Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird

Sesame Street Presents:
Follow That Bird
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
Directed byKen Kwapis
Written byJudy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Based onSesame Street
by Joan Ganz Cooney
Lloyd Morrisett
Big Bird
by Jim Henson
Produced byTony Garnett
Starring
CinematographyCurtis Clark
Edited byEvan Landis
Music byVan Dyke Parks
Lennie Niehaus
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • August 2, 1985 (1985-08-02) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$13.9 million[1]

Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (or simply Follow That Bird) is a 1985 American musical road comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. Based on the children's television series Sesame Street created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, it was the first theatrical feature-length Sesame Street film. It stars Muppet performers Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson and Frank Oz alongside Sandra Bernhard, John Candy, Chevy Chase, Joe Flaherty, Waylon Jennings, and Dave Thomas with Sesame Street regulars Linda Bove, Emilio Delgado, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Alaina Reed, and Kermit Love in supporting roles and the voices of Laraine Newman, Brian Hohlfeld, Cathy Silvers, Eddie Deezen, and Sally Kellerman.

The plot of Follow That Bird concerns Big Bird (Spinney), who is assigned by a social worker to move away from Sesame Street in New York City, and to move in with a bird family in Illinois. Big Bird is discontent with his new family, and runs away with the intention of returning to Sesame Street, while the social worker, his friends, and two con artists attempt to find him.

Produced by Children's Television Workshop and Muppets, Inc. (one of the few Sesame Street productions they directly produced), and filmed at the Cinespace Film Studios and on location in the Greater Toronto Area, Follow That Bird was released in the United States on August 2, 1985, by Warner Bros. and received mostly positive reviews from critics. However, it was a box office disappointment, grossing $13.9 million.