Jackson Booth-Millard I used to watch pre-school children's television programme Sesame Street a few times as a child, when it was available on terrestrial TV, this was essentially the Sesame Street movie, with one of its most popular characters as the star, so I watched to relive my childhood a bit. Basically Elmo the furry red monster (Kevin Clash) loves his fuzzy blue blanket and would never let anything happen to it, however when Zoe the furry yellow-orange monster (Fran Brill) wants to play with it they get in a tug-of-war, and it rips, Elmo angry declares Zoe is no longer his friend. Suddenly Telly the furry red-violet monster (Martin P. Robinson) inadvertently causes the blanket to land in the hands of Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney), and Elmo trying to retrieve it is teleported through the trashcan into Grouchland, a place full of grouchy creatures. Elmo has to muster up all the determination and courage he can to on an action mission to find his beloved blanket, and along the way he meets many grouchy characters, good and bad. The blanket has ended up in the hands of the villainous greedy man named Huxley (Homeland's Mandy Patinkin), who lives at the top of Mount Pickanose, he has collected many objects and treasures, but he never shares them with anybody. Elmo gets a little help from a girl named Grizzy (Stephanie D'Abruzzo) and he meets the Queen of Trash (Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams), meanwhile the other Sesame Street residents are made aware that Elmo is missing and try to find a way to get him back, but some mean characters may be getting in their way. In the end Elmo eventually reaches Huxley, and he gets his treasured blanket back, in his journey he has learnt that things should be shared, he apologises to his friend Zoe and allows her to share his blanket. Throughout the film there is commentary from Bert (Frank Oz) and Ernie (Steve Whitmire), where they will often pause the film and act worried about what is going to happen next, but they will assure the audience that everything will be fine. Also starring Roscoe Orman as Gordon, Bob McGrath as Bob, Alison Bartlett-O'Reilly as Gina, Ruth Buzzi as Ruthie, Emilio Delgado as Luis, Loretta Long as Susan, Caroll Spinney as Big Bird, Frank Oz as Grover and Cookie Monster, Jerry Nelson as Count Von Count, Dave Goelz as Humongous Chicken and Steve Whitmire as Stuckweed. Elmo with his falcetto voice, referring to himself by name and naivety is cute, Bert and Ernie chipping in is amusing, and it was nice to see the other many Muppet characters I recognise, e.g. Big Bird, Grover, Count Von Count, Telly, but this film is definitely much more for the younger audience, they will enjoy the songs and learning some things, but the adults watching may find it perhaps silly, slightly predictable, partly annoying and overly mushy, but it is a family friendly film, a very average musical adventure. Adequate!

compo39 I think your thoughts that the movie missed its target is a load of crap. This movie is 1 of the cutest movies I've seen, im in my 20's and I thought it was so adorable, beats any other kids movie I've seen. Please, if any1 is going to rate a kids movie, make sure they know what they're talking about. Such stupid people out there...stupid 'so called' critics. I wonder what sort of car they drive or what their wives look like... yea exactly.. thats all i have to say really to make up for the 10 so called lines.. It may have made New Year's celebrations a little damp, but the rain that greeted revellers in some Australian cities was still welcome.And Australians will be hoping for more of it in 2007 to break the nation's drought, which experts have called the worst in 100 years.Despite the rain, hundreds of thousands of revellers attended traditional fireworks displays, concerts and dances around the country. It seemed revellers heeded warnings to behave, with police around the nation reporting few major problems.Most people in major cities also used public transport to avoid traffic problems.The country's biggest fireworks display - possibly the world's biggest - centred on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.More than a million people gathered along the harbour foreshore and on the water to watch the two fireworks shows.Children dressed up for the family show at 9 pm, whose theme was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.The midnight fireworks show, which was billed as the biggest and best to date, lasted 13 minutes and featured pyrotechnics displays off CBD buildings, the bridge and harbourside locations.On his first visit to Sydney, New Zealander Quintin Thomas, 27, of Wellington, said he'd "seen the best night in the world"."It's the best New Year's I've ever had," Mr Thomas said."I saw it on TV and had to come and check it out."Fireworks off the buildings, off everything - that's class."More than 1,500 police patrolled popular Sydney areas including the Rocks, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, Manly, Coogee and Bondi.In Canberra, the fireworks display went ahead despite major storms.An ACT police spokesman said a couple of thousand people gathered in the Civic district for fireworks and concerts.DJs entertained younger crowds, while a Beatles cover band played in the city's central square, Garema Place.In Melbourne there were record crowds of about 450,000 in the city despite rainy weather.About 50,000 attended a party at Federation Square and there were six party sites around the city, offering free entertainment.

empresskrissy Red, furry and undeniably cute, who wouldn't love Elmo? A mean bushy browed villain by the name of Huxley and his bugsy sidekick that's who. Like many of the programs generated by the Sesame Workshop geared toward children, The adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is a wonderful story of sharing and cooperation. Children and grown ups alike are taught the joys of sharing and cooperation as they follow Elmo into Oscar's grouchy homeland Grouchland and he encounters many obstacles as he tries to retrieve his beloved blankie. We see many qualities children posses that we as adults lack at times, determination, love for our enemies and working for what we want. I think Mandy Patinkin makes just the right kind of villain for a children's program, with just the right amount of meanness and humor to not make it too scary. Elmo is accompanied by a dynamic cast that rounds out the entire story. This is a wonderful story that should be enjoyed by parents and children together.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Everyone loves that furry, lovable red monster, Elmo. Ever since "Follow That Bird", "Elmo in Grouchland" is a way more colorful version for kids, and there's more fun to it. Elmo has this blanket that he loves very much, and after a tug-of-war with Zoe, Oscar the Grouch tosses the blanket after he blows his nose with it. Where does it goes, in Grouchland. On Sesame Street, there was a place called GrouchyTown. In this movie, Grouchland is being run by a really rude man named Huxley(Mandy Patankin). He the worst person to be around. When Elmo goes to Grouchland to retrieve his blanket, he meets some unusual characters there. He meets a girl grouch who his nothing like the others. Very kind, very neat, and very cooperative. Mostly grouches hate cooperation, even Oscar can bend the rules of his kind. When he was a resident there, he knew what it's like. So he got the grouches there to change their attitude's, and their ways a bit. Anthor character in the movie is the Queen of Trash(Vanessa L. Williams). I liked the part where Elmo had to do 100 Raspberries. She was also a friendly person there. This movie deals with sharing, while "Follow that Bird" deals with diversity. This movie is very good for kids, as well, and other generations to come. Rating 3 out of 5 stars!