Thursday, August 2, 2012

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011)

Director: Constance Marks. Cast: Kevin Clash, Whoopi Goldberg (narrator), Frank Oz. 80 min. Rated PG. Documentary.

If you know Jim Henson, if you know the Muppets, if you've watched Sesame Street, or if you've ever been mesmerized by a puppet as a kid (so that includes everybody on planet Earth), ... you owe it to yourself to watch this - about Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo. I found myself glued to the screen, blown away by the amount of delicacy in designing every puppet, planning their every gesture, translating every human emotion into moving an inanimate object. If you think this is baby stuff, think again. And Jim Henson? What a loss. What a loss.

Mo says:

2 comments:

  1. I loved this documentary so much. Like everyone my age I grew up with the Muppet Show and was saddened by the death of Jim Henson.

    Kevin Clash's story is a real inspiration and this movie should be shown to all school kids and adults! I feel like making a puppet myself.

    It was sad that he missed out so much on his own daughter's life while bringing joy to so many kids but I suppose that is true of many dedicated artists.

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  2. Or many dedicated people of any profession! The kids are the ones who miss out first.

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