User Reviews

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999): Dir: Gary Halvorson / Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa Williams, Roscoe Orman, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath: Question as to what is inside Oscar's trash can is answered as Elmo anxiously tumbles in after his blanket. He ends up in Grouchland where his cheery personality penetrates. The place is overpopulated with grouches with one common enemy in Mandy Patinkin. He takes ownership of everything he touches including Elmo's blanket. Director Gary Halvorson develops a colorful new world but the story is limited segments or episodes to test Elmo as he draws closer to his prize. Why Patinkin needs Elmo's blanket is something only a psychiatrist can answer but he is perfectly cast and never talks down at viewers. Vanessa Williams plays the Queen of trash given a lame task against Elmo but she manages to glimmer and be of good sport. Veteran performers from Sesame Street including Roscoe Orman as Gordon, Bob McGrath as Bob, and Sonia Manzano as Maria make appearances from the popular show and overact horribly. Elmo may be too annoying for adults but children will grasp the message of sharing and friendship. Grouches learn that there is much in life to smile about while adults may want no dealings in Grouchland. They may take time for that once school report cards are issued. Score: 7 / 10

My family and I saw this movie on video when I was younger, and I never knew it went to theaters. I thought it was a straight-to-video project. I never saw any advertisement for this. I saw one commercial for this movie after it came out on video, but I didn't learn this was a movie until a few years ago.

Elmo's best friend is his blanket. (I wonder how Dorothy felt about that.) Unfortunately his blanket gets torn by Zoe and falls into Oscar's trashcan. When Elmo tries to retrieve it, he gets sucked into an unknown land called Grouchland (that is, Grouchland, USA). Elmo finds that his blanket has been stolen by the evil Huxley. He seems to think that he can take whatever he wants and claim it as his own, and that's exactly what he did with Elmo's blanket. Elmo won't stand for it, and goes through a series of events - including meeting the Queen of Trash and running into a giant chicken - to get his blanket back.

There's nothing really bad about this movie. It's your typical "Sesame Street" movie with your favorite "Sesame Street" characters, both humans and Muppets. There are some nice morals about sharing and friendship, and it's just a nice, innocent story with your favorite childhood characters. I'm not as big a fan of this movie now as I was, but, again, that just has to do with age. And despite the fact that I'm not as big a fan of it, I still like it enough that I'd watch it every now and then. The songs are good, the celebrities are great, and there are some nice and funny jokes in this. Even if you don't like Elmo and/or this movie, show it to your kids, or your nieces or nephews - they should enjoy it. It's not a bad film. Check it out. BOOYIKA!

In 1996, the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll was released and it was an immediate success. This resulted into Elmomania that swept the nation. A TV special, a 20-minute segment on "Sesame Street", many appearances on "The Rosie O'Donnel Show" and a movie.

This film does have some good aspects however. There are some very funny bits with Ernie and Bert every 15 or minutes to help settle down intense or sad scenes for the children. These are the lead-in to some very funny jokes:

ERNIE: No movie has a sad ending, Bert.

BERT: Titanic.

ERNIE: Hmmm?

BERT: Titanic had a sad ending.

ERNIE: Oh, come on, Bert! Roll film!

BERT: Gone With The Wind had a sad ending.

Huxey is also a very interesting character. Mandy Patakin can be a funny actor in this film. Especially when he talks about a velvet painting of Elvis Presly and "West Side Story".

Also, the sets are amazing. Grouchland looks like something that would come right out of a cartoon and almost reminds me of "Ren & Stimpy" or one of those new Looney Tunes shorts Chuck Jones did in the 90's.

And then, there are the bad parts. I can spend about 30 minutes of Elmo, maybe 40 minutes. But 70 minutes! It's crazy talk! And the plot is just coo-coo. Elmo goes into Oscar's can (he is illegally going on private property) because his blanket fell in it and then some guy takes it. Who cares if some guy lost his blanket? Who cares about some guy who won't share? And the absence of Ernie and Bert an the street is kind of unsettling.

Overall rating: 6/10, was good but could have been better.

I used to watch pre-school children's television programme Sesame Street a few times as a child, when it was available on terrestrial TV, this was essentially the Sesame Street movie, with one of its most popular characters as the star, so I watched to relive my childhood a bit. Basically Elmo the furry red monster (Kevin Clash) loves his fuzzy blue blanket and would never let anything happen to it, however when Zoe the furry yellow-orange monster (Fran Brill) wants to play with it they get in a tug-of-war, and it rips, Elmo angry declares Zoe is no longer his friend. Suddenly Telly the furry red-violet monster (Martin P. Robinson) inadvertently causes the blanket to land in the hands of Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney), and Elmo trying to retrieve it is teleported through the trashcan into Grouchland, a place full of grouchy creatures. Elmo has to muster up all the determination and courage he can to on an action mission to find his beloved blanket, and along the way he meets many grouchy characters, good and bad. The blanket has ended up in the hands of the villainous greedy man named Huxley (Homeland's Mandy Patinkin), who lives at the top of Mount Pickanose, he has collected many objects and treasures, but he never shares them with anybody. Elmo gets a little help from a girl named Grizzy (Stephanie D'Abruzzo) and he meets the Queen of Trash (Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams), meanwhile the other Sesame Street residents are made aware that Elmo is missing and try to find a way to get him back, but some mean characters may be getting in their way. In the end Elmo eventually reaches Huxley, and he gets his treasured blanket back, in his journey he has learnt that things should be shared, he apologises to his friend Zoe and allows her to share his blanket. Throughout the film there is commentary from Bert (Frank Oz) and Ernie (Steve Whitmire), where they will often pause the film and act worried about what is going to happen next, but they will assure the audience that everything will be fine. Also starring Roscoe Orman as Gordon, Bob McGrath as Bob, Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly as Gina, Ruth Buzzi as Ruthie, Emilio Delgado as Luis, Loretta Long as Susan, Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, Frank Oz as Grover and Cookie Monster, Jerry Nelson as Count Von Count, Dave Goelz as Humongous Chicken and Steve Whitmire as Stuckweed. Elmo with his falcetto voice, referring to himself by name and naivety is cute, Bert and Ernie chipping in is amusing, and it was nice to see the other many Muppet characters I recognise, e.g. Big Bird, Grover, Count Von Count, Telly, but this film is definitely much more for the younger audience, they will enjoy the songs and learning some things, but the adults watching may find it perhaps silly, slightly predictable, partly annoying and overly mushy, but it is a family friendly film, a very average musical adventure. Adequate!

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Where, o where are the kids movies that don't have "evil villians"? How could Elmo, of all characters, be in a movie with such a nasty villian ..stealing his blanket away and making fun of him. I watch Elmo's World 5 days a week with my kids (4 and 2) and I must admit that I find the 15 minute episodes to be very well done. From Mr. Noodle to Dorothy the whole thing is all about "can-do" preschoolers.

So, why, in this TERRIBLE movie would they create this very unnatural dependency that Elmo has on his blanket? Elmo no longer is the encouraging fun loving muppet . .but he is a panicked, insecure, selfish muppet. The opening 5 minutes are joyless, despite all the Sesame Street favorites being put in every frame in each shot. The people are particularly bad. What would possess any of these talented educators to make such a movie? I could sense the "this is a bad idea but I have to honor my contract" in every single performance by the Sesame Street regulars.

My daughter was in absolute tears when the blanket got taken away . .and why not? The movie has just branded on to your brain that Elmo must NEVER be seperated from his blanket. So, why in the name of all things good and innocent, would the movies writers, directors, and producers IMMEDIATELY take away his blanket and thrust it into the hands of an evil person who towers over the muppets? This is sadistic film making at its worst . ..ELMO IS FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS!

Huxley, the greedy villian (who is tagged on the packagin with the innocent sounding "doesn't like to share") is very ominous, and taunts Elmo with the blanket and makes fun of his tears. Unbelievable.

I didn't get past this part as my daughter was in sobs at this point . .and despite my fast forwarding to the end to show her that Elmo gets his Blanket back . . I could do little to save the evening.

While I fast forwarded I could see that the rest of the movie was filled with threats, intimidation, and flat out picking on little defenseless kids. Muppets in cages!!!??? OUTRAGEOUS!!!

The makers of this movie should be ashamed of themselves for violating the spirit of Elmo and Sesame Street for creating a movie that will certainly scare little ones and make them cry.

This is a poorly written, ill-concieved bit of film making. "Grouchland" is indeed smelly and trashy . . .and so is this movie.