Street gang : how we got to Sesame Street

Some programs from our childhood are still engraved in our memories whether it is The Muppet Show, Fraggle rock or Sesame Street. Behind the creation of these three cult shows is the name of Jim Henson, a gifted puppeteer who has marked several generations of directors and writers but a huge audience. The documentary Street gang: how we got to Sesame Street is a way to pay tribute to his genius but also to his legacy behind several companies (the Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson's Creature Shop) who continue to participate in the creation of new content such as the excellent series Netflix Dark Crystal: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019). Focusing on the evolution of the Sesame Street show, this excellent documentary revisits a whole section of American television.

Sesame Stree debuted on November 10, 1969 on the PBS network and is intended to be an American educational television series for children. Created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, co-produced by The Children's Television Workshop and PBS Kids, it was broadcast in France as a segment in the program L'île aux enfants (with the famous Casimir) before knowing a French version. Sesame Street was produced and broadcast from 1978 to 1982 on TF1 and as a Phoenix was readapted in 1992 (France 3) and 2005 (France 5). The American version has continued to be broadcast for more than fifty years and has met with great success thanks to the various puppets Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Elmo, Grover, Herry Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Prairie Dawn.

Street gang: how we got to Sesame Street thus offers us a true journey through time and shows us how the Sesame Street show was conceived, how the shootings took place, the difficulties encountered and above all the immense work of Jim Henson and his team to bring to life his many unforgettable puppets, each with its own behavior, appearance and usefulness. For far from being a simple entertainment, Sesame Street's function was to intelligently entertain its audience, to open their minds and even if intended for a very young audience, it was watched by adults who were regaining their childlike souls. Because of the plurality of the themes addressed, Sesame Street did not want to leave any subject aside. An excerpt from the film shows us how the theme of death is approached, in particular by taking into account the death in 1982 of actor Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) and by showing a Big Bird who does not understand the meaning of the word death. This emotionally charged moment is one of the many highlights of the film.

Last but not least, Soul Entertainment's Screen Media acquired the North American rights to HBO's Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street before its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Screen Media plans to offer this documentary film in theaters and on VOD in the United States. It will then air on HBO and HBO Max later this year. We can only encourage you to discover it and we hope that this excellent documentary film will be distributed worldwide, especially in France.

Street gang: how we got to Sesame Street
Directed by Marilyn Agrelo
Produced by Trevor Crafts, Ellen Scherer Crafts, Lisa Diamond
Executive Producers: Lisa Heller, Nancy Abraham, Brian O'Shea, Nat McCormick, Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor, Mark Myers, Heather Kenyon
Co-Executive Producer: Michael Davis
Music by T. Griffin
Cinematography: Luke Geissbühler
Edited by Ben Gold
Distributed by Macrocosm Entertainment
Release date: January 30, 2021 (Sundance)
Running time: 107 minutes

Seen on February 1, 2021 (Sundance Festival)

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