The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gary Halvorson
Written by	Mitchell Kriegman Joey Mazzarino
Produced by	Kevin Clash Frank Oz Brian Henson Martin G. Baker
Starring	Kevin Clash Mandy Patinkin Vanessa L. Williams
Cinematography	John Fenner
Edited by	Michael Jablaw
Music by	John Debney
Production companies	Jim Henson Pictures Children's Television Workshop
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 1, 1999 (1999-10-01)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$11,683,047

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (originally titled, and sometimes referred to, as Elmo in Grouchland) is the second theatrical feature-length film (the first being Follow That Bird) starring the cast of the popular U.S. children's series Sesame Street. Produced by Jim Henson Pictures in association with the Children's Television Workshop and released by Columbia Pictures on October 1, 1999, the film co-stars Mandy Patinkin and Vanessa L. Williams. The film was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina at EUE/Screen Gems. This was the last Muppet film to be theatrically released until 2011's The Muppets.

Plot

Elmo is playing with his blanket in his house. Suddenly, after he bumps his blanket on a juice cup and after drying off his blanket at the Laundromat, Elmo sees Zoe feeling sad because her father cannot take her to the zoo, so he decides to make Zoe happy again by imitating certain zoo animals (a lion, a monkey, and a pig). When Zoe sees his blanket, Elmo refuses to share, resulting in a tug-of-war that has Elmo's blanket ripped (a little). Elmo is furious. Suddenly, Telly inadvertently takes away the blanket while rollerskating out of control. They go around Finders Keepers and knock over tray of drinks Ruthie was carrying. The blanket unintentionally lands in the hands of Oscar the Grouch, who drops it in his trash can after sneezing on it. Elmo drops into the bottom of Oscar's trash can, where he finds the blanket nailed to a door. But they are both teleported to Grouchland, where a greedy man named Huxley (Mandy Patinkin) steals anything he can grab – including Elmo's blanket. Elmo is determined to find his blanket and begins a journey through Grouchland. He asks a kind girl named Grizzy to help in his quest, but she later abandons him when Elmo discovers that Huxley's house is on the top of the faraway Mount Pickanose.

Meanwhile, Telly and Oscar inform the Sesame Street residents of Elmo's absence and go to Grouchland to find him, with help from Oscar. When Big Bird finds a policeman and asks him for help, the entire group is arrested by him, informing them that it is against Grouchland's laws to ask for help.

Meanwhile, Huxley's sidekick Bug and 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 L. Williams). He leaves her dump by giving the queen 100 raspberries in 30 seconds. Elmo succeeds and continues walking to Huxley's house. He is then chased by a humongous chicken named "Tiny", but gets away. When night comes, he stops at a rock to rest, discouraged.

When Grizzy learns of the Sesame Street friends being arrested for asking for help in Grouchland, she tells them of Elmo's location in Huxley's house. Oscar is convinced to help set things right as well as admitting that Elmo is his friend. Oscar convinces the Grouch Policeman and all the Grouches of Grouchland that, even though Grouches hate cooperation, just for once, they have to take a stand against Huxley from stealing any more of their stuff, and taking light to this problem, the Grouch Policeman releases the Sesame Street residents and aid them to go to Huxley's house to fight for their trash.

A caterpillar wakes up Elmo the next morning on the rock. He gives Elmo advice to look inside his body and he'll see that he'll be brave. He then makes it to Huxley's before he could make Elmo's blanket his blanket. However, Huxley prevents Elmo from escaping by grabbing him with a claw and deciding to label them "MINE." Just as Elmo is about to face the fate of never seeing his friends again, the Sesame Street and the Grouchland citizens appear. Bug takes Elmo's blanket from Huxley and turns against him as Elmo catapults a basket over his shoulders. Bug then gives Elmo his blanket back and Huxley tries to change his mind about his selfishness. Elmo is hailed a hero by the Sesame Street and Grouchland citizens. Elmo, happy to get his blanket back, goes with his friends back to his own world and apoligizes to Zoe for his selfishness before letting her hold the blanket. Elmo says goodbye to the audience when Ernie and Bert told the kids to give themselves a round of applause until they went back home before the credits begin.

Cast

• Kevin Clash as Elmo
• Mandy Patinkin as Huxley, the primary antagonist of the film. He is a man whose hobby is going into Grouchland and stealing from the town.
• Vanessa L. Williams as Mrs. Huxley, the Queen of Trash; she at first, has a cocky attitude, and thinks Elmo is unworthy, but later discovers he is worthy, with help.
• Joey Mazzarino as Bug. At first, he serves as Huxley's henchman, but when Elmo sees the good side in him, he becomes Elmo's friend.
• Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Grizzy. A female grouch who befriends Elmo and helps him get to Huxley.
• Steve Whitmire as Ernie, one of the hosts, alongside Bert.
• Frank Oz as Bert, the other host.

Sesame Street actors

• Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly as Gina
• Ruth Buzzi as Ruthie
• Emilio Delgado as Luis
• Loretta Long as Susan
• Sonia Manzano as Maria
• Bob McGrath as Bob
• Roscoe Orman as Gordon

Muppet performers

• Fran Brill as Zoe, Pestie, and Prairie Dawn
• Kevin Clash as Pestie, Grouch Jailer, and Grouch Cab Driver
• Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Pestie
• Dave Goelz as Humongous Chicken
• Jerry Nelson as Count von Count, Pestie, Grouch Mayor, Grouch Cop, and the voice of Mr. Johnson
• Carmen Osbahr as Rosita
• Frank Oz as Grover and Cookie Monster
• Martin P. Robinson as Telly Monster, Laundromat Manager, and Pestie
• David Rudman as Baby Bear, Alarm Clock Bird, Fat Blue, Caterpillar, Pestie, Collander Stenchman, Ice Cream Customer, Various Grouches, and Mr. Johnson
• Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
• Matt Vogel as Big Bird (understudy; puppetry in some scenes)
• Steve Whitmire as Stuckweed, Football Stenchman, Ice Cream Vendor, and Parrot

Reception

The film received positive reviews, with a 77% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states "This fun and moral tale entertains both first-time Sesame Street watchers and seasoned veterans." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 59/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Box office

The film performed poorly theatrically, despite the popularity of Sesame Street and the Elmo character. Despite being the only family film playing in most theaters at the time of its release, Sony had planned a very scaled-back release, opening in a only a slightly-wide release making it difficult to make its money back. 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 earned back less than half its $26 million budget, grossing $11,683,047 during its two-and-a-half-month theatrical run. It is currently the lowest-grossing Muppet film to date.

Scene Selections

1. Program Start

2. Main Title

3. Elmo's Favorite Thing

4. Together Forever

5. Zoe

6. Runaway Blanket

7. Have a Nice Trip

8. Welcome to Grouchland

9. Huxley

10. Grizzy

11. An Important Meeting

12. Where's Elmo

13. Bug Looks at Elmo and Grizzy

14. Mt. Pickanose

15. Take the First Step

16. Against the Law

17. Into the Tunnel Trap

18. Fire Flies

19. Huxley's Blanket

20. Mine

21. Construction Zone

22. Tresspassing

23. I See A Kingdom

24. Elmo's Not Like Huxley

25. Giant Chicken

26. Grouch Potatoes

27. Look Inside

28. Huxley's Clutches

29. Friends Forever

30. End Credits

Book series

The film inspired a trilogy of children's books, published in 1999: 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 at IMDb
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland at AllMovie
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland at Box Office Mojo
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland at Metacritic

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland on Muppet Wiki