Ouyang Lianzi as Xiao Foo
Jon Stone directing child actress Ouyang Lianzi during filming of Big Bird in China.
Feature from the Dec 25, 1982 issue of TV Guide.
Behind the scenes in the Chinatown shop.
Big Bird in China is a 1983 special produced by the Children's Television Workshop which originally aired on NBC on May 29.[1] In the first international special based on Sesame Street, Big Bird is inspired by a Chinatown scroll, and the story of the legendary Phoenix. After coaxing the shopkeeper into lending him the scroll, Big Bird and Barkley take a slow boat to China. They soon make a new friend, little Xiao Foo, and receive enigmatic hints from the Monkey King.
Filmed on location in Beijing and elsewhere, the Great Wall of China and Mao's Tomb are amongst the landmarks shown. Also featured are assorted street dancers, cheerful Communists, and a song about saying "Hello" in Chinese.
The special was adapted into a book by Jon Stone.
Reviews[]
Songs[]
Notes[]
- All home video releases cut NBC's logo out of the opening titles. On the 2004 DVD release, Brian Muehl's lines for Telly are dubbed by Martin P. Robinson. The DVD release also cuts out all of Big Bird's lines of dialogue in regards to "speaking American".
- A running storyline was written by Bailey and Stone featuring Grover, who would host a travelogue from various locations in China, but each sight would be blocked by an incoming Chinese water buffalo. At the special's end, the buffalo would follow Grover back to Sesame Street. The scenes were scrapped when Stone discovered "water buffalos stink to high heaven. They also aren’t field-trained. So Jon said he didn’t have the heart to ask Frank Oz, Grover’s puppeteer, to lie down in that slop."[2]
- According to Debra Spinney, a sequence with Big Bird riding a unicycle down the street was filmed, but didn't make it into the final cut.[3] Big Bird had previously ridden a unicycle in several episodes.
Cast[]
Human Cast (as translated in the credits)
- Ouyang Lien-Tze as Xiao Foo
- Arabella Hong as the Shopkeeper
- Hua Zhi-Ping as the Storyteller
- Quan She-Zhen, Liu Xia-Shen, Xiu Tien-Ed, Lu Fu-Hai, Wu Chu-Lian, Li Jiang, Chou Yi-Ping, Zhang Xin-Tien as The Monkey King
- Wang Kwan-Wei and Ting Bao-Yi as Lion Dogs
- Lu Ja-Lin as the Dancing Phoenix
- Katherine Lakoski as the Singing Phoenix
- Duck Dancers from North Hsin Hua Street Kindergarten
Muppet Performers
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch
- Brian Muehl as Barkley, Telly Monster
- Frank Oz as Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover
- Jerry Nelson as Two-Headed Monster (left head)
- Richard Hunt as Two-Headed Monster (right head)
- Cheryl Blaylock
- Ed Christie
- Martin P. Robinson
- Jim Henson as Ernie
Crew[]
- Directed by Jon Stone
- Written by Joseph A. Bailey and Jon Stone
- Executive Producer: Jon Stone
- Associate Producer: Tish Sommers
- Associate Director: Ozzie Alfonso
- Music Composed, Arranged and Conducted by Dick Lieb
- For The Muppets: Caroly Wilcox, Larry Jameson, Susan Moore, Richard Termine
- For Big Bird: Kermit Love, Debra Spinney
- Original Puppet Design: Don Sahlin
- Editor: Ken Gutstein
- Audio: Blake Norton
- Sound Effects: Dick Maitland
- Art Director: Victor DiNapoli
- Location Coordinator: Peter Chow
- Animation Designed By Sam MacLean with New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Laboratory
Gallery[]
Video releases[]
Berjaya HVN
cat. no 947005
Sources[]
- ↑ Jim Henson's Red Book: 5/29/1983 – ‘Big Bird in China airs.’
- ↑ "Muppets Gone Missing": Joe Bailey at GraphicPolicy.com
- ↑ I Am Big Bird audio commentary at 44:15