Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021)
96%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: 2 nominations
Like the show whose groundbreaking creation it commemorates, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is as enlightening as it is purely entertaining.
If you’re a fan of Sesame Street, you gotta check out Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street. It’s not just a documentary, it’s a journey through the history of one of the most iconic shows of all time. And let me tell you, it’s not just informative, it’s downright fun.
You’ll get to see how the show was created, from the early days of brainstorming to the first episode airing on TV. It’s fascinating to see how the team behind Sesame Street came up with the characters we all know and love, like Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster.
But it’s not all serious stuff. There are plenty of hilarious moments too, like when Jim Henson and Frank Oz try to figure out how to make a puppet ride a bicycle. And who knew that Oscar the Grouch was originally going to be orange?
Overall, Street Gang is a must-watch for anyone who grew up with Sesame Street or just loves great TV. It’s a celebration of creativity, friendship, and the power of education. Plus, you’ll get to sing along to some classic Sesame Street songs. What more could you want?
Production Company(ies)
Macrocosm Entertainment, Citizen Skull Productions, Bond It Media Capital
Distributor
Screen Media Films
Release Type
Streaming, Streaming (HBO Max), Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for some thematic elements, language and smoking
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 47m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 23, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 13, 2021
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, Sesame Street, Street Gang, Marilyn Agrelo, Trevor Crafts, Ellen Scherer Crafts, Lisa Diamond, PG, Joan Ganz Cooney, Fran Brill, Christopher Cerf, Emilio Delgado, Jim Henson, Jon Stone, critic reviews, uplifting, enlightening, behind the scenes, cultural phenomenon, groundbreaking, experimental, television, Muppets, archive footage, joyous, heartbreaking, revolutionary, producer, director, writer, actor, box office, budget, MPAA rating, social phenomenon, personal narratives, never before seen footage, aspect ratio, limited release, streaming, audience score, Tomatometer, verified purchase, Fandango, news, reviews, TV shows, movies, podcast, Thor, Marvel, Minions, documentary, Witch House, cleaning, Stay Prayed Up, Girl in the Picture, Hello, Goodbye, Everything in Between, Confessions from the Hart, The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus, The Sea Beast, Moon, 66 Questions, Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel, The Road to Galena, Incantation, Dangerous Liaisons, Jewel, Warriors on the Field, Fair Play
Worldwide gross: $1,230
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,338
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,159
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 146
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Fran Brill – Self
Christopher Cerf – Self
Emilio Delgado – Self
Jim Henson – Self
Jon Stone – Self
Director(s)
Marilyn Agrelo
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Trevor Crafts, Ellen Scherer Crafts, Lisa Diamond
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (99) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (94) | Rotten (5)
This account of the creation and development of the children’s television show Sesame Street is one of the most uplifting movies I have seen.
February 17, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Stephen Romei
The Australian
TOP CRITIC
Illuminating, hilarious, tear-jerking and inspiring — this new documentary from Marilyn Agrelo (Mad Hot Ballroom) is an outstanding piece of work.
February 7, 2022
Brad Newsome
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
The film delivers no end of joy.
January 27, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Danny Leigh
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
There’s nothing less necessary than a gratuitously dirt-digging “exposé” of “Sesame Street.” But “Street Gang” isn’t too far behind in its inessentialness…
December 14, 2021
Inkoo Kang
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
It’s not the rousing celebration I had hoped for; however, Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street is well-researched, big-hearted, and high-minded, which makes it a pretty solid tribute.
May 14, 2021
Kristy Puchko
Pajiba
TOP CRITIC
Watching Street Gang is a largely joyous experience, but there’s also something heartbreaking about it.
May 11, 2021
Stephanie Zacharek
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It takes a documentary like this to appreciate just what a revolutionary production Sesame Street was.
June 8, 2022 | Rating: 9/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
Street Gang will be a terrific trip down memory lane for many and fascinating insight for even more. It even boasts Muppet out-takes — who could resist those?
March 31, 2022
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
The movie also shows some rare Muppet outtakes…including one scene that suggests even if Henson and Frank Oz didnt conceive Bert & Ernie as a gay couple the thought at least did occur to them pretty early on.
March 13, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
David Reddish
Queerty
“A reminder of Sesame Street’s power, and Henson’s (and Oz’s) inimitable gifts.”
February 9, 2022
Luke Goodsell
ABC News (Australia)
As lovely as you’d expect, but it’s also very moving, extremely funny and decidedly sweet.
January 25, 2022
Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
There’s a lot of great archive footage here from pivotal moments in the programme’s history.
December 16, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Jennie Kermode
Eye for Film…
Plot
Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street takes us inside the minds and hearts of the Sesame Street creators, artists, writers, and educators who, together established one of the most influential programs in television history. In late 1960s, Joan Ganz Cooney, a socially conscious female television executive was working in the fledgling world of public television. She was asked by friend Lloyd Morrisett Jr., who worked for the Carnegie Corporation of New York and who specialized in the psychological studies of pre-school children, to take on revolutionary experiment. Could Joan create a children’s show that would “master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them?” Inspired by the civil rights movement, Joan and Lloyd took this experiment one step further and began to envision using the new medium of television to educate all children, and specifically reach America’s “inner city” children to help close the educational gap that systemic racism and poverty had created. It was the right project, at the right time, and she needed the right group of people to make it happen. To harness the burgeoning power of television and create an educational, impactful, and entertaining show that could reach children nationwide. Cooney recruited visionary Muppets creator Jim Henson and acclaimed children’s television writer and director Jon Stone to craft the iconic and uplifting world of what became Sesame Street. Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street focuses on the first two experimental and groundbreaking decades of Sesame Street, highlighting this visionary “gang.” With interviews with the original surviving creators, and their families, we hear and see how “the gang” came together. They share stories of the challenges and stumbling blocks involved to create the show and its iconic characters, and also speak to confronting boundaries that came their way with unflinching purpose. All with a wicked sense of humor, and pure joy. The gang knew that they were part of something that was special, critically important, and bigger than themselves. Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street reintroduces the world to Joan’s gang. With exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, and original cast and creator interviews, audiences will meet the people that audaciously interpreted radical changes in society and engaged children in ways that entertained and educated them like never before. Now is the perfect time to tell the story of the show’s origins and inspire people to use purpose, and the power of creativity, to make a positive impact in our world.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features interviews with original Sesame Street creators, including Jim Henson and Joan Ganz Cooney.
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