Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration is a special produced for Sesame Street’s 25th anniversary. Released in a slightly different form on video as Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years in October 1993, the special was shelved for its broadcast premiere on PBS until 1994, during pledge drive season, and in many markets, aired as part of a marathon block with Sesame Street Visits the Firehouse, Put Down the Duckie, and A New Baby in My House. The special was a companion to the prime-time network special, Sesame Street's All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
The broadcast and home video versions have the same linking footage (with a couple of added scenes and alternate takes), but different clips. Sesame Street Jam focused on celebrity segments, many coming from segments filmed for the 25th season; A Musical Celebration replaced most of these segments with classic Sesame Street songs. However, they both end with the cast and Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing "Sing." The music score throughout the special is also changed in many places for the home video release.
| Picture | Segment | Description |
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SCENE 1 | Everyone enjoys a day in the park as the calypso version of the Sesame Street Theme plays. The home video version does not include the credits shown on-screen, primarily listing the celebrity guests. |
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SCENE 1 cont'd | Big Bird, Prairie Dawn, and Telly watch as everyone expresses themselves with music, dance, and other talents. Big Bird is reminded of a quote his Granny Bird told him, "The whole world is a stage." Prairie gets the idea to put on a show, thinking they should look for dancers, musicians, and singers; Big Bird thinks they could also use some "la-la"-ers. Telly isn't so sure about it, but Prairie assures them that their search will be an adventure! |
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Song | En Vogue sings "Adventure." (First: Episode 2951) |
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SCENE 2 | They split up their duties - Telly and Prairie will look for dancers, musicians, and singers while Big Bird looks for "la-la"-ers. Prairie's surprised to see Big Bird take such a small role, but he tells her it's not as easy as it sounds. |
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SCENE 2 cont'd | Telly and Prairie come across Jamal, Angela, Celina, Carlo, the kids, and other Muppets singing an acapella version of "Do-Op Hop" at a hot dog cart. They've found their singers for the show! |
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SCENE 2 cont'd | Big Bird has formed a "LA LA LINE" to audition la-la-ers. After a failed audition by Humphrey and Natasha, the Count steps up, not wanting to la-la, but to count those in line. Big Bird thinks his day will drive him batty, cueing the next song... |
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Song | Marilyn Horne sings an opera version of "C is for Cookie." (First: Episode 3189) |
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SCENE 3 | Big Bird's next audition is with a very noisy duck. The duck happens to belong to the Amazing Mumford, who knows a spell that will make everyone la-la, although when he tries it, the spell instead makes everyone in the line quack! Mumford quips that with all those quackers, Big Bird should change his show to a "duck-umentary." The home video version uses an alternate sample of quacks for Mumford's duck. |
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Song | "Rubber Duckie" with Little Richard. (First: Episode 3263) For this airing, the introduction is cut, an alternate ending of Little Richie winking to the camera appears, and all of Rubber Duckie's squeaks are replaced. |
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SCENE 4 | Telly and Prairie report to Big Bird that they've found some singers. Big Bird responds he's having some trouble finding his la-la-ers. Telly wonders if it's as hard as finding a letter O... |
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Song | "That's the Letter O" with Queen Latifah (First: Episode 3066) Additional sound effects added |
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SCENE 4 cont'd | Big Bird is glad Telly found his letter, and wonders when he'll have the same success in finding la-la-ers. |
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Song | Ernie and Aaron Neville sing "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon." (First: Episode 3242) |
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SCENE 5 | Mumford tries his trick again, but makes people "baa-baa" like sheep. (Mumford: "Right vowel, wrong consonant.") |
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SCENE 5 cont'd | Telly and Prairie now find a jam session going on, which includes men banging on barrels with drumsticks, Hoots the Owl on his saxophone, Ernie squeezing his Rubber Duckie, and a Honker and Dinger trio; they think they're the perfect musicians for the show. Elmo, playing one of the drums, comments that playing it is almost as easy as saying his name... |
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Song | Maya Angelou sings "My Name" with Lexine, Carlo and Elmo. (First: Episode 3139) Introduction cut |
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Pledge Break | Elmo calls for a break and teases some of the highlights from the next half of the special. |
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SCENE 6 | Telly and Prairie ask Big Bird if he'd like to help them find dancers, but he's busy with his line. The next auditions don't do well, and Big Bird remarks he'll go bananas. Joey and Davey Monkey pop up at the mention of "bananas," and start chittering like mad. An alternate take of this scene was used in the home video version. |
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SCENE 6 cont'd | Prairie and Telly run into Jason and Savion while looking for dancers. Savion tells them that there are dancers everywhere in the park. Prairie comments at all the people dancing. "And pigs too," Telly adds, pointing nearby... During the shot of kids dancing to a radio, an alternate music track is used for the home video version. |
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Song | "A New Way to Walk" Celebrity version (First: Episode 3233) |
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SCENE 7 | Big Bird shows Telly and Prairie Dawn the la-la-ers he's chosen - The Martians! He tells them they're going to become stars, causing the Martians to consult their book before vanishing for the real stars in space. Big Bird shouts, "Hey, wait up! Maybe you can drop me off on the moon!" |
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Song | Los Lobos sings "Elmo and the Lavender Moon." (First: Episode 3101) |
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SCENE 8 | The next la-la-ers in Big Bird's line are a man who plays "Lady of Spain" on the accordion while a chicken clucks along. Big Bird begins to lose hope. |
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Song | Grover sings "Monster in the Mirror." (celebrity version) (First: Episode 2835) Additional Grover vocal track added to ending, different sound effects, "Simpsons" ending cut |
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SCENE 9 | Big Bird's line is now empty. Mumford tries his trick again having figured out what was going wrong, but no one's around to be entranced by it. The home video version opens this scene with an instrumental version of "We Are All Earthlings" as it directly followed that song. |
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SCENE 9 cont'd | Big Bird slinks over to a bench and mopes, then remembers an old saying: "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear..." He begins singing "Sing" to himself... when out of nowhere, Ladysmith Black Mambazo immediately answers with a chorus of la-las, exactly what Big Bird's been searching for! Mumford tries his trick again, summoning all of Big Bird's friends to sing with him in a grand finale. |
Cast[]
Muppets:
- Big Bird, Telly Monster, Prairie Dawn, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Herry Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Joey and Davey Monkey, Count von Count, Merry Monster, Humphrey, Baby Natasha, the Martians, Mumford's duck
Background Muppets:
- Oscar the Grouch, Ernie, Bert, Forgetful Jones, Buster the Horse, Roxie Marie, Kingston Livingston III, The Oinker Sisters, Hoots the Owl, Madame Chairbird, Two-Headed Monster, Polly Darton, Mr. Honker, Dinger, Henrietta Honker, Kathleen the Cow, Leo Birdelli, Rosita, Rocky, Barkley, Penguins, Chickens, Ducks
Human Cast:
Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets:
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
- Martin P. Robinson, Fran Brill, Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, David Rudman, Joey Mazzarino, Pam Arciero, Jim Kroupa, Noel MacNeal, Jim Martin, Bryant Young, Carmen Osbahr, Alison Mork, Peter MacKennan, Lisa Buckley, Frank Oz and Jim Henson
- Uncredited: Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Alice Dinnean, Michael Paul[1]
Cast:
- Carlo Alban, Alison Bartlett, Ruth Buzzi, Annette Calud, Savion Glover, Angel Jemmott, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Jou Jou Papailler
Credits[]
- Executive Producer: Arlene Sherman
- Writer: Luis Santeiro
- Directors: Mustapha Khan, Ted May, Lisa Simon, Jon Stone
- Associate Producer: Karin Young Shiel
- Music Director: Robby Merkin
- Songs By: Christopher Cerf, Dave Conner, Ian Ellis James, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, Luis Santeiro, Norman Stiles
- Editor: John R. Tierney
- Muppets, Costumes and Props: Ed Christie with Laurent Linn, Peter MacKennan, Stephen Rotondaro, Mark Zeszotek
- Muppet Coordinator: Kevin Clash
- Production Designer: Victor DiNapoli
- Costume Designer: Bill Kellard
- "New Way to Walk" Choreographer: Savion Glover
- Sound Effects: Dick Maitland
- Special Thanks to Norman Stiles