Customer Reviews

Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This DVD set was nostalgic and at times almost brought tears to my eyes. For those parts (The ladybug picnic, The pinball counting to 12, the cartoon typewriter, the cast iron "I", etc) I would give it ten stars. Sesame Street literally shaped my life as a young child. I watched it religously until age seven (I'm thirty-five now). The reason for my three star rating is because of the lengthy songs and dull skits, which unfortunately took most of the time. Leena Horne singing didn't do it for me at five and she especially doesn't do it for me now at thrity-five. Sorry, but same to you Diana Ross. I wanted to see more of the aliens ("yep, yep, yep...nope, nope, nope"), Bert and Ernie, Super Grover, and the Tiddly-winks (who were suspiciously absent).

Watching this DVD made me realize how they should now call Sesame Street, just plain Elmo's World. That's who it's really all about now anyway. I loved the good old days when ALL the characters received equal billing. Now it seems like the first forty minutes of Sesame Street is just filler until Elmo, the big star, shows up. Don't get me wrong, I like Elmo, and so do my three little ones, but all the other characters have their own personalities and ability to teach as well. This DVD is a reminder of that.

So CTW if you're reading this, I would buy every single episode of Sesame Street from 1974-79 if you put it out on DVD. Stop teasing us with these short DVD releases showing only clips. To those of you who are thinking of purchasing this DVD set, I would get it, it is worth it. You're sure to see something that will bring back a memory.

I bought Old School Sesame Street Volumes 1 and 2 many years ago and have been waiting for a 3rd volume release because our family just LOOOOOVES these two. In fact, the box is falling apart because of overuse. When I saw the 40 Years of Summer Days, I actually thought this was the 3rd, so I got it right away. I didn't realize that 40 years means up to today (because that's about my age). I am disappointed to see a lot of Elmo and the other new muppets in there. I'm sorry but I never grew up with them so I find them annoying. Ok I admit it. I bought this as a gift to my 4 year old but it was mostly for me. But even my son grew up watching the Old School Sesame Street so even he is not crazy about the new guys. So now we just gave it a run-through and it's back in the box. Why? Because most of the clips are already in the 2 volumes we have. They just added the new episodes circa late 80s and 90s. Ok to be fair, there are nice clips that I totally don't remember, like Maria and Luis getting married and having a baby, and the death of Mr. Hooper. But you don't really want to keep watching those over and over, especially when you grew up thinking it was Maria and David! I was hoping to see more of the animated clips, more of "The Number Painter", more of the clumsy baker that falls down the steps, and more of Joe Raposo's genius compositions, Ernie's old pranks on Bert, and the phonics (You take the P with the "ph" and the AN "an"... put them all together and they spell PAN, thats PAN... P-A-N, PAN....). That would've been great for my preschooler. Oh well... I still rate it with 3 stars because after all, it is Sesame Street and I have great respect for the people behind this production.

If you're a 40 yr old Sesame Street fan and you don't have Old School yet, get those, absolutely. Hold off on this one unless you want to collect. Hope this review has helped you.

I grew up with Sesame Street, and now that my kids are 1 and 3, I'm falling in love with Sesame Street all over again. This is a fantastic DVD! It's literally packed with wonderful songs (like the Lady Bug Picnic), ABCs, counting, story time - all the things myself and my parents loved about the show when I was little. My son's favorite characters are Ernie and Bert, and some of the stand-alone DVDs I've bought for him over the past year barely mention them. With over 5 hours of Sesame Street on this set, Ernie and Bert get a little more screen time.
It's a good value too - the individual DVDs are ten or more dollars for 30-45 minutes, and this HUGE set is only 20. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I am so glad I bought my Sesame Street 40 Years of Sunny Days. I just happen to be the same age, 40 to be exact, as the Street. This is the best title ever released of Sesame Street. It has footage, most of it, that does NOT appear on either of the Old School volumes. Two discs seems like small potatoes, but they're chock full of classic footage.

If you're a fan of Sesame Street, grew up with it, or just want the cream of the crop from the Street, buy this DVD package. Not only is it a classic collector's item, but will remain so for years to come. The Street has come this far, and they're no end to it. God bless Jim Henson, Frank Oz and the other geniuses that created this show.

In closing, come with me for a romp down Sesame Street, and a waltz down memory lane as well. That's what this is all about.

If there was a person raised on Sesame Street, it was me. I was 3 years old when Sesame Street first aired on TV. I don't recall much before the age of 3 but I do recall Sesame Street.

Every day my mother put it on our Montgomery Ward, black and white 13 inch TV and we watched and sang along. After I grew out of Sesame Street I would revisited it while babysitting my cousins. Then again, when I was in my late teens, while getting ready for work, I would occasionally put it on. We didn't have cable and there was nothing on beside the news. So, I would go back to something that was comforting and comfortable. With 13 channels you didn't have much of a choice back then. However, when my son was born and I had all the choices in the world, 180 something channels and all the VHS and DVD tapes a child could ever want, I still put Sesame Street on for him.

Why? Well, easy, it was something I respected. Something I knew he would love and something I could deal with. I have always felt that too much TV is not the problem for children. It is what they watch, and Sesame Street for me has good morals, is educational and entertaining.We still watch it everyday at 7:00 a.m.

When we received the DVD set in the mail I was so excited to show the kids. We watched it in two days.

In A Nutshell: I loved sharing songs I remember with my kids. They were surprised at all the songs I knew. What I also liked and appreciated was how fast Sesame Street moves along. Back in the 60's the colors weren't as vivid the effects not as eye catching but this DVD is fast paced. Basic Sesame Street logic, keep things moving and colorful and kids will watch.

The set also comes with a book full of colorful photos and journaling about the inception of Sesame Street and behind the scenes which were really fun to see.

My grandkids fell in love with the Old School Sesame Street that I had checked out from the library. So... I bought this 40 Years set because it was more economical. But it is not the same. Even the two and a half year old grandkids noticed. 40 Years is mostly songs by guest artists and random skits. Also, the focus is more on self esteem rather then learning. I was disappointed. So, my husband (the grandpa) is going to splurge and we are going to get both vols. of Old School.

I was a Sesame Street fanatic as a small child, and some of my happiest memories are of curling up with my sister to watch Bert, Ernie, and the rest of the gang. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I wanted to share these memories with her. I was disappointed. Although each of the forty seasons of Sesame Street is represented, the later seasons include more celebrity performances than actual bits by the characters themselves, and it's HEAVILY based around Elmo, Zoe, and Abby instead of including more of the traditional characters. It broke my heart to see Cookie Monster lectured about eating cookies; they have revamped the older songs to be more "hip," and they've included musical performances by bands/performers I would never choose for my toddler/preschooler to listen to (Destiny's Child, the Goo Goo Dolls, Feist, etc.). Let kids be kids and enjoy musicians and performers geared at younger children.

Don't get me wrong: the first DVD is a great walk down memory lane, and there were some fantastic clips not included on the Sesame Street Old School Vols. I-II. I'm not sorry I purchased this set, but we will be watching the first disk and skipping the second.

If you are a parent who's looking to relive your Sesame Street memories, spend your money on the Old School dvd's instead - this will be a disappointment to you.

I LOVE all things Old School Sesame, because I'm a nostalgic mommy. I love almost all of the clips on the first disc. I remember SO many of them! But I was a bit annoyed when I realized that many of the clips are already on at least one of the Old School DVDs; furthermore, many of the clips aren`t even presented in their entirety; they are VERY doctored. But what bothered me the most was the inclusion of Mr. Hooper's death in the middle of the disc. Quite without warning. I felt a bit panicky as I thought, Okay, now I am going to need to answer some questions. I remember that episode from when I was a kid. But this is a DVD that I bought for my kids, and everything is cheerful and happy and then suddenly...BAM. Couldn't CTW have added that as a "bonus feature" so that parents could discern the time to show it to their kids?

Next comes the second disc...except for the first little bit, it's crap. Destiny's Child on Sesame? Yeah, let's take some of music's sleaziest girls and let them sing with Elmo! Great idea. And then there's the oh-so-politically-correct female Muppets, ALL of whom are so annoying they should be immediately retired - Zoe, Rosita, and now Abby...OH, the HUMANITY! CTW seriously wonders why female Muppets don't catch on? Well, why do they all have to whine? MUST they all have these high-pitched, whiny voices? Prairie Dawn's voice didn't sound like nails on a chalkboard. UGH!

This anniversary collection was obviously put together with care. Most of the songs on "Sesame Street Platinum Hits" are here on video, as well as plenty of muppet action, educational video and all of the creativity and joy that make up Sesame Street. I found nuggets from my childhood that my daughter seems to love too (Remember Lady Bug Picnic?) A couple of the celebrity songs feel dated (the Spin Doctors?). But, there are great songs here from Feist, Alicia Keys and others. Sure it does include a couple of the more emotional episodes from Sesame Street's past including the passing of Mr. Hooper and the loss of Big Bird's home in a bad wind. But, they are here for how well these difficult times were dealt with. Enjoy and share!

The first DVD (1969-89) is the best one. My 5 year old is enjoying it with me and normally she says she doesn't like Sesame St. I think that's because the new episodes are all Elmo now, which my 2 year old loves. I've had to explain a typewriter and a phone with a cord :) Some of the 1989-2009 stuff we already have on other DVDs. Overall I think it's a good buy.