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Blue's Big Musical Movie

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Blue's Big Musical Movie
VHS cover art
Directed byTodd Kessler
Written byAngela C. Santomero
Michael T. Smith
Based onBlue's Clues
by Traci Paige Johnson
Todd Kessler
Angela C. Santomero
Produced byWendy Harris
StarringSteven Burns
Traci Paige Johnson
Ray Charles
CinematographySkip Roessel
Edited byDavid Bouffard
L. Mark Sorre
Music byNick Balaban
Michael Rubin
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Home Entertainment
Release date
  • October 3, 2000 (2000-10-03)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Blue's Big Musical Movie, also known as Blue's Big Musical, is a 2000 American direct-to-video live-action/animated musical film. It is the first installment of the Blue's Clues film series and based on the original television series on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block.[1]

It was released on VHS and DVD on October 3, 2000.[2][3][4] The film was also aired on television, starting with a primetime premiere on Nickelodeon on January 13, 2002. The film was reissued on DVD along with Dora the Explorer: Musical School Days on July 23, 2013.

A video game based on the film was released for the PlayStation around the same time, making it the only Blue's Clues video game on a home console other than the V.Smile. Blue's Big City Adventure, a film based on Blue's Clues's sequel series Blue's Clues & You!, was released on November 18, 2022.

Plot

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Blue, Steve, and everyone else at the Blue's Clues house are putting on a show in the backyard, called the "You Can Be Anything You Wanna Be" show, where everyone gets to sing about what they want to be when they grow up. While the gang has their breakfast and talks about the show, Periwinkle eavesdrops on them, but mishears them, believing it's a "magic show", and leaves to practice his tricks for it. Blue and Tickety-Tock are doing a duet about being teachers, but while showing off their performance to everyone, Tickety's voice gets raspy, and she loses her voice. So, she decides to ring her bells during the performance instead, leaving Blue without a singing partner.

So, Blue decides she wants to play a game of Blue's Clues to find another person to be her singing partner. Throughout the special, everyone works hard to prepare for the music show, while Steve, Sidetable Drawer, and Periwinkle struggle to achieve certain goals: Steve wishes to be able to find a clue without the help of the viewers, Periwinkle fails to get Steve's attention to watch his magic tricks, and Sidetable Drawer wants to be in the show too, but is somehow too shy to ask Steve about it.

Soon enough, the show is almost ready, and Steve has found two of the three clues: his own notebook and a knob. With the help of a musical note named G-Clef (voiced by Ray Charles), Steve manages to write a song he wants to sing in the show, since he loves singing songs. The only thing left to do before the show, is to find the last clue. After some encouragement from the others, Steve manages to find the last clue without any assistance, for the first time. The last clue is a drawer and learns that Sidetable Drawer should be Blue's singing partner but is unable to find her because he assigned her to do other tasks, after Sidetable asked him if she could help out with the show, because of her shyness getting the best of her. Steve has Periwinkle find Sidetable and Periwinkle finds her. After lamenting about their failed goals, Periwinkle comes up with an idea to accomplish both. Periwinkle performs a magic trick that makes Sidetable Drawer reappear in front of everyone, and she finally gets her wish to participate in the music show.

Periwinkle soon learns that it was a music show and not a magic show, and is disappointed, but still puts his talents to use by being the opening act while everyone else makes final preparations because the audience is starting to get impatient from waiting. In the show, everyone performs their acts, including Steve singing the song he made up with the music notes earlier, with the viewers as his singing partner. The music show is a success, and Steve thanks the viewers for all their help. Everyone sings a Broadway-styled version of the "So Long Song" and everyone takes their final bows to conclude the show.

Cast

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Main article: List of Blue's Clues characters

Voice cast

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  • Traci Paige Johnson as Blue
  • Nick Balaban as Mr. Salt
  • Spencer Kayden as Mrs. Pepper
  • Jenna Marie Castle and Aleisha Allen as Paprika
  • Kelly Nigh as Tickety Tock
  • Cody Ross Pitts and Evan Dorfman as Slippery Soap
  • Michael Rubin as Mailbox
  • Olivia Zaro as Pail
  • Jonathan Press as Shovel
  • Cameron Bowen as Periwinkle
  • Aleisha Allen as Sidetable Drawer
  • Adam Peltzman as Green Puppy
  • Koyalee Chanda as Magenta
  • Alexander Claffy as Purple Kangaroo

Guest stars

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Reception

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Hartford Courant wrote that while the film teaches children "sharing and working together", it also teaches "self-expression and friendship" through "the smooth tones of Ray Charles" as the voice of G-Clef, and remarked that it was "an excellent segment".[5]

Digitally Obsessed wrote the film was a "mixture of Pee-wee's Playhouse and Peanuts with a touch of Where's Waldo thrown in that is probably a lot of fun for kids and teaches while requiring the kids to think".[6]

Chicago Sun-Times noted that as being centered in the world of the "most watched pre-school television show", the video will prove popular with parents of young children.[7]

Time stated that direct to video where children's films are concerned and noted that Blue's Big Musical Movie spun the popular children's television series into a "full-length extravaganza".[8]

In Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!, author Pratt observes that even though designed for toddlers, Steven Burns, as the only human in the cast, delivered a "remarkable and consistent performance" while speaking directly to the camera in addressing his young viewers, speaking slowly and clearly without being condescending or patronizing.[3]

Review Corner wrote that the film was "complete with all the charm and learning that makes the television series outstanding, and then some". They offered that while the "feature-film debut follows basically the same tried-and-true format of the television series, it contains longer (mostly musical) interludes and plenty of mini-stories and adventures along the way", as well as introducing a new character, Periwinkle the cat.[9]

Awards and nominations

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The film earned a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Family Feature Film, but lost to the 2001 DreamWorks animated film Shrek.

Songs/Musical numbers (soundtrack version)

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  1. "Today's the Day"
  2. "At the Show"
  3. "The Breakfast Song"
  4. "Clipboard Shuffle"
  5. "Sidetable's Lament"
  6. "Blue's Clues Theme Song"
  7. "Silly Hat"
  8. "Putting It All Together"
  9. "Notes"
  10. "Rhythm"
  11. "Tempo"
  12. "Dynamics"
  13. "There It Is"
  14. "As Smart as You"
  15. "Sing"
  16. "The Magic of Theater"
  17. "I Can Be Anything That I Want to Be"
  18. "So Long Song"

References

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  1. ^ Mark Deming (2008). "Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical Movie (2000)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  2. ^ McCormick, Moira (July 22, 2000). "Paramount Releases 1st Direct-To-Video 'Blue's Clues' Feature". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 30. Nielsen Business Media. pp. 79, 81. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. ^ a b Pratt, Douglas (2004). Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!, Volume 1. UNET 2 Corporation. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-932916-00-3.
  4. ^ Hettrick, Scott (October 27, 2000). "Blue Sniffs Out New Adventure". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. p. 28.
  5. ^ Goode, Gretchen-Marie (October 12, 2000). "Blue's Big Musical Movie". Hartford Courant. p. 22.
  6. ^ Alexandra Orozco; Bob Mandel (October 2, 2000). "DVD review: Blue's Big Musical Movie". Digitally Obsessed. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  7. ^ O'Hara, Delia (July 28, 2000). "Videos can provide parents relief". Chicago Sun-Times.
  8. ^ Levy, Evan (March 12, 2001). "Families: Kid Vid Comes Of Age". Time. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  9. ^ Heese, Stephanie. "review: Blue's Big Musical Movie". Review Corner. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  10. ^ "Twenty-Second Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
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