After sitting through Elmo in Grouchland, I am happy to report that:
Grouchland is not populated with movie critics.
The Sesame Street-ers aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves, making their wholesome TV show the butt of several jokes.
Vanessa Williams isn’t afraid to laugh at herself either, going from defrocked Miss America to her vampy turn in this movie as the Queen of Trash.
Bert and Ernie are still together, although it’s about time they came out.
For those who long ago lost touch with their inner child and have no flesh-and-blood kids to keep them informed, Elmo is a flaming red furball who clings to a security blanket tighter than does the Peanuts character Linus. A tug of war ensues when Elmo’s friend Zoe decides to play with the rag. The blanket is torn from Elmo’s hands and makes its way into the garbage can of Oscar the Grouch.
Elmo follows his beloved coverlet to the bottom of the can and into Grouchland, which is kind of like the flip side of Oz. (“Absolutely NO Smiling!” warns a sign.)
Unfortunately for our hero, the precious cloth has fallen into the clutches of the avaricious Huxley (Mandy Patinkin, chewing the scenery) who has no intention of giving it back. As Elmo struggles to regain his most valuable commodity, he learns an important lesson about sharing. (Contrary to the wisdom of Gordon Gecko, it turns out that greed is bad!)
Along the way the film offers up cameos from Kermit, Big Bird, Telly, Cookie Monster and the rest of the Sesame Street gang. And whenever things threaten to get a little too scary for the wee viewers (or the Caribbean-accented musical numbers start to annoy adult chaperones), Bert and Ernie appear to encourage audience participation and lend a reassuring presence– to all but Jerry Falwell. Elmo follows his beloved blue blanket to the bottom of Oscar’s trash can.
