# Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, The (1999)

### reviewed by
John Carroll

For as long as time can tell, Disney has always enthralled children and parents alike. Whether it be the artful A Bug's Life or the beautiful Lion King, Disney always has something new, unique and interesting to offer children and their parents. For those of you who have not caught on yet, I keep mentioning parents. That is because you rarely see six-year-olds attending movies by themselves. The parents always tag along. Part of the reason Disney is so successful is that they not only entertain children, they keep the parents involved as well. For some reason, other studios have not caught on with this aspect, and if you are looking for a recent example, look no further than The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.

Elmo has always been a classic character on Sesame Street. Big Bird and Cookie Monster always get the headlines, but children are enthralled by the cuteness of Elmo. So, it must seem like a great idea to put Elmo up on the big screen for all children to see. Wrong. In The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Elmo is cute for the first ten minutes. Then his act gets old, fast. Very fast. You can only take so much cuteness, but The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland lays on the cuteness by the handful. The only time you get relief is when the ensemble cast of Sesame Street hits the screen for two or three minutes. Then it is back to Elmo, yet again. Part of what made Elmo so popular was that he never was on screen for that long. But, he is the main objective in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland and you will find yourself snoozing before long.

Obviously this is a children's movie, and despite boring the parents to sleep, the kids may be entertained. Although, most of them will not. Considering the demographic, not many kids over eight years old will be seeing The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, so the audience is already limited. Plus, considering that kids under the age of eight have the attention span the size of an ant, not many parents will be enthralled by the aspect of trying to control their kids in a movie theatre for an hour and ten minutes. It would be a lot easier for parents to keep their kids under control had this film been entertaining; unfortunately, the fun only comes in small doses.

Elmo does lay on the cuteness, but the kids will have some fun once and a while. While most of the film is a drag, the kids will certainly being enthralled by the upbeat song sequences. Also, when the rest of the Sesame Street gang make their appearances, which are few and far between, the kids will get some laughs. However, considering kids are easily entertained, I found it a shame that I heard only one or two laughs from the children in the theatre.

There are a few bright spots in the film. As always on Sesame Street, a lesson is to be had, and this time it is sharing. Although it is pretty obvious, and most kids will not even get it anyway, the point is still conveyed well and if Sesame Street attracted an older audience, perhaps the point would have been important. Also, the kids will love seeing their favorite Sesame Street characters on the big screen, despite losing a lot of time to Elmo, who basically becomes a screen hog, despite not being Jim Henson's intention.

Overall, there is not much to say about The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. Coming in at a skimpy hour and ten minutes, the film is still too boring to sit through. It does teach a good lesson, for those young ones who are intelligent enough to understand, and the flashy song sequences will have your kids smiling. But besides that, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland are not that fun and should only be viewed by those children who love the Sesame Street gang. Hopefully, they can be mature enough to sit by themselves so the parents can go see the wonderful American Beauty or entertaining Three Kings.

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