Directed by Bruce Leddy

I think you can probably guess the storyline behind this new release sesame Street DVD just by the title, yes it is ?Sesame does Cinderella? with a bit of a gender twist as this time CinderElmo wants to dance with Princess Charming (Keri Russell) at her 18th Birthday Ball. The other thing about this version is that it is a musical but what would you expect from Sesame Street.

The Princess is turning 18 and invitations are sent out but poor CinderElmo isn?t on the guest list. His step brothers and step mother (Kathy Najimy) are amongst the privileged few but poor CinderElmo misses out and is resigned to cleaning the house. Well that is until the Princess learns that she must marry before she turns 18 or else her family will lose their kingdom. This results in all the eligible men and monsters being invited and CinderElmo will get his chance after all.

That said, CinderElmo still won?t go to the Ball because he is to dirty but after wishing on a falling star his Fairy Godperson (Oliver Platt) turns up and saves the day and even manages to turn mice into horses and his trusty dog Prince into a real prince (French Stewart) who accompanies CinderElmo to the Ball. Well, CinderElmo being such a good groover gains the attention of the Princess almost straight away and eventually gets that dance but disappears on the stroke of midnight minus, you guessed it a silver slipper.

The Princess has decided that CinderElmo will be her husband and now the search begins to find the monster of her dreams whose foot fits the lost shoe. How many red monsters can there be in a town? He couldn?t be that hard to find surely. Will three year old CinderElmo want to get married any way? Does a three year old know what marriage means? All will be revealed after only 45 minutes.

The film is cute as you would expect from the Sesame Street gang but it failed to excite my nearly four year old critic. I haven?t been inundated with requests to whack this DVD in our player and I don?t think I will. I, like her, much prefer Elmo in Elmo?s World where he really gets a chance to shine and show his true character. He is sooo cute too, any wonder the Elmo dolls sell so well worldwide. We have three in our house alone.

The human actors in CinderElmo really don?t add too much to the whole production either. A few cases of over acting can be expected here. It is quite clear after watching his why Keri Russell?s film and television roles dried up after she finished ?Felicity? (besides her cutting off that beautiful hair) as she was quite embarrassing to watch really.

Overall, I don?t expect to be revisiting CinderElmo in the future and I think my four year old would much prefer the Disney version. We have both seen better Sesame Street productions.

THE EXTRAS

Other than Scene Selection there are no other special features on offer.

CONCLUSION

?CinderElmo? is a newly released DVD from the Sesame Street gang even though it was completed back in 1999 and as the title suggests is their version of the fairy tale ?Cinderella?, but with a bit of a gender twist as this time CinderElmo wants to go to the ball to dance with Princess Charming (Keri Russell). Pricess Charming has til midnight to pick the man or monster that she wants to marry so she can save her family?s kingdom. It is a DVD I don?t expect that my nearly four year old will be begging to watch again. It also stars Kathy Najimy, French Stewart and Oliver Platt. What were they thinking!!!!!!!!