The Bert & Ernie Movie

The Sesame Street Mystery Movie is a 2022 buddy cop mystery comedy film directed by Matt Vogel in his feature film debut, and is the third feature film based on the popular children's television series Sesame Street, after 1985's Follow that Bird and 1999's The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. The movie stars the Muppet characters from Sesame Street, as well as Jonathan Groff, Tilda Swinton, and James Marsters as the villain.

Bert and Ernie are the stars of this film, as, while they and the rest of the gang are on a month-long vacation to Los Angeles, they receive a mysterious phone call from the chief of the L.A. Police Department (Groff) telling them to "come quick". It turns out that a long string of murders has taken place throughout the city, and the department's most skilled officers are either dead or missing in action. The Muppet duo teams up with street-smart detective Melissa Stokes, AKA Mel (Swinton), to the chagrin of the rest of the department's force, in a quest to find the killer, with the full knowledge that they may never leave L.A. alive...

Produced by Sesame Workshop, Castle Rock Entertainment and the Jim Henson Company, the film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on January 14, 2022. Like its two predecessors, the film received positive critical reviews, but was a box office bomb, earning $26 million against a $45 million budget. The film is dedicated to Caroll Spinney, the longtime puppeteer and voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who passed away in December 2019.

Principal photography occurred between late July and early September 2021 on location in Los Angeles, with scenes featuring Sesame Street filmed in New York City. Additional scenes were shot in Atlanta and Orlando.

Cast
Peter Linz as Ernie, Herry Monster

Eric Jacobson as Bert, Grover, Oscar, Two-Headed Monster

Tilda Swinton as Mel

James Marsters as Sid Ponzi

Jonathan Groff as Chief Earl "Snarl" Goodman

Ryan Dillon as Elmo, Trevor Monster, Lefty the Salesman

Matt Vogel as Big Bird, The Count, Murray Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Mr. Johnson

David Rudman as Cookie Monster, Baby Bear, Two-Headed Monster

Martin P. Robinson as Telly, Mr. Snuffleupagus

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Abby

Jennifer Barnhart as Zoe

Carmen Osbahr as Rosita

Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Prairie Dawn, Little Bird

Warrick Brownlow-Pike as Gonger

Frankie Cordero as Rudy

Stacey Gordon as Julia

Chris Knowings as Chris

Suki Lopez as Nina

Alan Muraoka as Alan

Violet Tinnirello as Charlie

L.A. Muppet Performers: Bill Barretta, Kevin Clash, Louise Gold, Brian Henson, Karen Prell

Additional L.A. Muppet Performers: Greg Ballora, David Barclay, Tim Blaney, Julianne Buescher, Kevin Carlson, Alice Dinnean, Artie Esposito, BJ Guyer, Terri Hardin, Patrick Johnson, Sean Johnson, Tim Lagasse, Bruce Lanoil, Drew Massey, Alison Mork, James Murray, Michael Oosterom, Mike Quinn, Michelan Sisti, John Tartaglia, Allan Trautman, Victor Yerrid, Brad Abrell, Grant Baciocco, Nate Begle, Carol Binion, Brian Clark, Nathan Danforth, Dorien Davies, Peggy Etra, Genevieve Flati, Rachel Herrick, Brian Michael Jones, Donna Kimball, Len Levitt, Jayden Libran, Amanda Maddock, Jess McKay, Ted Michaels, Brett O'Quinn, Christine Papalexis, Carla Rudy, Paul Rugg, Nicolette Santino, Colleen Smith, Russ Walko

Uncredited: Catherine Adell, Rachel Appelbaum, Kristin Charney, Thom Fountain, Dan Garza, Alex U. Griffin, Sam Koji Hale, Gwen Hollander, John Jennings, Scott Johnson, Victoria Johnson, Erik Kuska, Scott Land, Frank Langley, Todd Gerson Levin, Greg Manion, Danny Montooth, Russell Nauman, Kevin Noonchester, Sarah Oh, Janine Pibal, Felix Pire, Rachel Redleaf, Amber Reeder-Vega, Rob Saunders, Joe Selph, Benjamin Siemon, David Skelly, Kenny Stevenson, Norman Tempia, Cheri Lynne Vanden Heuvel, Art Vega, Jack Venturo, Alex Villa, Robin Walsh, Vanessa Whitney, Chase Woolner)

N.Y. Muppet Performers: Pam Arciero, Heather Asch, Connor Asher, Tau Bennett, Ronald Binion, Cheryl Blalock, Rickey Boyd, Lindsey "Z" Briggs, Lisa Buckley, Tyler Bunch, R. Bruce Connelly, Austin Michael Costello, Melissa Creighton, Mark Gale, Cameron Garrity, James Godwin, Chris Thomas Hayes, Andy Hayward, Patrick Daniel Holmes, Haley Jenkins, Avery Lee Jones, James Kemp, Vicki Kenderes-Eibner, John Kennedy, Kathleen Kim, Adam Kreutinger, Jim Kroupa, Michael Latini, Spencer Lott, Rick Lyon, Lara MacLean, Noel MacNeal, Ed May, Paul McGinnis, Tracie Mick, Anney Fresh Ozar, Annie Peterle, Marc Petrosino, Megan Piphus, David Quesal, Andy Stone, Gabriel Velez, Bryant Young

Uncredited: Billy Barkhurst, Lawrence Basgall, Jake Bazel, David Bizzaro, Matt Brooks, Raymond Carr, Brian Carson, Ceili Clemens, Carole Simms D'Agostino, Jamie Donmoyer, Ben Durocher, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Sam Jay Gold, Elizabeth Hara, Cedwan Hooks, Jason Jacoby, Joe Kovacs, Weston Chandler Long, Marta Mozelle MacRostie, Andrew Moriarty, Bakari Prigg, Joey Rudman, Joe Sabatino, Sam (The Zing Zongs), Michael Schupbach, Michael Schwabe, Anthony Michael Stokes, Lisa Sturz, Ian Sweetman, Jack Vogel, Chad Williams, James Wojtal, Eric Wright, Gretchen Wylder, "Lucky" Matt Yates)

Crew
Directed by Matt Vogel

Screenplay by Rob Letterman

Story by Christine Ferraro and Ken Scarborough

Produced by Andrew Scheinmann, Steve Oedekerk, Benjamin Lehmann, Mitchell Kriegman, Alex Rockwell

Executive Producers: Rob Reiner, Brian Henson, Lisa Henson, Joe Dante, Kirk R. Thatcher, Martin G. Baker

Director of Photography: Alan Caso, ASC

Production Designer: Sean Haworth

Edited by Alan E. Baumgarten, ACE

Music by John Debney

Additional Music by Harry Gregson-Williams and Rupert Gregson-Williams

Music Supervisors: Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer

Creature Shop
Puppet Captain: Kevin Clash

Creative Supervisor: Jason Weber

General Manager: Constance Peterson

Production Crew: Greg Ballora, James Chai, Jill Colley, Janelle Courts, Melissa Creighton, Alana De Matteo, Jonathan Ehrich, Brad Elliott, Carolyn Fanelli, Alex "Jurgen" Ferguson, Jane Howell, Scott Johnson, Peter MacKennan, Casey Miller, Joseph Roddy, Jason Seck, David Skelly, Russ Walko, Chase Woolner

Muppet Stunt Coordinator: Fred Buchholz

Project Supervisor: Paul Hartis

Muppet Designers and Builders: Paul Andrejco, Heather Asch, Ed Christie, Ed Eyth, Jane Gootnick, Paul Hartis, Michelle Hickey, Rollie Krewson, Jim Kroupa, Peter MacKennan, Lara MacLean, Tom Newby, John Orberg, Anney Fresh Ozar, Constance Peterson, Kip Rathke, Stephen Rotondaro, Polly Smith, Jason Weber, James Wojtal, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, David Bizzaro, Cheryl Blalock, Mary Brehmer, Matthew Brennan, Matthew Brooks, Michael Bush, Brian Carson, Ceili Clemens, Melissa Creighton, Carole Simms D'Agostino, Alana De Matteo, Andrea Detwiler, Isabelle Dufour, Ben Durocher, Richard Dyar, Victoria Ellis, Henri Ewaskio, Alex "Jurgen" Ferguson, Bob Flanagan, Rob Gardner, James Godwin, BJ Guyer, Elizabeth Hara, Deborah Hertzberg, Ann Marie Holdgruen, Jane Howell, J. Douglas James, Scott Johnson, Jean Marie Keevins, James Kemp, Joe Kovacs, Janet Kuhl, Sarah Lafferty, Tim Lagasse, Spencer Lott, Kari Love, Amanda Maddock, Laura Manns, Cathy McCullough, Jess McKay, Tom McLaughlin, Anna Paniccia, Jane Pien, Lily Rosen, Kate Rusek, Sierra Schoening, Michael Schupbach, David Skelly, Erin Slattery Black, Keely Snook, Norman Tempia, Whitney Thayne, Mari Tobita, David Parkinson Valentine, Russ Walko, Robin Walsh, Stacey Weingarten, Jean-Guy White, Julie Zobel (Uncredited: Lisa Buckley, Julianne Buescher, Emily DeCola, Artie Esposito, Bob Fappiano, Joel Gennari, Aaron Hartnett, Joshua Holden, Patrick Johnson, Sean Johnson, Michael Latini, Rick Lyon, Nicholas Mahon, Drew Massey, Michael Oosterom, Marc Petrosino, Victor Yerrid)

Muppet Costume Supervisor: Polly Smith

Muppet Costumes: Lisa Davis, Vanessa Gifford Gillis, Marian Keating, Muriel Stockdale Grabe

Puppet Wranglers: Heather Asch, Grant Baciocco, Carol Binion, Ronald Binion, Matthew Brooks, Melissa Creighton, Gretchen Crookes, Andrea Detwiler, Rob Gardner, Michelle Hickey, Cedwan Hooks, Joe Kovacs, Rollie Krewson, Tim Lagasse, Michael Latini, Aria Linz, Mica Linz, Lara MacLean, Noel MacNeal, Amanda Maddock, Anney Fresh Ozar, Marc Petrosino, Joey Rudman, Michael Schupbach, Jessica Simon, Jack Vogel, Russ Walko, James Wojtal, Eric Wright

Muppet Special Effects Technicians: David Barclay, Fred Buchholz, Tamara Carlson-Woodard, Jim Kroupa, Greg Manion, Tom Newby, Kristen Willet

Muppet Props Masters: Fred Buchholz, Brad Elliott