Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey 04/01/12
Directors: Constance Marks, Phillip Shane Writers: Phillip Shane, Justin Weinstein
2011
I don’t think there are too many people below 50 years old that haven’t seen Elmo in action. As I child I loved Sesame Street (1982-2009), and I still love the Muppets. Sesame Street was distinctly American and set on an inner city street, but this didn’t matter because the pieces of fur and foam managed to engage children and make a connection through a screen. To be honest, Elmo was never my favourite (I was more interested in Cookie Monster) however for so many kids he was. As we see in this documentary parents were treating Tickle Me Elmo dolls like I treat the last cookie in the jar....
This documentary explores the hand (and arm and mind) behind that red fur, a man named Kevin Clash. We first get to talk to him when he is showing us a polluted piece of water near his childhood home in Baltimore. He tells us about how he used to dream of going to Disneyland but his parents never had the money. Instead he would watch magical characters on TV, sitting close to the screen. His favourite was a puppet show called Captain Kangaroo. The seed was planted.
He made his first puppet from ripping up his Dad’s coat, without permission. Fortunately his Dad refrained from breaking his neck and he went on to make more. He was teased for staying inside and playing with dolls instead of playing basketball, however he was becoming obsessed with getting his stitching as flawless as Jim Henderson, the king of puppetry. Eventually, while on a class trip to New York City he managed to visit Kermit Love (Yes KERMIT) the designer of many famous Henson characters. Slowly but surely Kevin made his way in to TV and on to Sesame Street, puppeteering minor characters. One fateful day, another puppeteer threw a red furry shape into Kevin’s lap, claiming to not know what to do with it.
Kevin returned to Baltimore with the burning question of what this puppet should be about, what should define it? His solution was simply love, hugs, making a kid feel needed. And that is what works about Elmo, that he makes people feel good through his affection.
While I would prefer this documentary to have gone a little deeper in to Kevin’s life, such as how him spending so much time away entertaining the children of the world impacted his daughter, there are a few touching scenes. When we see a young Kevin visiting a school for disabled children with his puppets, and how much those children appreciate his enthusiasm, it shows us that they are more than just pieces of cloth. It is also remarkable, and very sad, when we see one of many terminally ill children meet Elmo as her wish. Kevin comments that it makes Elmo “bigger than me” and that is true.
Kevin himself is quite a shy person, however his puppets seem to give him a stronger voice, even when sandwiched between his idols Henson and Frank Oz playing a ‘perfect employee’ puppet, I found that ironic. We see him give his daughter her sweet 16 birthday message as Elmo, and I couldn’t help thinking if he should be doing that as himself instead. This is, unsurprisingly, a quite touching and fluffy documentary, with just enough hard content to keep the interest up. However I am really glad I watched it, I smiled lots.
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