'I Am Big Bird' is affectionately saccharine
'Bird' tells the story of Caroll Spinney, who portrays the classic Sesame Street character and is, as the documentary reveals, unassuming and gracious.
Caroll Spinney and Kermit Love strutted their stuff on the set of a 鈥楽esame Street鈥� production.
Courtesy of Debra Spinney
Ever wonder about the person clomping around inside the Big Bird costume? Unlike Muppets creator Jim Henson or Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney has never had a high profile. Not that he wanted one exactly. What the affectionately saccharine documentary 鈥淚 Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,鈥� directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker, reveals is that Spinney is as unassuming and gracious as Big Bird is goofy-gawky. Spinney鈥檚 other, less fabled Muppet character, Oscar the Grouch, is even further removed from his puppeteer鈥檚 placidness (except Oscar, if you look closely, has a heart of gold).
Spinney, an octogenarian, has been inhabiting Big Bird for about 45 years, and can鈥檛 imagine retiring 鈥� even though 20 years ago he handpicked an apprentice, Matt Vogel, now one of the directors of 鈥淪esame Street.鈥� (Vogel says in an onscreen interview that he is still learning from the master and patiently waiting his turn.) The story of Spinney and Big Bird is one of the great love stories of show business.聽
He was inspired early on by his mother, who took him to Punch and Judy shows and encouraged his talent. His father, physically abusive, disparaged his son鈥檚 creativity. After serving four years in the Air Force, Spinney attracted Henson鈥檚 attention while working for Bozo the Clown. (Henson liked the way Spinney attempted to salvage a botched performance at a puppet festival.) At first, working for the Muppets, Spinney didn鈥檛 really get the hang of Big Bird, but then, much the same as when an actor finally realizes the essence of a character, Spinney allowed the 8-foot-tall 6-year-old to really come into his own.聽
The key was conceiving of Big Bird as a child, which, of course, made him a special favorite of children. In the documentary we see little kids with Big Bird as he prances in the TV studio or waves at them during a parade. They look ecstatically happy.聽
Spinney, in the documentary鈥檚 many clips and interviews of him spanning much of his life, is more complicated than that galumphing mega-puppetmaster might suggest. It鈥檚 not just that he had an abusive childhood, or that his first wife, 鈥渆mbarrassed鈥� by his career, ended his marriage, driving him to despair. It鈥檚 that Spinney, despite these intrusions, has somehow managed to keep intact within himself an idealized childhood. At the same time, he seems to know exactly who he is as an adult. Although he can鈥檛 imagine retiring from the Muppets, he has, as a colleague says, 鈥渁 life beyond the studio, beyond the character.鈥�
No doubt his almost serene sense of life鈥檚 balance has been greatly aided by his smiley second wife, Debra, who is not so much helpmate as soul mate. (It鈥檚 a shame she never enacted a Muppet of her own with him 鈥� they would be like Papageno and Papagena in 鈥淭he Magic Flute.鈥�) Their extraordinary good-naturedness is a clue to their resilience. It鈥檚 not as if their lives together have been a total bliss-out. Henson鈥檚 early death greatly aggrieved Spinney 鈥� they had become close friends 鈥� and one of the film鈥檚 more moving moments is Big Bird鈥檚 rendition of 鈥淏ein鈥� Green鈥� at Henson鈥檚 memorial.聽
There is also the spooky anecdote about when NASA in 1986 recruited Spinney to join the crew of the space shuttle Challenger only to rescind the offer when it turned out the Big Bird costume wouldn鈥檛 fit on board. He watched from the studio as the ship鈥檚 crew, including his replacement, Christa McAuliffe, perished in midair. 聽
If people doubted Big Bird鈥檚 popularity, they were quickly dissuaded when Mitt Romney, in his 2012 presidential campaign, declared 鈥淚 love Big Bird鈥� even as he decried funding for public television. The uproar was immediate: This guy wants to kill Big Bird. (The documentary includes some choice late-night talk-show quips.)聽
Although 鈥淚 Am Big Bird鈥� is no great shakes as a piece of filmmaking, and skews into treacly inspirational terrain, it鈥檚 still worth seeing to make the acquaintance of a man who, although he would probably be the last to say so, is an artist of the first rank. And a nice guy, too. What a rare combo. Grade: B (This film is not rated.)