‘Sesame Street’ documentary stays sweetly on the surface
Hippie puppeteers and cool-headed documentary filmmakers. Pun-loving songwriters and researchhappy educational psychologists. Muppets.
The people (and puppets) behind “Sesame Street” were a motley crew of artists, academics and furry critters who united to make one of the most beloved and important series in television history. Sadly, there are no in-depth interviews with Bert, Ernie or Elmo, but you will hear from many of the Very Important Humans who created the show in “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street,” a new documentary that recently debuted on HBO and is streaming on HBO Max.
Based on Michael Davis’ 2008 book, “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street,” director Marilyn Agrelo’s documentary chronicles the show’s journey from long shot educational TV dream project to cultural powerhouse through the lively, loving eyes of the people who made this TV miracle happen.
As you might imagine, the “Sesame Street” gang is a smart, passionate bunch. Which is a good thing because Agrelo’s 107-minute film never leaves the TV neighborhood. All of the interviews — new and old — are with the show’s original team members and/or their spouses and children.
The show was a global phenomenon, but the documentary keeps it all in the family.
This means we get a lot of time with the late puppeteer Jim Henson and fellow puppeteer Frank Oz, the men who were the voices and bodies behind Bert (Oz) and
Ernie (Henson), Kermit
the Frog (Henson) and Cookie Monster (Oz). The backstage footage of the puppeteers at work will have you marveling at their multitasking genius and rubbing your neck in chiropractic sympathy.
There are also priceless sections devoted to the late Joe Raposo, the ebullient songwriter behind such classics as “Bein’ Green,” “C is for Cookie” and “Sing”; songwriter Christopher Cerf, who shows how he turned the Beatles’ “Let it Be” into “Letter B”; and head writer Norman Stiles, the man who created the suave and helpful Count von Count.
But for all its generosity toward the “Street” gang, the documentary falters when it comes examining the shadows behind the show’s sunny days.
Agrelo brings up late writer-director Jon
Stone’s struggles with depression, but she doesn’t explore what impact they might have had on the show or the cast.
Then there is the departure of the late
Matt Robinson, the show’s original Gordon. Robinson left the show after Roosevelt Franklin,
the streetwise Muppet character he created and voiced, was sidelined due to complaints about Roosevelt’s slangy language and feisty attitude. Robinson’s wife and children talk about Robinson’s loss of faith in the show he loved, but no one from the “Sesame Street” leadership team ever weighs in.
Whether it is dashing past conflict or allowing the players to pat themselves on the back a few too many times, “Street Gang” does suffer from the absence of outside voices. But the voices we do hear — a celebratory chorus that includes archived musical performances from B.B. King, Odetta, Stevie Wonder and James Taylor, to name just a few — are full of so much unfettered joy, you would have to be sharing a trashcan with Oscar the Grouch to remain unmoved.
“It was a family,” Cerf says. “It is a family.”
And at it’s best, “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street” makes you feel like you have a seat at the happiest table in town.
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