| The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Gary Halvorson |
| Produced by | Kevin Clash Frank Oz Brian Henson Martin G. Baker |
| Written by | Mitchell Kriegman Joey Mazzarino |
| Starring | Kevin Clash Mandy Patinkin Vanessa L. Williams |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | John Fenner |
| Editing by | Michael Jablaw |
| Studio | Jim Henson Pictures Children's Television Workshop |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 1, 1999 |
| Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$26 million[1] |
| Box office | $11,634,458[1] |
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (originally titled, and sometimes referred to, as Elmo in Grouchland) is the second theatrical feature-length film 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 Screen Gems Studios.
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The film opens with Ernie and Bert, who keep appearing throughout the movie, welcoming the audience and announcing The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, a movie about Elmo and his beloved blue blanket. However at a minute, 45 seconds, the countdown from 10 to 1 appears with the viewers counting backwards. After counting backwards from ten with the help of the audience, the movie's logo appears.
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 today, so he decides to make Zoe happy again by imitating certain zoo animals (a lion, a monkey, and a pig). When Zoe decides to play with his blanket, Elmo refuses to share, resulting in a tug-of-war that has Elmo's blanket ripped. Elmo and Zoe have a brief falling out; however Telly takes away the blanket while rollerskating out of control. The blanket 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 rejoin his blanket and begins a journey through Grouchland. He asks a kind girl named Grizzy to help in his quest, but she abandons him when she discovers that Huxley's house is on the top of the faraway Mount Pickanose.
Meanwhile, the Sesame Street residents notice Elmo's absence and go to Grouchland to find him, with help from Oscar. When Big Bird suggests to seek assistance from a policeman, he arrests the entire group, informing them that it is against Grouchland's laws to 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 attacked by a humongous chicken named "Tiny", but gets away. Soon night comes and he stops at a rock to rest, discouraged.
Eventually, 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 outraged by this and is determined to help set things right as well as admitting that Elmo is a 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 release the Sesame Street residents and aid them to go to Huxley's house to fight for their trash.
A caterpillar wakes up Elmo during his nap 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 come to his rescue. 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 is arrested after trying 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 reconciles with Zoe before letting her hold the blanket.
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 Seasame Street watchers and seasoned veterans."[2] On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 59/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]
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 $11,634,458 during its two-month theatrical run.[1]
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.
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