Follow That Bird

Big Bird has spent his life on Sesame Street, but a social worker decides he belongs with other birds and places him with a family far away. Homesick and unhappy in his new surroundings, he runs off, hoping to make his way back to the friends he left behind. When the Sesame Street group learns he has disappeared, they set out across the country to find him, while Big Bird's journey brings him into contact with people who do not have his best interests at heart. The film is a musical road adventure built around the television characters, with Caroll Spinney voicing Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Bruno the Trashman, and Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Kathryn Mullen and Jerry Nelson performing the other Muppets. Chevy Chase, John Candy, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, Sandra Bernhard and Waylon Jennings appear as guests.

Ken Kwapis directed from a screenplay by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, with Tony Garnett producing for Warner Bros. Pictures, Henson Associates and the Children's Television Workshop. It was Kwapis's first feature, the earliest entry in a directing career that continued through Vibes, Dunston Checks In and later films such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and He's Just Not That Into You. Released in August 1985, it ran 88 minutes and took about 14 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb and on TMDB the audience rating sits at 6.4 out of 10, and the critics' rating is also 6.4 out of 10 from a small sample of reviews.