This likable, kick-started documentary celebrates the life and work of Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer behind Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Oscar The Grouch since 1969.
Utilising hours of home-movie footage shot by Spinney and his wife Debs, it charts Spinney’s run-ins with a disapproving father, the early days with Muppet master Jim Henson, the cult of Big Bird, and Spinney’s insatiable desire to continue performing well into his eighties.
Save a murder in the grounds of his house, Spinney’s life lacks drama, but I Am Big Bird delivers an affectionate portrait of a big-hearted man and a fitting testament to the power of Sesame Street.