Good concept, poorly executed.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The cleverest thing about 'The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)' is the degree of self-reference. The film begins with Sesame Street stalwarts Bert and Ernie, our hosts for the evening, breaking the fourth wall to greet the audience and introduce the feature presentation. We, the audience, are asked to count backwards from ten so that the film may begin; in keeping with the spirit of the viewing, I acquiesced. Our hosts regularly interrupt the main story whenever our hero's predicament is looking particularly dire, probably to remind the younger viewers that a happy ending is just around the corner. Then Bert gets excited about the closing credits.The meat of the film centres on that adorable reddish monster Elmo (Kevin Clash), who wakes up one morning and begins to sing about his beloved blanket. (Bizarrely, Elmo's bedroom features just one recognisable feature – a giant poster of Tiger Woods). When he accidentally travels to the mystical Grouchland (via a '2001'-like wormhole accessed through Oscar the Grouch's bachelor pad), he loses his blanket to the sinister self-proclaimed villain Huxley (Mandy Patinkin), a human with bushy eyebrows and a desire to steal anything that isn't his. A frustrated Elmo strikes out to retrieve his prized blanket, getting occasional help from various creatures and even the audience members. I know what it's like to lose a treasured possession. In fact, my dad threw away my favourite stuffed toy, for which I have never really forgiven him. Elmo's epic journey through Grouchland helps him to learn that material possessions are not everything, but the heartwarming finale is nevertheless rewarding in a predictable, slightly fluffy way. Movie references are abundant: 'Titanic (1997),' 'Gone with the Wind (1939)' and 'Doctor Zhivago (1965)' are offered by pessimist Bert as movies without a happy ending. They crafty larrikins at Jim Henson Pictures even managed to work in a reference to 'Basic Instinct (1992),' with the Grouchland cinema screening the picture with the title "Basically, It Stinks."

'The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland' is an excellent movie. I purchase the DVD for my 16-month old son. Initially I was hesitant about the purchase because I wasn't sure if he would enjoy the movie, plus it was long considering he'd never watched anything that for that length of time. The first time I played the movie for him, he sat quietly and watched it in its entirety. To this day my son watches it over and over again. He truly loves the movie. He loves the music. As an adult, I enjoyed the movie as well. It's definitely entertaining from start to finish. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. I have even purchased copies for other kids as gifts.

This gets a pretty good rating from me...I bought this movie thinking we'd see it once and it would get stored in our videos forever. But we watch it constantly. Even if my son watches it back to back, he's still captivated by it. It's a good movie...not bad for Sesame Street. The songs are good, except the one by Vanessa Williams - it's a bit bland, but of course, it would get stuck in our heads all day long. Mandy Patinkin is GREAT in this movie, just awesome. Perfect guy for the part. Good singing voice too.It's a cute movie. It does have lots of funny parts that only a kid will find funny and a parent will roll their eyes when the kid is not looking, but on the whole, it's amusing. The interruptions from Ernie and Bert are actually kind of cute, but any more of them would have been annoying.We like it. Good, clean, wholesome entertainment.

When Elmo has an argument with his friend over his blanket, the blanket ends up falling into Oscar the Grouch's trashcan. When Elmo goes to get it back he gets sucked into Grouchland where he has his blanket taken by the greedy and selfish Huxley. Elmo goes after Huxley while his friends from Sesame Street venture into Grouchland to find him.As the rest of the world do, I love little Elmo. The cuddliest and cutest of the Sesame Street gang, Elmo is hard to dislike and it is fun to spend 60 minutes in his company. The plot has a nice moral behind it, one of not being selfish with one's possessions, and it delivers it without ramming it down your throat - in fact younger children won't even see it!What the children will see is a collection of colourful characters who are pretty funny and encourage audience interaction all the way (which I think would have annoyed me in a cinema - but not on video). The action is all very bright and fun and has dialogue that will please both kids and adults, but without having stuff going low and high - it's all down the middle and easy to watch. The musical numbers are all very catchy and mostly quite fun. The Trash Queen's song is catchy but has a touch of the divas about it that seems out of place, but other than that there isn't really a bum note among them.The Sesame Street characters are all as fun as usual. Ernie and Bert could have got a little irritating with their interruptions but they carry it off well enough. The film is Elmo's of course and he is so sweet it's easy to go along with him. Patinkin is a great villain and I enjoyed him immensely. Williams has a brief role and does OK but doesn't have too much to do with herself other than look FABULOUS in a clingy outfit that shouldn't be allowed in a kids' movie!Overall this is a colourful and fun movie, which is easy to watch for both adults and children. The songs are like the characters - fun and colourful. It's all a bit short but it is amusing and well worth seeing if you've got young children to keep happy.