Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic is a four-dimensional film at Universal Studios Japan. The attraction, which debuted on April 26, 2003,[1] is shown at the park's "Cinema 4-D Theater", along with Shrek's 4-D Adventure.
Although originally intended for release in Japan only, the attraction eventually had a short run in the U.S., where it was shown with some alterations as Lights, Camera, Imagination!
Synopsis
The show's basic theme is imagination. In a projection room, the Sesame Street Film Festival is being held, and everyone is busy adding final touches to their films. The first preview is a western flick made by (and starring) the Count, entitled The Counting Kid Counts Again which was filmed in the yard. The second preview is Prairie Dawn's sci-fi/adventure film Prairie and the Pretty Space Ponies, which stars her along with Telly, Zoe and the Two-Headed Monster as the title characters. Suddenly, the projector breaks. Disappointed, everyone leaves the room. Elmo, being the only one left, has an idea that everyone can still show their movies by using their imaginations. Elmo leaves the room and guests enter the main theater.
As soon as everyone is in the main theater, Big Bird, seen with two anonymous Twiddlebugs appearing in CGI form, welcomes the audience and walks over to 123 Sesame Street, where he meets up with everyone else, looking rather disappointed about what happened earlier. Elmo comes in riding his tricycle (bumping into a crate near Oscar's trash can). The "movies" then begin.
Grover climbs off the stoop and pretends that he's a cowboy, fireman (squirting the audience with a CGI "Muppetised" hose) and Super Grover (who gets struck by a huge rock that falls from the sky).
Ernie, who is sitting on the stoop with Bert, suggests that they imagine themselves in different places (much against Bert's will). First, they imagine being in a desert, followed by a bathtub (possibly in their apartment) where Ernie throws his Rubber Duckie into the air, leading them to the bottom of the ocean, where Ernie plays fetch with a "dogfish". Out of nowhere, a purple octopus pulls Bert away-not to harm, but to dance the tango with him. Bert is having so much fun dancing with him until he's snapped out of the dream sequence and finds himself held by Oscar.
Next, Cookie Monster imagines himself in a monster movie spoof entitled Cookie Monster vs. Monster Cookie, which starts with him on top of the Empire State building (a reference to King Kong) and a bunch of Anything Muppets below him screaming. Cookie explains that it's not him who's causing the distress, but rather, a giant cookie which flies around like a UFO, squirting chocolate on the buildings. Cookie makes an attempt to defeat him, but he fails. That is until he "walks off", tricking the over-sized cookie into having his way until he is smashed into crumbs. Cookie then swallows the crumb like a vacuum cleaner and he's back on the street.
Oscar the Grouch then imagines himself and the others on Sesame Street, which has become a dump surrounded by Pesties (who crawl around the audience members' legs, yet only one is seen), socks that sing "I Love Trash," and rain falling from the sky. Elmo comes up with a "happy ending" involving sunny skies, balloons, decorations and so on.
In the final part of the attraction (in which the audience steps through the screen and enter the third hall with an almost exact replica of the street set), Big Bird, Cookie, Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Grover, Zoe, Telly, The Count and Prairie Dawn are seen back in their same old street being interviewed by a Large Lavender Anything Muppet female reporter.
Venues and titles
- Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic at Universal Studios Japan (2003-)
- Sesame Street: Lights, Camera, Imagination! 4D at SeaWorld, California (2008-10)
- Sesame Street: Lights, Camera, Imagination! 4D at Busch Gardens, Virginia (2009)
- Sesame Street Film Festival at Busch Gardens, Florida (2010-13)
Production
The pre-show and film were shot at Universal Studios in Florida in over the course of seven weeks starting in May 2002.[2] As a result, the Sesame Street set was completely recreated there, albeit with some minor changes. The most notable change is that the Mail It Shop is completely removed from the block. The set is additionally built up,[3] like many Muppet sets and unlike the original Sesame Street set which sits at ground level.
Due to time constraints, two sequences were not shot. One scene featured Mr. Snuffleupagus imagining being a fireman, tripping over a hydrant, and spraying water into the audience. Another involved Oscar's trash can area moving around the street via the power of imagination. As the Muppets sing another original song, various doors on the heap would open, revealing the Muppets doing various 3D tricks (such as Cookie Monster extending a trombone towards the screen or Zoe spraying silly string).[2]
Notes
- Two of the movie posters seen in the background during the pre-show include Cookie Monster vs. Monster Cookie and The Mommy (a spoof of The Mummy) starring Grover.
- This film marks the first time Cookie Monster's legs and feet are shown on-screen. However, because the film would not be released in the U.S. until 2008, the first for American audiences is in the television special The Street We Live On in 2004.
American version
While the film was originally recorded in English, several of the characters were performed by stand-in puppeteers (such as John Tartaglia as Oscar, and Matt Vogel as Big Bird). The film was fully re-dubbed by a majority of the regular performers in August 2002.[2] Tartaglia replaced Steve Whitmire as the voice of Ernie in the re-dub. Although Caroll Spinney re-recorded all the spoken dialogue of Big Bird and Oscar, Vogel's singing vocals for the opening song were retained.
Gallery
The show
Venues
Credits
- Executive Producer: Peter Van Roden
- Producer for Universal Studios Theme Parks: Mark Rhodes
- Written by: Joey Mazzarino, John Weidman, John Rust, Kirk Thatcher[4]
- Director: John Rust
- Associate Producer/Puppet Captain: Kevin Clash
- Production Designer: David Kahler
- Cinematographer, 3-D Supervisor, Visual Effects & Post Production Supervisor: Peter Anderson, ASC
- Animation Director/Digital Puppeteer: Robert Tygner
- Animator: Joelle Newton-Mold
- Puppet Supervisor: Jason Weber
- Puppet Effects: Fred Buchholz
- Puppet Wrangler: Michael Schupbach, Heather Asch
- Production assistant: Javier Mayol
- Visual Effects Houses: Henson Creature Shop (England) and Sassoon Film Design (California)
- 3-D Camera System: Paradise Effects
- Theater Install Japan: Scott Smith
- 3-D Projection Systems Install: Electrosonic
- Filmed on stage at: Universal Studios Orlando
Cast
Pre-Show
- Main: Elmo, Prairie Dawn, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar, the Count, Telly Monster, Zoe, Two-Headed Monster, Chicken, Ernie, Bert
- Background: Baby Bear, Grundgetta, Rosita, Herry Monster, Mel, Narf, Phoebe, Lulu, The Countess, Honker, Bats, Googel, Anything Muppets
3D Movie
- Main: Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Zoe, Elmo, Oscar, Grover, Telly Monster, Chicken, Pestie, Singing socks, Twidddlebugs (CGI)
- Background: Humphrey, Kermit the Forg, Herry Monster, Googel, Narf, Green Dinger
3rd Hall
- Main: Big Bird, Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Oscar, Grover, the Count, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, Telly Monster, Lavender AM reporter
Performers
- Pam Arciero
- Ricky Boyd
- Fran Brill as Zoe and Prairie Dawn
- Kevin Clash as Elmo
- Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Singing Socks
- Jamie Donmoyer[5]
- Galen Fott
- Mark Gale as Narf (puppetry only)
- Scott Huhn
- Eric Jacobson as Grover and Bert
- Jim Martin
- Joey Mazzarino as Telly's stunt chicken and Two-Headed Monster (left head)
- Paul McGinnis
- Tracie Mick as Humphrey (puppetry only)
- Jason Murphy
- Jerry Nelson as The Count and Announcer for The Counting Kid Counts Again trailer
- Carmen Osbahr
- Karen Prell
- Mike Quinn
- Martin P. Robinson as Telly and Pesties
- David Rudman as Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, and Two-Headed Monster (right head)
- James Silson
- Scott Silson
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar (voices only)
- Andy Stone
- John Tartaglia as Ernie and Oscar (puppetry only)
- Matt Vogel as Big Bird (puppetry and singing voice)
- Japanese Voice Cast[2]
- Koji Ochiai as Elmo, Bert, and Grover
- Mitsuki Madono as Big Bird and Ernie
- Toru Okawa as Cookie Monster, Oscar, and Count von Count
- Tesshou Genda as Telly Monster
- Sakiko Tamakawa as Prairie Dawn and Zoe