BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY {MOTION PICTURE}
Summary
This documentary is about the life and career of Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who brings life to Elmo, one of the lovable stars of "Sesame Street."
The program opens as Clash and Elmo make an appearance on the red carpet. His mother, Gladys, and colleague Frank Oz comment on his shy nature and his preference for appearing "in character," usually going unrecognized without his furry friend.
Clash visits his childhood home in Turners Station, Maryland, and talks about his lifelong love of Disney and his dream of visiting Disney World, a trip too expensive for his family. He also grew up enamored of the show "Captain Kangaroo," and instantly fell in love with "Sesame Street" when it premiered in 1969. He became fascinated by the affectionate, friendly puppet characters and made a puppet of his own from material found in his father's coat, which impressed rather than angered his parents.
Clash soon began putting on shows for neighborhood children, creating voices and personalities for his different figures, and discovered that he had a gift for working with youths. His sisters were not amused by his efforts, however, and he was teased at school for his fondness for "dolls." When he was a teenager, Baltimore television personality Stu Kerr invited Clash to try out for his show "Caboose." Kerr subsequently hired him for the show. Clash gained local fame, and was named "most likely to become a millionaire" in his high school yearbook.
At the same time, "Sesame Street" was becoming the world's most popular show, thanks to its creators Oz and Jim Henson, and Clash was still "glued" to it, carefully studying the puppets' designs and attempting to emulate the style. With his mother's help, Clash landed a meeting with Kermit Love, who designed some of the larger characters; on a class trip to New York City, Clash journeyed to Love's workshop and learned about the techniques for building expressive, interesting puppets with moving parts.
Love became a "grandfather figure" to Clash, who in turn is seen teaching the cast of the French version of "Sesame Street" how to perfect their hand movements and vocal representations of their characters. Eventually, Clash was asked to be on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade "Sesame Street" float, operating the famous Cookie Monster, much to his delight. At an afterparty, he met Henson -- with Love's assistance -- and Henson expressed interest in Clash's work. Back in Baltimore, Kerr bragged about his ingénue puppeteer and piqued the interest of Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo. Clash recorded an audition tape for Keeshan featuring several of his puppet characters, and he was quickly hired for the show.
At the same time, Clash began work on a show with Love called "The Great Space Coaster." When he had the chance to work on the 1982 film "The Dark Crystal" with Henson, he regretfully turned it down because of his two TV series. However, when "Kangaroo" and "Coaster" were canceled in 1984 and 1986, Clash was then free to work on Henson's next film project, 1986's "Labyrinth." He describes a particularly difficult dance sequence that took nearly thirty takes to complete, and recalls his excitement at seeing his name on the big screen at the film premiere.
Soon, thanks to Love's involvement, Clash landed a spot on his beloved "Sesame Street" among the puppeteers he had long admired. He performed a number of different characters and also worked on a "tiny commercial job" on the side with Oz and Henson, remembering his embarrassment at being unable to memorize his lines due to nervousness.
The character of Elmo was originally performed by Richard Hunt and had a more "caveman"-like personality, but Hunt soon grew "fed up" with the character and allowed Clash to try something new. Clash thought of Oz's advice to have a "special hook" for every puppet's identity, and decided that Elmo should "represent love" and be a childlike figure of innocence, drawing inspiration from both of his parents' personalities. The character was a hit with the show's young audience, and Clash remarks on his joy at meeting ill and dying children who wished to hug Elmo.
Clash admits that when his daughter Shannon was born, he couldn't resist making her into a playful "puppet" as well, much to his ex-wife's dismay. Elmo soon gained even more fame, thanks largely to the wildly popular "Tickle Me Elmo" doll, which debuted in 1996. Clash traveled extensively with the puppet, working with a vast array of celebrities and gaining additional responsibility behind the scenes at "Sesame Street." He explains that despite the fun and fame, he regretted missing milestones in his daughter's life.
In 1990, Clash finally achieved his dream of visiting Disney World. Henson, who had since become a good friend, invited Clash and his fellow puppeteers to take part in the television special, "The Muppets at Disney World." He was shocked when Henson died suddenly in May of a bacterial infection at age 53. He and the other puppeteers performed a song at Henson's brightly-colored funeral, per Henson's request.
As Shannon aged, Clash decided to set aside significant time to spend with her, including attendance at her sixteenth birthday party, citing the importance of family and his desire to "observe the human spirit" to inspire his work. Later, Clash meets with an aspiring young puppeteer and shows him around the Jim Henson archive workshop, and explains that Elmo is about reaching out to children who love him in return. The film concludes as Clash and his colleagues discuss their onset camaraderie and the enduring nature of their Muppet characters.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2010
- RUNNING TIME: 1:16:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 106778
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Puppetry
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- James Miller … Producer
- Corinne LaPook … Producer
- Constance Marks … Producer, Director
- Philip Shane … Writer, Co-Director
- Justin Weinstein … Writer
- Joel Goodman … Music by
- Whoopi Goldberg … Narrator
- Kevin Clash
- Gladys Clash
- Shannon Clash
- Jim Henson
- Richard Hunt
- Bob Keeshan
- Stu Kerr
- Kermit Love
- Frank Oz