Review of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) by Shaun B — 05 Jan 2012

A rare and sentimental view/glimpse into the life of Kevin Clash, a real-life puppeteer who got his start on Sesame Street working for the likes of some man known as Jim Henson! Born in 1960, Kevin had a youthful fixation on felt and string and beady-eyes and he was first introduced to Henson on an early Thanksgiving morning when he was assigned to "play" Cookie Monster (!) on the Jim Henson's Muppets float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! He was handed a costume and a flashlight .

.. and the rest is history (we-could-pun-it-up with: puppetry!). Being that Clash was highly-successful on such a large-scale stage, Clash was awarded with a close friendship with his idolized-mentor (!) and he became influential in his own-right while on his tenure with various Henson Productions including Sesame Street, The Muppet Show etc.

It was Clash's quiet confidence (and genius) that allowed him to re-discover and re-invent Henson's earlier, yet-still-unsuccessful puppet, Elmo! After actor Jason Segel's glorious, worldwide re-introduction of Jim Henson's other work, The Muppets (featuring the world's MOST famous frog/pig combo) in their first brand-new feature film in nearly two decades (!); it is only fitting and fair that Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey is also shedding some much-deserved light on a tale of dedication, devotion, artistry, loyalty, and perseverance.

We are provided with both Elmo and Clash's backstory and it is made even more-special as we discover that Elmo IS our prize as he is one of those constants in life. Lending "just enough" prestige to the project, Whoopi Goldberg's (Ghost, The Muppets, The Color Purple) narration reminds us that in relationship-to-some-things, we will always be kids-at-heart.