Review for I Am Big Bird

Who knows who Caroll Spinney is?

Anyone?

If I said he probably shaped the early years of your childhood?

Anyone?

He is the man behind one of the most famous characters of all time. Caroll Spinney is the man inside Sesame Street's Big Bird costume. Not only that. He is the man behind the lovable Oscar the Grouch too. Unlike many of Jim Henson's crew such as Henson himself, Frank Oz or Kevin Clash, Spinney is not often spoken of in the same way. But he really should and after watching this documentary, I think everyone will look back at his work and see just how much of an impact he had.

Starting off as a cartoonist, he moved onto puppeteering where he was hired by Jim Henson to work on a new show he was creating in 1969. That show was Sesame Street. On this show he became those two iconic characters of the lovable and innocent Big Bird and the miserable, unhappy Oscar the Grouch. These two characters are almost a Yin and Yang to each other and it is wonderful to see how they were created and performed.

Be warned. If you don't want the illusion broken, I wouldn't watch this documentary as we do get to see how everything is done, however it is fascinating seeing how Spinney actually operates Big Bird and when you look at it you wonder just how it is possible. I was always under the impression that it was a number of people in the suit. Nope. This is all one man. One very talented man.

With the help of footage from Spinney's own collection his life is looked at from his early childhood, which he describes as brutal with an abusive father, through his failed first marriage which almost destroyed Spinney to the meeting of his second wife who has become his rock and manager. We get to see how the death of Jim Henson affected him, how his trip to China had a profound affect (and this documentary has a wonderful moment due to this) and also a hilarious segment where Republican candidate Mitt Romney said he was going to cut PBS funding pointing out Big Bird in that. This lead to Obama defending the beloved character and him appearing on Saturday Night Live and being referenced by every news and comedy show in America.

Despite the love that children now have for Elmo, what is shown is that as much as children love Elmo, they still relate to Big Bird and he really is a reflection of their learning curve. Watching the scene where he is told about the death of Mr Hooper is still awful, but you can understand and see how he is reacting to it.

The documentary comes with a whole host of extras from Spinney's archive footage to extra interviews about his life. These are all great and though some I can understand why they were not included in full in the documentary none are unwatchable and certainly worth a look.

I Am Big Bird is a lovely documentary. It does not shy away from the sad times, but is able to embrace them and that's what makes all the positive moments throughout shine. I found myself remembering when I was young watching Sesame Street and how I would come to love these characters and it is not surprising over forty years later his work is still appreciated as well it should. If you are a fan of the Muppets and Jim Henson's work then you will enjoy this, but what you will discover is a wonderful man who made all our lives that little bit brighter.