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 specializ... (Full plot summary below)
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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.
Leave your thoughts about Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Amil NiaziEven those familiar with the legacy of the show will discover new and fascinating things about the history of Sesame Street throughout the film – and anyone who watches Street Gang will come away moved by everything its cast and crew managed to accomplish. |
| ObserverOliver JonesBy shining the light on Stone, Agrelo’s movie rightfully makes a national hero out of a historical footnote. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThe film’s major revelations are not how hilarious, anarchic and charismatic the Muppets were and are. That’s been covered elsewhere. What’s fascinating here is remembering the lesser known figures who shaped the show that was to come. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMr. Henson left behind a body of work that continues to endure today, but a great deal of his legacy remains on Sesame Street, and this film tells us exactly how he and everyone else got there. |
| PolygonTasha RobinsonStreet Gang certainly doesn’t tell the whole story of Sesame Street’s early years — it can’t begin to. But it’s an absorbing, nostalgia-courting start, and for people with fond memories of the show, it’s an unbeatable chance to approach it as an adult, and understand their own childhoods a little better in the process. |
| Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAfter all, Street Gang absorbs what was truly important about the show: that not every lesson is going to be fun, but that doesn't mean everything is terrible. Most importantly, it taught small kids their ABCs and 123s, while showing them that a beat-up, diverse neighborhood just like theirs could be the best place on Earth. |
| TimeStephanie ZacharekWatching Street Gang is a largely joyous experience, but there’s also something heartbreaking about it. |
| VarietyChris WillmanA highly satisfying HBO documentary ... that wisely places roughly equal emphasis on how the sausage was made and how the culture was changed. |
| SlashfilmEthan AndertonIt follows in the footsteps of the Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? by shining a light on the making of the iconic series, revealing things you may not have known about its creators, and bringing some good old fashioned nostalgia to your heart. |
| San Francisco ChronicleChris VognarStreet Gang is a worthy celebration of a one-of-a-kind program. If you’re not careful, it might leave you humming your ABC’s. |
