DVD Review: Sesame Street: Elmo & Tango Furry Friends Forever

DVD Reviews, Reviews

When you’re a parent, it feels like as soon as your toddler can walk on their own and talk, they’re asking about getting a pet if you don’t already have one in the house. As the grown up, you want them to understand all the responsibilities that go with a pet. Unlike the toys they get for Christmas, they have to take care of the pet every day. If you toss a cat in a toy bin, it’s not going to stay there. Plus you have to feed them more than a battery every few months. How do you completely get through to a small child about the big things about having a puppy? Why not let Elmo do the heavy lifting? Sesame Street: Elmo & Tango Furry Friends Forever introduces us to Elmo’s new puppy Tango and his daily responsibilities as Tango’s pal.

The compilation special opens with Elmo and his puppy Tango singing about the things they must do together. He gets into the important things like feeding and washing his buddy. Norbet, the robot assistant at Mr. Hooper’s Store gets to understand the concept of a puppy. Elmo and his pals build the robot his own robot dog. There’s an animated mystery with Elmo and Tango involving a missing toy. Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch factor into the disappearance. A kid talks about what he does with his big dog that likes taking baths. Kacey Musgraves drops by the neighborhood. Cookie Monster and Gonger’s Food Truck makes a dog treat. We learn about mail carriers. A second animated Mysterious Mysteries has Grover delivering the mail. Jon Batiste talks about his dog Oscar. There’s counting puppies so you can learn the math the furry way. Grover gets a job as a dogwalker and Mr. Snuffleupagus fakes being a canine. Elmo’s World gets deeper into the profession of dog walker. Elmo’s friend visits for a sleepover. Abby’s Amazing Adventures include her brother Rudy and a dog that needs a bath. Keke Palmer gets to meet Tango. A rainy day has Elmo and Abby imagine how to have a picnic in his apartment. A third Mysterious Mystery has Elmo losing his drawing of Tango. Elmo has another song about his new pal Tango that leads to Elmo looking like Bert, Wayne from Wayne’s World and Shaggy.

Sesame Street: Elmo & Tango Furry Friends Forever covers a lot of what goes into having a puppy in your life except it leaves out housebreaking and cleaning up after them during a walk. That’s a parents’ responsibility to explain that nasty business. If you’re curious about where Tango came from, he first showed up in animated form in 2021 and became a real-live Muppet the following season. It is good to remind your kids that Tango is a very good puppy. The DVD reminds kids that even a good puppy requires a lot of attention and care.

The video is mostly 1.78:1 anamorphic. The clips seem to be from the more recent episodes since Tango is a new character. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The mix is good for whether Elmo is talking or singing. The subtitles are in English and Spanish.

Elmo Gets A Puppy (25:59) is the animated special about how Elmo and Tango were brought together.

Elmo’s World: Pets (16:57) has him and Dorothy the Goldfish explore various pets beyond puppies.

Shout! Factory & Sesame Street present Sesame Street: Elmo & Tango Furry Friends Forever. Starring Elmo, Tango, Grover, Big Bird and Cookie Monster. Rated: Unrated. Running Time: 93 minutes. Release Date: January 31, 2023.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.