One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure

One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure is a planetarium show developed for the United States and China. Designed as an introduction to astronomy for children, Big Bird, Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu embark on a journey through space to learn about the sun, stars and constellations. On an imaginary trip to the Moon, the trio discover how different it is from Earth. They learn how to find the Big Dipper constellation and the North Star, and there's a sing-along of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".^[1]

Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell says that the show is an advance for educating young children about space: "There's just not a lot of other programs out there that engage little kids without scaring them half to death in a dark room... This will give them an introduction and hopefully instill in them at a very young age a love for science."^[1]

In addition to teaching about outer space, the project's goals also include a focus on cross-cultural appreciation. In the U.S. version of the show, Hu Hu Zhu visits Elmo in the United States; in the Chinese version, Elmo visits Hu Hu Zhu in China. (The U.S. version has an English and Spanish soundtrack; the Chinese version is in Mandarin.)

The film premiered at the Beijing Planetarium on September 26, 2008, while the U.S. version opened on October 17, 2008 at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. The show opened at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2009^[1] and continues to play at a number of venues.

Credits[]

Written by Annie Evans
Directed by Ken Diego
Caroll Spinney as Big Bird
Kevin Clash as Elmo
Tyler Bunch as Hu Hu Zhu
Additional Performers: Matt Vogel, Paul McGinnis, Noel MacNeal

Music

"Planets, Moon and Stars" (with new lyrics)
"I Wonder 'Bout the World Above Up There" (with new lyrics)
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (English and Chinese lyrics)
"Elmo's Song" (underscore)
"I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" (underscore)
"The People in Your Neighborhood" (underscore)
"Sesame Street Theme" (underscore)

For the Washington, D.C. premiere on April 21, 2009, Elmo appeared with children from the Peabody Early Childhood Center at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to announce the PNC "Grow Up Great with Science" grant awarded jointly to the Museum and District of Columbia Public Schools. The press dubbed Elmo, in his spacesuit attire, "Elmo the Elmonaut."