Michael Wermuth - Alphabet Songs is the latest Sesame Street video release. It includes two segments for every letter of the alphabet, plus a number of segments about the alphabet in general. Although it’s titled "Alphabet Songs," not every segment included is a song.
I am unsure whether I can get myself to recommend this video. There’s a lot of great material, but most of the best stuff was previously released on other videos (maybe if you don’t have all those other videos…). Of course, there are two segments ("The Question Song" and "Sammy the Snake") that appeared on the long out-of-print The Alphabet Game video. But this video also has a LOT of forgettable animation and film segments, especially from the last few years. Maybe kids will appreciate them better than me. And it’s a shame this video doesn’t have any Typewriter or AlphaQuest segments.
The only bonus feature is the video Learning Letters with Elmo. I think this was an odd choice for inclusion, since it only came out two years ago and some of the segments on this release also appear as part of the main program (I would have included Learning About Letters or Do the Alphabet instead). Still, it was enjoyable (I hadn’t seen this video before). It features three street stories, plus multiple Letter of the Day and animated Elmo and Cookie Monster segments that originated on Sesame English. But for some reason, Learning Letters only focuses on three letters.
Ryan Dosier - Tomorrow sees the release of The Great Muppet Caper and Muppet Treasure Island on a dual Blu-ray. The odd pairing doesn't make much sense, but there's no denying that putting two in one will probably sell more copies than individual releases. The release tactic is frustrating for Muppet fans, because we know both of these films deserve individual releases and it makes displaying the Muppet movies in chronological order incredibly difficult. (Or is that just me?)
The bonus features for the release are incredibly sparse. In fact, the only feature for The Great Muppet Caper is two "Frog-E-Oke" tracks. Would it have been too much to ask for new commentary from the Muppets or the Muppet performers? Why not include The Muppets Go to the Movies, the TV special produced to tie into the film? It's incredibly disheartening that Jim Henson's feature directorial debut gets so little in the way of bonus features. Muppet Treasure Island fares slightly better, with one "Frog-E-Oke" track, old Brian Henson commentary, the old "Tale Behind the Tail" feature, and a "Let the Good Shine Out" music video from the Muppet Treasure Island sing-along tape. Why they didn't just include the whole tape, I'll never know.
The release is presented with both films on one Blu-ray disc and two individual DVDs, which is a great deal for the price and very handy for those who want the new release but don't have a Blu-ray player handy. The disc menus are very, very well done--especially Caper--and give the release some legitimacy. In fact, the menus for these films are better than the Blu-ray menus for the recent Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Movie Blu-ray releases.
Overall this release is worth your time for the gorgeous high-definition presentation of both of these wonderful films. If you own them on DVD already, I highly recommend upgrading to the Blu-ray if you have the ability. Plus, it comes with DVD copies so it's a win-win. The sparse bonus features are incredibly frustrating, but Muppet fans are unfortunately used to that by now. This release will be a great addition to any Muppet movie collection and makes a great Christmas gift for the Muppet fan in your life!
Michael Wermuth - "Fairytale Fun" is the latest Sesame Street DVD release, themed around fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Included are four street stories. First, Elmo and Zoe help Mother Goose (played by Samantha Bee) write some new poems.
And finally, Jack from "Jack Be Nimble" attempts to jump over eight candle sticks... But becomes afraid to do so. I had seen all of these street stories except for the Hansel and Gretel one, and it's a lot better than I had expected. The other street stories are great as well, especially the one with Oscar and Abby.
All of the bonus features revolve around "Cinderella." First up is the 1999 television special CinderElmo, which is a very great special. Next is another Sesame Street News segment, "Cinderella's Fairy Godmother". And finally, we get an episode of Abby's Flying Fairy School, "The Cinderella Challenge."
Michael Wermuth, Jr. - "Being Brave" is a recent Sesame Street DVD, themed around overcoming fear. This video has linking footage based on the popular book "The Monster at the End of the Book," with Grover trying to get viewers to stop watching, because there is a monster at the end of the video. This linking footage is very funny, though the concept of Grover being afraid of the monster at the end is better when it's not spread out among various segments.
Among the inserts on this video include Ernie pointing out various scary sounds to Bert, whom he assumes is scared (when Bert really just wants to go to bed). James Gandolfini guest stars in a segment where he talks about his fears to Zoe. That segment is a lot better than I had expected. There's also a couple of great animated segments included. It would have been great if this included the two-part segment where Cookie Monster slept over at Ernie's apartment (or at least part one, where Cookie is afraid of shadows), and maybe the segment where Grover is afraid of his shadow, but otherwise, it is a good selection of clips.
There's also a great amount of bonus features included. First up is a full-length bonus video, A Celebration of Me, Grover! It's a great video, one of the best character spotlight videos, with many great Grover segments (including a lot of classic clips) and plenty of the main cast, but it seems a little out-of-place here. Then there's the season two segment "Grover Talks About the Dark," which is a great segment. An included segment I was very intrigued about the moment I heard it would be included was "Going to the Doctor." It's actually the 1999 resource video "Sesame Street Goes to the Doctor," in which Elmo goes to the doctor, apparently for the first time. Finally, there's an extra street story, "Cousin Bear is Afraid of Monsters." Since this introduces Cousin Bear, I would have put this one in the main program and the one where he's afraid of shadows as a bonus. Oh, and this DVD also comes with a glow-in-the-dark set of stickers.
.JPG)
The packaging on this set is beautiful. It is thick, strong card covered in a high gloss print. Most the images are recently used photos combined to make up the pictures. It's nice to see Doc and Sprocket on the back though. Also it's nice that three different versions of the Fraggle Rock logo are used on the packaging. The lid has a removable sticker on the top with a list of contents and a description of the show. When you lift the lid off, the 5 DVD cases are tucked behind the Red plush key ring. She's not the best looking plush, but its pretty neat!
Each season is represented exactly as it was released in previous years. Five discs for each of the four seasons--four discs with episodes and one disc of bonus features. The DVDs are presented in new cover art, and the sketch books, Jim Henson's journal replication, etc. are not included like in the HIT! DVD releases.
In a little corner of the menu is a box called "From the Archives" when selected bring up "Recently Discovered Interviews." The first interview features Fraggle Rock musician Dennis Lee talking to Mokey, then head writer/co-creator Jerry Juhl talks to Gobo, co-creator/writer Jocelyn Stevenson talks to Red and Mokey about how the Fraggles got their names, and puppet engineer Faz Fazakas talks to Cotterpin Doozer. There is also an interview with Uncle Traveling Matt called "A Minute with Traveling Matt!" where an interviewer asks Matt to list all the countries he's been to and if he can speak all the languages. The total running time is 9 minutes 26 seconds.
And then there's A Special Sesame Street Christmas, the other Christmas special from 1978 that utilizes some elements from Sesame Street. Notice how careful I was with my wording there, because the things that make this a Sesame Street Christmas can almost be counted on one hand: Big Bird, Oscar, Bob, Maria, David, Mr. Hooper, Barkley, and the Sesame Street location. That's it. None of the writers are the same, Jon Stone was not involved at all, no other Muppets, nothing. Instead we get Leslie Uggams trying way too hard, Anne Murray for no reason, Imogene Coca for even less of a reason, a terrifying Ethel Merman, Michael Jackson for literally two minutes, someone named Dickie Smothers, and I think Henry Fonda for some reason. I'm not kidding.
The back story for why this special was made is as confusing as the special itself, but basically Bob Banner, the guy behind The Carol Burnett Show, Candid Camera, and a lot of Perry Como specials in the 70s somehow rented the Sesame Street set and literally only five of its cast members and decided to throw random celebrities and even more random songs at Dickens' A Christmas Carol and see what happened. The result is hands down the strangest Sesame-associated thing you will ever see. It is pure 1970s schmaltz loosely wrapped around a story of Oscar the Grouch going through what Scrooge went through with completely out of place musical numbers in between.
Leslie Uggams inexplicably lives on Sesame Street now and Bob, Maria, David, and Mr. Hooper are seemingly required to do her bidding. Anne Murray and Leslie Uggams both sing really inappropriate 1970s love songs to Big Bird and Oscar, Michael Jackson pointlessly gives Oscar a book about ghosts, Oscar believes a magic eggnog container shows him the past, Ethel Merman calls Imogene Coca an idiot, Dickie Smothers is a person, Henry Fonda gets a paycheck by saying one line, Oscar sings "Yakety Yak" and later swoons over a cat with a broken leg, and shockingly none of it works. It is bizarre, hilariously awkward, and just plain weird.
If you haven't seen this special I don't know if I would recommend spending $10 just to get the DVD, but it really is a trip. You'll be constantly wondering how and why this was made and how much Sonia Manzanno, Will Lee, Bob McGrath, Northern Calloway, and Caroll Spinney regretted signing that contract. The dialogue is cringe-worthy for our favorite Sesame friends, and Leslie Uggams just never stops squawking long enough for them to be funny. The special is like watching something you care about burn: you wish you could pull it out of the flames but you have no choice to just watch it go. 
The DVD itself is almost as hilariously strange as the special. The cover art is a good indicator of this, with the random afroed Michael Jackson and lo-res shots of Big Bird and Oscar straight out of the special. Legendary Entertainment Alliance really really tries to capitalize on Michael Jackson's image because the only bonus feature worth mentioning is the beyond weird, amazingly bad self-described "Brand Spankin' New Super Duper Bonus Track" Your Imagination with Michael and DJ Oscar. Honestly... there are no words for how bizarre this is. The DVD makers took one soundbite of Michael Jackson's appearance in the special and remixed it into some pop/disco/ear pain hybrid. It's just... so strange. So unnecessary. But thank goodness they did it... because I'm sure my face was priceless the entire time I was watching it.
Ryan Dosier - Two of the best DVD sets released by Sesame Workshop in the last decade were Volumes 1 and 2 of the excellent Old School series, which showcased clips and episodes from Sesame Street's early, pre-Elmo days. Realeased in 2006, Volume 1 spanned 1969-1974 and Volume 2 picked up with 1974-1979 when it was released in 2007. These sets contained extremely rare footage from the golden age of Sesame Street, and fans have been clamoring for a third volume to be released for five years. After awhile, and the release of the 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD set in 2009 and the Best of Sesame Street Spoofs set last year, fans assumed that Sesame Workshop had given up on the Old School sets, and so we gave up on them as well.
But then, less than two months ago, it was revealed that Old School: Volume 3 would finally be released by Sesame Workshop and Warner Bros. Home Video five years after the last release. This was hugely exciting news for Muppet fans and fans of Sesame Street's sunniest days. It was announced that the set would continue on the trend of the first two volumes and pick up with 1979-1984. Does the set hold up to its two predecessors? Read on to find out! (Spoiler: It absolutely does.)
Once again, there are five full episodes of the show in this set, the season premieres of Seasons 11-15. In the past I thought it would have been better to go through the entire season and pick an episode that was perhaps more interesting than the season premiere, but on Volume 3 I think each season premiere is excellent and the perfect choice for the set. For Season 11 we get to see the whole cast travel to Puerto Rico for Maria's birthday, in Season 12 Big Bird goes to school for a day, in Season 13 birdwatchers (hilarious humans portrayed by Madeline Kahn and Richard Hunt--yes, that Richard Hunt) watch Big Bird, in Season 14 Big Bird sets out for summer camp, and in Season 15 Gordon and Snuffy run the New York City Marathon.
On both discs there are also the traditional crop of "Classic Cuts"--some wonderful, favorite clips and songs that aren't featured in the episodes included. These Classic Cuts include often-seen favorites like "Born to Add," "Dance Myself to Sleep," and "Grover the Singing Waiter," as well as some true rarities like Big Bird and R2-D2's song "I Say Banana," Oscar and Bruno performing "Trash Outta Heaven," and an appearance by Aristotle, a rarely seen blind monster Muppet performed by Richard Hunt. Although there are fewer Classic Cuts included on Volume 3 than there were on Volumes 1 or 2, it's understandable because Volume 3 is only two discs. I attribute this to wanting to keep cost down on the set in an effort to sell more DVDs... but it is a shame that we didn't get more clips from the amazing era of Sesame Street in the early 1980s. For instance, there is very little Count von Count, virtually no Super Grover, and shockingly very little Cookie Monster.
But the content that is here is absolutely fantastic. There is so much Big Bird, which is always welcome. We also get plenty of Snuffy, lots of Telly Monster, tons of Bob and Maria and Susan and all the adults, and just pure Sesame Street greatness. My favorite of the full episodes included has to be the trip to Puerto Rico. It just seems so effortless and fun--like you really are on a vacation with Maria and Olivia. Plus, the hilarity of Maria's near-misses of seeing the rest of the cast who are there to surprise her for her birthday are hysterical. It's especially funny when she sees Big Bird and then looks back and sees a chicken instead. It's ridiculous, but it's Sesame Street, so it's impossible not to love it.
The bonus features on the set are one of the big draws, and with good reason. The best feature included is audio commentary from Sonia Manzanno (Maria) on Episode 1316, where the cast goes to Puerto Rico. The insights are great, but what's so much fun is hearing how much fun Sonia is having watching this classic show again. She laughs at the jokes, she cheers the actors and Muppeteers, and she just adds so much to the experience. I would be thrilled to see audio commentary on each of the episodes included on the next set. Perhaps from Caroll Spinney or Bob McGrath or Roscoe Orman. But honestly, having Sonia's commentary was such a wonderful treat.
The other bonus features are some (way too) short behind the scenes clips of a Nobel Price segment, the Birdwatchers with Madeline Kahn and Big Bird, Grover the Singing Waiter, and the "Exercise" song. These are wonderful clips, but they are just so incredibly short that it just leaves you itching for more. We also get to hear (and see, if you choose picture-in-picture mode) Caroll Spinney reading How To Be a Grouch, a book he wrote and illustrated himself, as Oscar the Grouch. This is also a really fun feature, especially watching Caroll record as Oscar. There is also an exclusive, 13-minute interview with Caroll Spinney that is delightful but nothing too revolutionary. Finally, the set includes clips from the "Goodbye Mr. Hooper" episode. Having these clips is spectacular because they include almost all of the Street Scene clips with Big Bird and the adults, not just the main scene that everyone has seen dozens of times. It's a wonderful tribute to include these clips on the set.
Anyway, on to the review! The high definition Blu-ray transfer of the film is absolutely gorgeous. The details and the vibrant colors add so much to an already wonderful film. The details on the Muppets are so great in Blu-ray high definition. The sound quality on the movie is also vastly improved. The musical numbers sound so great and you can hear quite a bit of funny background dialogue much more clearly than on previous releases. While the video quality doesn't look nearly as incredible as The Muppets Blu-ray released earlier this year, it still looks great. This is understandable because The Muppet Christmas Carol is such an older movie... but again, it really looks great.
The things that really shine on this Blu-ray release are the new bonus features. There is a brand new audio commentary track from Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, and some surprise guests that I will assert is worth the price of the entire release. I can't tell you how much I guffawed at Gonzo and Rizzo's ridiculous commentary on the movie. Rarely do they shine any light on what's going on in the movie, but who really expected them to? It is such a joy to experience the hysterical Gonzo and Rizzo relationship again, but the best part is just having Rizzo back at all. He has been sorely missed these past few years and he steals the entire show during this commentary. Honestly, commentary does not get much better than this.
As with The Muppets Blu-ray, this release includes Disney Intermission, a fun new feature that pops up on screen every time you pause the movie. For The Muppet Christmas Carol, we get a Christmas-themed Intermission with fun, funny musical interventions from the Muppet rats, chickens, penguins, and the Swedish Chef. It's hysterical to watch the rats croon their way through "Jingle Bells," or the chickens cluck "Joy to the World," or the Swedish Chef provide a Christmas reading with chicken back up. The only issue I have with the Disney Intermission feature on this release is that it's so much fun that wanting to pause it distracts from the actual movie. But... that's more of a praise of the feature than a problem with it.
The other features on the Blu-ray were available on the 2005 DVD release and they include Audio Commentary from director Brian Henson, "Frogs, Pigs And Humbug: Unwrapping a New Holiday Classic" which is a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, the hysterical blooper reel, Pepe Profiles Presents - Gonzo: A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Weirdo, and "Christmas Around the World" with Gonzo and Rizzo. It's a wonderful selection of the best features made for the various releases of the film.
My only major issue with the release is the completely unnecessary lack of the song "When Love Is Gone." Yes, the song was removed from the theatrical version of the film, but the fact that Disney could not merely include it as a bonus feature is ridiculous. The song is three minutes long and putting it in as a bonus feature or "deleted song" would have taken up very little space on the disc. It's a real shame that we don't have this part of the film's history available on the most recent release. But please don't let that prevent you from buying this Blu-ray. My recommendation to Muppet fans is to buy the release and send an email to Disney's video release department (disneyinfo@disneyhelp.com) letting them know how glad you are it has been released, but express clearly how disappointed you are that "When Love Is Gone" is... well, gone. 
.jpg)
