History Film / IAmBigBird

* EmbarrassingFirstName: Caroll talks about getting bullied as a kid, and notes that having Caroll as a first name didn't help matters. The film doesn't cover it, but when he was in the Air Force he went by the name Ed Spinney (from Edwin, his middle name) because of this trope.

* TheBusCameBack: One of the interviewees is Ouyang Lianzi, who played Xiao Foo in ''Big Bird in China''. On an interview promoting the film, Carroll mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own time.

* CoolTeacher: Caroll regarded Creator/JimHenson this way, saying he felt more like a friend than a boss.

''I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story'' is a 2014 documentary by Copper Pot Pictures about Creator/{{Muppet performer|s}} Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer for Big Bird and Oscar on ''Series/SesameStreet'' since it began in 1969. The film was directed by Dave [=LaMattina=] and Chad N. Walker, with [=LaMattina=] writing the script.

''I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story'' is a 2014 documentary by Copper Pot Pictures about Creator/{{Muppet performer|s}} Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer for Big Bird and Oscar on ''Series/SesameStreet'' since it began in 1969. It focuses on his beginnings as a puppeteer, his relationship with wife Deb and his characters' meteoric rise to popularity, sprinkled with home movie footage taken by Spinney. The film was funded via Website/{{Kickstarter}}.

* TheBusCameBack: One of the interviewees is the young girl Caroll worked with on ''Series/BigBirdInChina''. On an interview promoting the film, he mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own time.

* TheFilmOfTheBook: This film is an [[AdaptationExpansion expansion]] of Caroll's book ''The Wisdom of Big Bird[[note]] and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch [[/note]]'', which discusses many of the same events.

* FromBadToWorse: Deb recalls how she and Caroll had been awoken by an early morning phone call in 1990, which he answered. She was expecting it be news that Caroll's octogenarian father Chester had passed away. Instead, they learned that Creator/JimHenson had suddenly died.

* HappierHomeMovie: A lot of the film is comprised of footage taken by Caroll over the course of his career.
* HatesTheirParent: The first part of the film discusses how Caroll had a difficult childhood relationship with his father Chester, who possessed a HairTriggerTemper, and how he carried that resentment for a long time, before they finally reconciled.

* PrecisionFStrike: While it's overall a family-friendly movie, there are two instances of cussing--Spinney dropping an F-bomb in a home movie, and a ''Series/BigBirdInJapan'' outtake where director Jon Stone says "shit" after Spinney-as-Big Bird mistakenly starts moving before his cue.

* TheBusCameBack: One of the interviewees is the young girl Caroll worked with on ''Film/BigBirdInChina''. On an interview promoting the film, he mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own time.

* PrecisionFStrike: While it's overall a family-friendly movie, there are two instances of cussing--Spinney dropping an F-bomb in a home movie, and a ''Film/BigBirdInChina'' outtake where director Jon Stone says "shit" after Spinney-as-Big Bird mistakenly starts moving before his cue.

NeedsWikiMagicLove very much.

* TheBusCameBack: One of the interviewees is the young girl Caroll worked with on ''Film/BigBirdInChina''. On an interview promoting the film, he mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own dime.

* HatesTheirParent: The first part of the film discusses how Caroll had a difficult childhood relationship with his father, who possessed a HairTriggerTemper, and how he carried that resentment for a long time, before they finally reconciled.

* FromBadToWorse: Deb recalls how she and Caroll had been awoken by an early morning phone call in 1990, which he answered. She was expecting it be news that Caroll's octogenarian father had passed away. Instead, they learned that Creator/JimHenson had suddenly died.

* DrivenToSuicide: At one point after his divorce, Caroll once considered committing suicide by jumping out the window of his ninth-floor apartment, but quickly decided not to go through with it.

* TheBusCameBack: One of the interviewees is the young girl Carol; worked with on ''Film/BigBirdInChina''. On an interview promoting the film, he mentions that he hadn't seen her since making said special, but when the crew contacted her to be interviewed for it, she came to America herself on her own dime.