Although I grew up with Sesame Street, I met Elmo when I was already an adult and I completely felt in love with the character at first sight. I'm still in love with Elmo because he makes me laugh every time, he makes my heart melt, and I love his mix of naughtiness, innocence, tenderness, laughter and love for the world. That is not Elmo, is Kevin Clash's puppeteer mastery and soul poured into the character.
Watching this film put a face and a story to the wonderful character that Elmo is. To me, this documentary is mostly the story of how a passion for puppetry drove and drives the life of Kevin Clash, how he has devoted his life to creating magic, and how he went from a working-class multi-racial suburb in Baltimore to the top of the world following a dream. This is a documentary on a remarkable journey that was not lead by money, delusional grandeur or by coming from an influential family, but by being very talented, passionate and hard working, and meeting wonderful people who saw the gem in Clash without him having to beg, or manipulate them or play them. I also loved all the information about Henson's troupe, of whom Claus would end becoming a member. I loved the Muppet Show and Henson's amazing fantasy worlds when I was a kid, and getting to know more about him and his work was also wonderful.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, there are a few things missing that I though that kept the doco on a plateau instead of taking it to another level. The first is Woopie Wholberg's narration; I'm a fan of Woopie, but she's uninspired here, and I felt the narration was too flat. Most importantly, some facets of Clash's personal life were never discussed, were jumped over or vaguely mentioned: > His father barely says anything about him in the film. > There is little mention of his upbringing at home and in Baltimore. > We don't know if he had ever to deal with nasty racial issues. > Also, a good part of his married life is not mentioned, and he only divorced in 2003, like a big blank there. > The film being from 2011, I wasn't expecting the scandal that followed Claus and ended his career at the Sesame Workshop in 2012 to be discussed, but that being the case, a good part of who he is, a guy man who had relationships with co-workers were never to be discussed.
This is a wonderful window to who the man behind Elmo is, and what took him to get there. Although the documentary is good, there are a few relevant lacunae that make the documentary a bit flawed, and the tone of the film feels flat at times. Yet, if you love Elmo you are going to love it.
Watching this film put a face and a story to the wonderful character that Elmo is. To me, this documentary is mostly the story of how a passion for puppetry drove and drives the life of Kevin Clash, how he has devoted his life to creating magic, and how he went from a working-class multi-racial suburb in Baltimore to the top of the world following a dream. This is a documentary on a remarkable journey that was not lead by money, delusional grandeur or by coming from an influential family, but by being very talented, passionate and hard working, and meeting wonderful people who saw the gem in Clash without him having to beg, or manipulate them or play them. I also loved all the information about Henson's troupe, of whom Claus would end becoming a member. I loved the Muppet Show and Henson's amazing fantasy worlds when I was a kid, and getting to know more about him and his work was also wonderful.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, there are a few things missing that I though that kept the doco on a plateau instead of taking it to another level. The first is Woopie Wholberg's narration; I'm a fan of Woopie, but she's uninspired here, and I felt the narration was too flat. Most importantly, some facets of Clash's personal life were never discussed, were jumped over or vaguely mentioned: > His father barely says anything about him in the film. > There is little mention of his upbringing at home and in Baltimore. > We don't know if he had ever to deal with nasty racial issues. > Also, a good part of his married life is not mentioned, and he only divorced in 2003, like a big blank there. > The film being from 2011, I wasn't expecting the scandal that followed Claus and ended his career at the Sesame Workshop in 2012 to be discussed, but that being the case, a good part of who he is, a guy man who had relationships with co-workers were never to be discussed.
This is a wonderful window to who the man behind Elmo is, and what took him to get there. Although the documentary is good, there are a few relevant lacunae that make the documentary a bit flawed, and the tone of the film feels flat at times. Yet, if you love Elmo you are going to love it.