Boxoffice-July.1999

out from his busy schedule to talk with
BOXOFFICE about his latest escapades.
Speaking in a type of muppet dialect
known as "monster language," which is
distinguished by a furry conversationalist's
tendency to refer to himself by
name, Elmo exclaims in his characteristic
high-pitched voice, "Elmo knows
that he has a lot of friends everywhere
'cause Elmo talks to them everyday!"
His friends, of course, are the countless
children that eagerly tune in to "Sesame
Street" on a daily basis. Although he
doesn't seem to know that he is part of a
television phenomenon, he is quite happily
aware that his positive and optimistic
nature has gained him a group of
"friends" from the four corners of the
world. "They say 'hi,'" Elmo says
about his adoring young fans,
"and sometimes we send letters
to each other, too. They say,
'Elmo come over to their house
and play and eat cookies and
meet their pets.' Sometimes
Elmo gets to go [and it]
makes Elmo happy, too."
Elmo's childlike demeanor,
evident in his
speech patterns and his
eagerness to be involved in
everything that is happening
around him, is one of the
qualities that have endeared
him to infants, adults and all
ages in-between. This energy
becomes quite apparent when he
discusses the upcoming plans.
"Sesame Street's been there for
years," he explains excitedly. "A lot
longer than Elmo! We're supposed
have a big party, and everybody's bringing
something!"
As part of the 30th anniversary celebration,
"Sesame Street" has been visited
throughout the season by a number
of celebrity guests stopping by the
neighborhood to help Elmo, Oscar, Big
Bird and the rest of the gang sing songs
and teach lessons about grammar, pronunciation
and arithmetic. Recent visitors
have included First Lady Hillary
Rodham Clinton, actor Liam Neeson,
poet Maya Angelou and musical group
R.E.M. "R.E.M—they're funny!" Elmo
says, giggling. "Especially the leader
[Michael Stipe]. He has a fat head and
he's funny. He put glitter on his face
[and] Elmo put some on his, too." Other
Hollywood guests he names as being
especially fun to visit with include
"Whoopi [Goldberg] and Rosie
[O'Donnell]—Elmo's best friend! And
Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis."
Another friend particularly close to
Elmo is his cherished blue blanket. He
describes his favorite bed cover as neither
female nor male ("It's 'it,'" he
explains) and his relationship with "it"
as a very special one. "It's always there
for Elmo when Elmo needs it," he says
affectionately. "It warms Elmo when
Elmo's cold, and we play together, too.
We play tic-tac-toe and we do all the latest
dances." Although a nice friendship,
Elmo's attachment to his blanket actually
backfires on him when he refuses to
share it with little muppet girl Zoe. His
selfishness results in a tug-of-war fight
that sends it, and Elmo, into his
"Adventures in Grouchland." "Elmo
had a lot of fun," he says of his trip away
from Sesame Street in search of his lost
security blanket. "Elmo got to play with
all his friends and meet some new ones."
When
asked about one of the
"new ones" who appears in his
upcoming film, Elmo once
again demonstrates that he is completely
unaware of his existence as an "actor"
being watched by an audience. In
response to a question about Mandy
Patinkin, who plays a greedy villain
"The Adventures of Elmo in
Grouchland," a baffled Elmo responds,
"Who's that?" Once the inquiry is
reworded to include the name of
Patinkin's movie character, Elmo then is
able to answer. "Huxley!" he exclaims.
"Oooh... Huxley. He wasn't scary, he
was just selfish. He would take everybody's
toys and he wouldn't play with
anybody with his toys." Even monsters,
it seems, need to learn lessons by example.
And, thanks to the toy-monopolizing
Huxley, Elmo comes to understand
the importance of sharing.
Elmo insists that not all creatures
encountered on his adventure were selfish.
"Grizzy was fun!" he says of one of
his new buddies. "Actually, she helped
Elmo and, you know, grouches aren't
supposed to help monsters or anybody.
in
[
Maybe she kinda liked Elmo." Elmo i
promises that some familiar faces wilji
seen in his sojourn in Grouchland. '|
Bird helps, and Telly, and Oscar e
helps. And Zoe helps, too!"
As for Grouchland itself, Elmo vi|
ly remembers certain details from
trip to the unfamiliar place. "[^
Sesame Street we always try to clean
keep our streets clean," he explains.
Grouchland, they do just the oppo;
They throw trash around and, w
they go in the car wash, they dirty ti 1
cars instead of clean them." Howei
despite his surprise at finding a pi;
devoted to garbage, don't think for
moment that Elmo is passing judgni
on grouches just because they're dif
ent from his friends at home. EId
remember, lives on Sesame Strlt
a neighborhood that celebr;
diversity. "It's just their
ture!" he giggles when as
about why grouches like H'
ing trash everywhere. "Th
just the way they like it
Now that Elmo is bacl;l
home where sunny d
sweep the clouds away, :
seems content with just -:
simple pleasures of life ii
one of the world's m
famous streets. His TV s
ment "Elmo's World," whn
gives children a glimpse i a
his active imagination ci
encourages them to use il
own, is a big part of his schedi
And, although he is looking 1
ward to Sesame Street's big anniv
sary party, he says there's really only (
thing that he wants for the future. "El
just hopes that he gets to stay on Ses
Street, and mommy and daddy st|5
there and lives on Sesame Street, so
can always be around his friends."
legions of "friends" who watch him
have watched the show for the past
years hope so, too. F.D.
"Muppets From Space." Starri
Gonzo the Great, Rizzo the Rat, Ker\
the Frog, Miss Piggy and Jeffrey Taml
Directed by Tim Hill. Written by Je\
Juhl, Joseph Mazzarino and
>
Kaufman. Produced by Brian Henson
Martin G. Baker A Columbia relec
Family comedy. Opens wide July 14.
"The Adventures of Elmo in Grouland.
" Starring Elmo, Oscar the Grou
Zoe, Telly, Big Bird, Mandy Patinkin c <
Vanessa Williams. Directed by G(
'
Halvorson. Written by Mitchell Kricgn.
^
and Joseph Mazzarino. Produced by A,
Rockwell and Marjorie Kalins. A Colum.i
release. Family comedy. Opens 1011 wi
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