Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

I Am Big Bird

 I Am Big Bird
type
TVTItem
 I Am Big Bird
label
I Am Big Bird
 I Am Big Bird
page
IAmBigBird
 I Am Big Bird
comment
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is a 2014 documentary by Copper Pot Pictures about Muppet performer Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer for Big Bird and Oscar on Sesame Street since it began in 1969. The film was directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker, with LaMattina writing the script.The film focuses on Spinney's beginnings as a puppeteer, his relationship with wife Deb and his characters' meteoric rise to popularity, sprinkled with home movie footage taken by Spinney. The film was funded via Kickstarter.Compare Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, another independent documentary about a longtime Sesame puppeteer (Kevin Clash).
 I Am Big Bird
fetched
2024-03-19T00:16:10Z
 I Am Big Bird
parsed
2024-03-19T00:16:11Z
 I Am Big Bird
processingComment
Dropped link to PropheticName: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 I Am Big Bird
processingUnknown
PropheticName
 I Am Big Bird
isPartOf
DBTropes
 I Am Big Bird / int_10f35f3a
type
Creator Breakdown
 I Am Big Bird / int_10f35f3a
comment
Creator Breakdown: An In-Universe example. Caroll discussed that he suffered an emotional breakdown for quite a few years during his first marriage to Janice, who didn't appreciate his work at the time, and their eventual divorce in 1971.
 I Am Big Bird / int_10f35f3a
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_10f35f3a
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_10f35f3a
 I Am Big Bird / int_1439161f
type
Heroic BSoD
 I Am Big Bird / int_1439161f
comment
Heroic BSoD: Caroll fell into a long depression when he and Janice divorced. He snapped out of it when he married Deb. When Jim Henson died, Caroll and Deb were left shell-shocked.
 I Am Big Bird / int_1439161f
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_1439161f
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_1439161f
 I Am Big Bird / int_17501df2
type
Cool Old Guy
 I Am Big Bird / int_17501df2
comment
Cool Old Guy: Caroll himself, given that he was 81 years old at the time of the film's release. Special mention goes to the bungee jumping scene.
 I Am Big Bird / int_17501df2
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_17501df2
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_17501df2
 I Am Big Bird / int_35e077
type
Fourth-Date Marriage
 I Am Big Bird / int_35e077
comment
Fourth-Date Marriage: Caroll married Deb within two weeks of meeting her.
 I Am Big Bird / int_35e077
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_35e077
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_35e077
 I Am Big Bird / int_535156bc
type
Christmas Special
 I Am Big Bird / int_535156bc
comment
Christmas Special: Some of the home movies and archival footage are behind-the-scenes glimpses of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and A Muppet Family Christmas.
 I Am Big Bird / int_535156bc
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_535156bc
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_535156bc
 I Am Big Bird / int_5517f7a5
type
Just Think of the Potential!
 I Am Big Bird / int_5517f7a5
comment
Just Think of the Potential!: Caroll left Bozo the Clown because he wanted to apply his talent to the production of meaningful, stimulating television.
 I Am Big Bird / int_5517f7a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_5517f7a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_5517f7a5
 I Am Big Bird / int_565ce678
type
Game Show Appearance
 I Am Big Bird / int_565ce678
comment
Game Show Appearance: The film opens with a clip of Spinney appearing as a guest on To Tell the Truth.
 I Am Big Bird / int_565ce678
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_565ce678
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_565ce678
 I Am Big Bird / int_612f2a40
type
Hates Their Parent
 I Am Big Bird / int_612f2a40
comment
Hates Their Parent: The first part of the film discusses how Caroll had a difficult relationship with his father, Chester, who possessed a Hair-Trigger Temper, and how he carried that resentment for a long time, before they finally reconciled.
 I Am Big Bird / int_612f2a40
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_612f2a40
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_612f2a40
 I Am Big Bird / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 I Am Big Bird / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Shortly after his 1971 divorce, Caroll once considered committing suicide by jumping out the window of his ninth-floor apartment, but quickly decided not to go through with it.
 I Am Big Bird / int_6d332aea
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_6d332aea
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_6d332aea
 I Am Big Bird / int_77d826c7
type
Stern Teacher
 I Am Big Bird / int_77d826c7
comment
Stern Teacher: What longtime Sesame Street showrunner Jon Stone was for Caroll. As the years went on, Stone seemed like he had a tendency to single Spinney out for criticism, with Emilio Delgado (Luis) even recalling how he confronted Stone over it. But Spinney still regarded Stone as a brilliant writer and director who was invaluable in establishing Big Bird and Oscar as characters.
 I Am Big Bird / int_77d826c7
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_77d826c7
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_77d826c7
 I Am Big Bird / int_7870735b
type
From Bad to Worse
 I Am Big Bird / int_7870735b
comment
From Bad to Worse: Deb recalls how she and Caroll had been awoken by an early morning phone call in 1990, which he answered. She was expecting it be news that Caroll's octogenarian father, Chester, had passed away. Instead, they learned that Jim Henson had suddenly died.
 I Am Big Bird / int_7870735b
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_7870735b
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_7870735b
 I Am Big Bird / int_829b958e
type
Embarrassing First Name
 I Am Big Bird / int_829b958e
comment
Embarrassing First Name: Caroll talks about getting bullied as a kid, and notes that having Caroll as a first name didn't help matters (he was named that because he was born on the day after Christmas). The film doesn't cover it, but when he was in the Air Force he went by the name Ed Spinney (from Edwin, his middle name) because of this trope.
 I Am Big Bird / int_829b958e
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_829b958e
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_829b958e
 I Am Big Bird / int_85ca9dab
type
Second Love
 I Am Big Bird / int_85ca9dab
comment
Second Love: After Caroll divorced his first wife Janice in 1971, he was single for a while. In 1979, he married Debra Jean Gilroy.
 I Am Big Bird / int_85ca9dab
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_85ca9dab
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_85ca9dab
 I Am Big Bird / int_927b2f11
type
The Bus Came Back
 I Am Big Bird / int_927b2f11
comment
The Bus Came Back: One of the interviewees is Ouyang Lianzi, who played Xiao Foo in Big Bird in China. On an interview promoting the film, Caroll mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own time.
 I Am Big Bird / int_927b2f11
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_927b2f11
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_927b2f11
 I Am Big Bird / int_985795ab
type
Medium Blending
 I Am Big Bird / int_985795ab
comment
Medium Blending: The film uses a combination of live action footage (including home video), animation, and archived audio recordings of interviews.
 I Am Big Bird / int_985795ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_985795ab
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_985795ab
 I Am Big Bird / int_9ac1ff5c
type
Creator Recovery
 I Am Big Bird / int_9ac1ff5c
comment
Creator Recovery: An In-Universe example. Caroll falling in love with Debra helped give him new confidence in his performances, which was even noted by others working on the show.
 I Am Big Bird / int_9ac1ff5c
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_9ac1ff5c
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_9ac1ff5c
 I Am Big Bird / int_a30c287
type
Good Parents
 I Am Big Bird / int_a30c287
comment
Good Parents: Caroll deeply loved his parents, despite his strict upbringing.
 I Am Big Bird / int_a30c287
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_a30c287
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_a30c287
 I Am Big Bird / int_b9af5ef3
type
The Film of the Book
 I Am Big Bird / int_b9af5ef3
comment
The Film of the Book: This film is an expansion of Caroll's book The Wisdom of Big Birdnote  and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch : Lessons from a Life in Feathers, which discusses many of the same events.
 I Am Big Bird / int_b9af5ef3
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_b9af5ef3
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_b9af5ef3
 I Am Big Bird / int_bc00493f
type
Precision F-Strike
 I Am Big Bird / int_bc00493f
comment
Precision F-Strike: While it's overall a family-friendly movie, there are two instances of cussing—Spinney dropping an F-bomb in a home movie, and a Big Bird in Japan outtake where director Jon Stone says "shit" after Spinney-as-Big Bird mistakenly starts moving before his cue.
 I Am Big Bird / int_bc00493f
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_bc00493f
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_bc00493f
 I Am Big Bird / int_cf231d54
type
Cool Teacher
 I Am Big Bird / int_cf231d54
comment
Cool Teacher: Caroll regarded Jim Henson this way, saying he felt more like a friend than a boss. Likewise, Matt Vogel regards Caroll as this as well.
 I Am Big Bird / int_cf231d54
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_cf231d54
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_cf231d54
 I Am Big Bird / int_d9cf40fa
type
Screw This, I'm Outta Here
 I Am Big Bird / int_d9cf40fa
comment
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Caroll went looking for a job at Disney, but immediately left upon learning of what he believed to be an abysmal prospective salary.
 I Am Big Bird / int_d9cf40fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_d9cf40fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_d9cf40fa
 I Am Big Bird / int_f0324f79
type
Land of Dragons
 I Am Big Bird / int_f0324f79
comment
Land of Dragons: The production of Big Bird in China is discussed.
 I Am Big Bird / int_f0324f79
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_f0324f79
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_f0324f79
 I Am Big Bird / int_f8394279
type
Happier Home Movie
 I Am Big Bird / int_f8394279
comment
Happier Home Movie: Much of the film is comprised of footage taken by Caroll over the course of his career.
 I Am Big Bird / int_f8394279
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_f8394279
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_f8394279
 I Am Big Bird / int_name
type
ItemName
 I Am Big Bird / int_name
comment
 I Am Big Bird / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 I Am Big Bird / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
I Am Big Bird / int_name
 I Am Big Bird / int_name
itemName
I Am Big Bird

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 I Am Big Bird
hasFeature
Films of 2015–2019 / int_3903289e