Follow That Bird

Sesame Workshop | Release Date: August 2, 1985

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

59	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Laurie Horn

I like Sesame Street a lot, and this is the first time that they have made a real movie, not a television show, and I think they should make another one soon. [02 Aug 1985, p.C5]

Rita Kempley

This first film from Sesame Street is this summer's sweetest surprise, a wholly good-natured children's comedy with enough wit and whimsy left over to win parents' hearts, too. Like the TV series, it's not violent, not threatening and not to be missed. [02 Aug 1985, p.23]

Marah Eakin

Follow That Bird isn’t really the most memorable movie in terms of music or storyline—there’s a reason you don’t remember any of the songs from the movie like you do the ones from Sesame Street, the show—but it contains moments, both comical and tragic, that are absolutely indelible. Read full review

D. W. Gardner

While kids will and have enjoyed the film as a sweet-and-occasionally-exciting road trip with all their favorite Sesame Street friends, parents are presented with far deeper themes to consider. Read full review

Walter Goodman

The teaching of letters and numbers, for which Sesame Street is famous, is played down here in favor of messages about getting along. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Simple premise has the slightly goofy yellow, eight-foot fowl Big Bird taken away from Sesame Street by the officious Miss Finch so he can grow up among his own kind, a bird family named the Dodos, in Oceanview, Ill. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

Naturally, Big Bird meets some intriguing people going East. Lots of cameos are here to delight parents who take the kids to see this movie. Read full review

Gene Siskel

The script of Follow That Bird simply plays like a TV vignette blown up to movie size, failing to fill both the screen and our imagination. [06 Aug 1985, p.5C]

David Sterritt

Parents will yawn, but younger children may enjoy the fun. [09 Aug 1985, p.24]