Product Description
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Loved by millions of children around the world, Elmo is an
international icon. However, few people know the soft-spoken man
behind the furry red monster: Kevin Clash.
Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY
follows Clash's remarkable career, while also offering a
behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson
Workshop. As a teenager growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s,
Clash had very different aspirations from his classmates - he
wanted to be a part of Henson's team, the creative force
responsible for delivering the magic of Sesame Street on a daily
basis. With a supportive family behind him, Kevin made his dreams
come true.
Featuring interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O'Donnell, Cheryl
Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and Clash himself, filmmaker Constance
Marks's inful and personal documentary tells the story of
one of the world's most adored and recognizable characters and
the visionary behind the icon.
.com
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This captivating documentary is both a follow-your-dreams story
and a gently intriguing backstage glimpse at a side of show
business that has occupied a hallowed place in popular culture
since 1969. That was the year Sesame Street premiered on the
fledgling Public Broadcasting Service, quickly launching a breed
of beloved anthropomorphic plush characters that have held a
singular place in the hearts of a couple generations now: the
Muppets. The subject is Kevin Clash, a Baltimore native who
obsessively carried his early knack for puppetry from his
hometown's local airwaves to network television in New York
before settling into the comfortable throne he occupies as
royalty in the puppeteer kingdom. As the title says, Clash's
masterstroke was bringing to life the Muppet hero Elmo, a
childlike embodiment of love who became a celebrity to millions
of kids and grownups irresistibly drawn to the fuzzy red ball of
hug-hungry innocence. Along the way Elmo also became the bane of
parents who sometimes had to fight for a facsimile figure during
the holidays when Tickle Me Elmo became one of those
lightning-strike toy sensations that every child had to have. We
learn a lot about Elmo and the journey that character experienced
under the spotlight, but much more about Clash, whose seemingly
charmed life unfolded like a grownup fairy tale. Clash's destiny
as a performer, producer, director, teacher, mentor, and
enchanter seemed to be secured from the moment he took scissors
to his her's overcoat at age 10 in order to construct his
first puppet. Starting on TV in Baltimore, then on the pioneering
kids' show Captain Kangaroo, and finally as an essential figure
in the Sesame Street universe, Clash breezed through all the
right doors as they magically opened before him. His biggest
break came when he befriended puppet engineer Kermit Love, and
then Love's boss, Muppet master Jim Henson. Clash's single-minded
focus was aided significantly by his genuine talent for the
construction, physical styling, and voice-finding genius in
bringing his creations to life. Through extensive interview
segments and archival footage that follows Clash through nearly
every step of his journey, the process of finding that voice
entails not just figuring out what each puppet should sound like,
but more importantly discovering the soul of the fleece-and-foam
being that grows from the puppeteer's arm. Finding Elmo was part
accident--another cast member on Sesame Street tossed the nascent
puppet to Clash in frustration--and part divine intervention from
the gods of puppeteering. Clash's devotion to craft and the
unlearnable spark of his creative genius brought the simple joy
of Elmo to millions, and the gentle uncovering of those elements
is what makes Being Elmo such an inspiring tale. Its telling may
sometimes feel generic and the tone borders on fawning (Elmo and
Clash fan Whoopi Goldberg provides narration), but there's no
denying the simple, irrepressible joy that's a constant in the
movie, whether in the mind of Kevin Clash, in the smile of the
home viewer, or in the googly eyes of Elmo himself. --Ted Fry
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Review
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CRITICS' PICK! A winning tale of the persistence and creativity
behind one of the most famous and fuzziest faces in the world.
--Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
GRADE A! A MARVELOUS MOVIE! It's a documentary about Kevin Clash,
who became the voice and operator of Elmo, the tomato-red fur
ball and emissary of hugs who is without a doubt the most beloved
Muppet of his time. --Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Thumbs Up! --Roger Ebert, Ebert presents At The Movies
GRADE A! A MARVELOUS MOVIE! It's a documentary about Kevin Clash,
who became the voice and operator of Elmo, the tomato-red fur
ball and emissary of hugs who is without a doubt the most beloved
Muppet of his time. --Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Thumbs Up! --Roger Ebert, Ebert presents At The Movies
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