned – educational and entertaining, it did such a good job that it took me years of school before I stopped pronouncing Z `zeeu0026#39; and did it properly as `zedu0026#39;. This film version turns off the straight educational part of the service but ups the entertainment. The plot is a good excuse for a freewheeling adventure that has plenty of laughs. Big Birdu0026#39;s sections are a little slower, truth be told, but the supporting searches are very light and funny – Bird has to carry the message so itu0026#39;s fair it should be less funny.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe message takes over the educational stuff and is a nicely put one about accepting differences and still being friends. It isnu0026#39;t heavily made until the end, where the `with your own kindu0026#39; argument is hammered home. This is a little heavy handed but can be forgiven due to the level of enjoyment the film gives. While not aiming at adults per se, the film has plenty for them – the humour never aims low but should be enjoyed by adults and children alike. The funniest `adultu0026#39; laugh is accidental and is where Maria turns to Sandra Bernhard and says `Iu0026#39;d like a tossed saladu0026#39;! Unintentional laugh of course as the `otheru0026#39; meaning of that wasnu0026#39;t really known in the early 80u0026#39;s! Sorry – Iu0026#39;m just twisted! Outside of that the biggest laugh I had that kids wonu0026#39;t get was the homage to North By Northwestu0026#39;s crop duster scene.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast is great. All the old Muppets from the street are here, although it may upset young fans to see Elmo sidelined to a silent appearance at a window but the rest are good stuff. Bird himself is a little dry but the rest are very funny in small amounts – Grover, Count, Cookie Monster and Oscar all had good lines, as did Ernie u0026amp; Bert, but Telly is kind of the Muppet nobody really likes! The human cast of Sesame Street are cheerful and light – as you would expect, but it is the good cameos that spice it up. Chase has a great moment, Kermit reprises his reporter role but is clearly too big for this movie, Kellerman, Candy and Flaherty all have very small roles, although Flaherty has the best song.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall this is a very enjoyable movie that is perfectly pitched for adults and children – without doing what Pixar do and separating the material for each taste. The songs are not that great and there is at least one poor one in there, but the film has a fun energy to it that is wholesome but still entertaining and has great dialogue from start to finish. Love it!”