Elmo, Blanket, Bert and Ernie in ‘Adventures’ for Little Ones

When Elmo, by far the cuddliest of “Sesame Street’s” monsters, first appears on the big screen, something alarming happens. He becomes, well . . . monstrous! On television, you don’t mind it when he leaps in your face like a puppy who’s glad you finally came home. But when he does the same in this feature-length setting, your first impulse is to duck and cover before you get a face full of red hairball.

Mind you, this is subjective. For everyone who reacts in this fashion, there are dozens of others for whom Elmo can do no wrong. And because of his widespread and, in toy-marketing terms, lucrative, appeal to small children, Elmo gets to carry the ball for the 30-year-old “Sesame Street” franchise. (It would be worth checking the gossip Web sites to find out whether veteran monsters like Grover or Cookie Monster had any resentment over being reduced to background players.)

Whatever the flaws of “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland,” it would be an indictable offense to prevent the toddler-to-kindergartner closest to you from seeing it. Because this movie likely will for many children be their first, much care has been taken to ensure that the experience will be as painless and as interactive as possible. Old reliables Bert and Ernie have been pressed into service to make those in the audience “help out” with the action and, most important, get them through the scarier moments.

What, after all, could be scarier than losing your best friend? In this case, Elmo’s blanket--named, of course, Blanket--somehow slips out of his grasp and flies onto Sesame Street where, after being tugged and torn by Elmo and his almost-best friend Zoe, ends up in Oscar the Grouch’s trash can.

If you ever wondered what it was like in that sorry-looking disposal unit, wonder no more. It has a vortex that takes Elmo and Blanket into Grouchland, USA, whose ill-tempered populace writhes under the clammy, greedy thumb of one Mister Huxley (Mandy Patinkin, sporting thick eyebrows and an ingratiatingly campy sneer).

If Huxley sees it, it’s his. And that includes Blanket, which (who?) is spirited away to Huxley’s far-away hovel. Does that stop Elmo? Does the letter E come before the letter F? Not even the sinister, voluptuous Queen of Trash (Vanessa Williams) can stop our hero from retrieving his buddy.

The movie doesn’t entirely forget there are grown-ups in the audience. These are the Muppets, after all. Which means you can count on a smattering of groaner puns and inside jokes related to Broadway shows and blockbuster movies.

Still, if the monsters who run movie studios are going to the trouble of giving “Sesame Street” a big-screen close-up, they could have done much more than make it louder and longer than the average TV episode. There’s something threadbare and ramshackle about the design of “Elmo.” It looks as if no one bothered to deliver more than the minimum requirement of magic or artistry.

* MPAA rating: G. Times guidelines: some scary moments, but Bert and Ernie help you get through them.

‘The Adventures of Elmo

in Grouchland’

Kevin Clash: Elmo

Mandy Patinkin: Huxley

Vanessa Williams: Queen of Trash

Sonia Manzano: Maria

Carroll Spinney: Big Bird, Oscar

Steve Whitmire: Ernie

Frank Oz: Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster

A Columbia Pictures release of a Jim Henson Pictures production, distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Gary Halvorson. Written by Mitchell Kriegman, Joseph Mazzarino. Produced by Alex Rockwell, Marjorie Kalins. Executive producers Brian Henson, Stephanie Allain, Martin G. Baker. Co-producers Kevin Clash, Timothy M. Bourne. Director of photography Alan Caso. Production designer Alan Cassie. Editor Alan Baumgarten. Costume designer Polly Smith. Music by John Debney. Running time: 1 hour, 17 minutes.

In general release.