| Big Bird in China | |
|---|---|
Big Bird in China video cassette cover |
|
| Directed by | Jon Stone |
| Produced by |
Kuo Bao-Xiang |
| Written by |
Joseph A. Bailey |
| Music by | Dick Lieb |
| Editing by | Ken Gutstein |
| Distributed by | Children's Television Workshop |
| Release date(s) | May 29, 1983 |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Box office | $14,093,284 |
Big Bird in China was a 1983 special produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and CCTV. It was originally broadcast on May 29, 1983 on NBC.[1] The special was based on the popular television series Sesame Street. Big Bird, Barkley and Little Xiao Fu travel through China to find Feng Huang, the Phoenix bird.
The story starts in New York's China Town where Big Bird spies an old scroll with a picture of a beautiful phoenix on it. The shop keeper explains that the phoenix is magical and lives in China. It won't be easy to find and Big Bird will have to find the four places pictured on the scroll, and in each place he'll get a clue from a monkey to find the phoenix. There is a sand timer which he must beat in solving the clues given by the monkey. Big Bird thinks "Well, what a good thing it would be if a great big American bird went to meet that beautiful Chinese bird! I mean, she could tell me everything about China, and then I could come home and tell everybody here!" So, he sets out with Barkley on a boat and makes it to China.
Highlights include Chinese landmarks like the Great Wall of China and Beijing, Big Bird learning the "little duckling dance", and a song to teach Chinese words. A character called The Monkey King appears in the special; despite an appearance that has scared many youngsters, he helps Big Bird and Xiao Fu in their quest. Big Bird wears a tie for the entire movie which is a change from his normal appearance. Oscar decides to try to dig his way to China from his trash can and when he gets to China he finds it boring and goes straight home.
The production was released onto DVD February 10, 2004. The DVD lacks about a minute of the original production, in which Big Bird is looking for someone who speaks "American," though it can be seen on the VHS version).
Contents |
In his memoir, Caroll Spinney (the puppeteer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch) notes that he was inspired to pitch the special to CTW after visiting China on a tour with Bob Hope.[2] This first trip was to film the Bob Hope on the Road to China, a two hour NBC special airing September 16, 1979. The special featured Big Bird, along with the likes of Shields & Yarnell and Mikhail Baryshnikov with musical numbers by Peaches & Herb and Crystal Gayle.[3] It was produced by James Lipton.[4]
Spinney devised the storyline and suggested locations for Big Bird in China. However, the program's credits do not acknowledge this and instead state, "Created by Jon Stone". Spinney also notes that, when filming on location in Beijing, Guilin, and Suzhou, he experienced much tension and difficulty due to animosity from Stone.