Don't Eat the Pictures is a 1983 Sesame Street television special.
When the residents of Sesame Street travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, they're accidentally locked in while looking for Big Bird, who insists that he has to stay to find Mr. Snuffleupagus. While the others are searching the entire museum for Big Bird (and avoiding a guard), Big Bird and Snuffy befriend an Egyptian prince named Sahu who has been Barred from the Afterlife and is trying to get there so he can reunite with his parents.
This movie contains examples of:
- Analogy Backfire: When Big Bird tells Sahu that they can solve the riddle, he tells Sahu "Rome wasn't built in a day", but Sahu asks "what's Rome?"
- And I Must Scream: Yes, from a Sesame Street special, no less! Young Prince Sahu is trapped under a spell cast by Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld, which traps him on Earth until he can solve a demon's riddle... which Sahu has been trying to do every night for over four thousand years. Sahu is nine years old at the oldest, and, while he can move around the museum, has no one to talk to or show him love besides his cat. He also can't age or die and has to live with the knowledge of his failure every single evening. If Big Bird and Snuffy hadn't inadvertently stayed behind at the museum, Sahu would have been sealed in its walls forever.
- Anger Born of Worry: When Big Bird is reunited with the rest of the Sesame Street gang the next morning, Olivia and Maria are not particularly happy with him after they all spent the entire night looking for him.Olivia: [sternly] We've been up all night looking for you, Big Bird.
Big Bird: Why did you do that?
Maria: Because we love you! Now where were you?! - A Boy and His X: Prince Sahu and his cat. The latter, due to the curse, has become invisible, except for his collar. The cat becomes visible again when Sahu correctly answers the riddle.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Big Bird actually did this to freaking Osiris after encountering him—he demands that Osiris give a little Egyptian ghost prince he helped get this far another chance on the weighing of the heart.
- The Cameo: Paul Dooley as the museum's night watchman, James Mason as the demon who asks the question at midnight, Fritz Weaver as Osiris.
- Can't You Read the Sign?: When Cookie Monster finds a sign reading "Don’t Eat the Pictures", he laments that this will be a long night.
- Cassandra Truth: In the end, nobody believes Big Bird met Snuffy or Prince Sahu.
- Comically Missing the Point: At one point, Bert and Ernie come across the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, and Bert explains the origins of the painting to Ernie. Ernie asks why Washington didn’t cross the George Washington Bridge in response.
- Contrived Coincidence: When they find they are locked overnight, Olivia says it's a good thing all the kids had already planned to sleep over so that their mothers would not worry about them not coming home.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Big Bird's subplot involved him and Mr. Snuffleupagus helping the 4,300-year-old ghost of an Egyptian boy confront the god Osiris when he refused to let the boy into the afterlife. Repeat: Big Bird confronted a god, told him he was wrong, and won. And that's after he helped defeat a demon played by James freakin' Mason!
- "Eureka!" Moment: Prince Sahu must answer the riddle "Where does today meet yesterday?" to enter the afterlife. He, Big Bird, and Mr. Snuffleupagus search the Egyptian exhibit for clues, but can't find the answer. Big Bird then starts talking about all of the ancient objects and art they've seen that night, and as he does, Sahu realizes the riddle's answer: a museum!
- Exact Words: After Cookie Monster manages to get through the entire night without eating a single thing, Bob takes him to a snack stand and tells him that he can eat anything he wants as a reward. Cookie eagerly agrees and chooses to eat...the snack stand.
- Insistent Terminology: Big Bird and Snuffy first meet Prince Sahu when they hear him crying in his tomb. When Big Bird asks why he was crying, Sahu replies, "Princes don't cry, they weep."
- Judgement of the Dead: Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus help a 4000 year old Egyptian child solve a riddle that will allow him to be judged by Osiris. Once that's over with, Big Bird then has to provide one of his feathers to be balanced against the child's heart to decide whether he rejoins his ancestors among the stars.
- Missed Him by That Much: During the early montage where the cast is looking for Big Bird, they keep coming very close to seeing Big Bird and just barely miss him (they do see him upstairs early on, but he's already back down by the time they head up there).
- Overly Long Name: Or rather, overly long title. Sahu introduces himself as Prince Sahure of Egypt, son of the God Userkaf, king of kings, lord of the two lands, conqueror of the East and West, and fabulous fisherman.Big Bird: Uh... you don't have a nickname, do you?
- Pep-Talk Song: Big Bird has "You're Gonna Be a Star", where he lifts Prince Sahu's spirits by telling him that he will soon become a star (albeit literally) if he just believes in himself.
- The Power of Love: When Prince Sahu fails the final test, as his heart is too heavy for him to rejoin his parents, Big Bird objects, stating that he’s just a young boy who’s been left alone for 4000 years with no one around to really love him, so of course his heart would be heavy. He’s proven right when he and Snuffy assure Sahu that they love him, lightening Sahu’s heart.
- Random Events Plot: While the main throughline of Big Bird and Snuffy helping Sahu is structured, the rest of the special is just various Sesame Street Muppets exploring the Metropolitan Museum and commenting on various art pieces.
- Really 700 Years Old: Little kid Prince Sahu objects to being called "a little kid".Prince Sahu: I am not! I am 4,306½ years old!
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: When the gang finally finds Big Bird, Big Bird tells them about how much fun he had, and a frustrated David asks "you had fun, but did we have fun?", to which the kids cheer to show they did have fun.
- Stars Are Souls: Prince Sahu and his cat rejoin his parents as stars in the sky.
- That Reminds Me of a Song: The special has five songs, and only one of them—"You're Gonna Be a Star"—emerges naturally from the plot. The other four happen because the characters simply feel like singing.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Cookie Monster, upon seeing the sign that gives the special its name—and knowing there's no other food in the entire museum—realizes that he's in for a horrible time.
- Title Drop: Comes in the form of a song Cookie Monster sings about, well, not eating the pictures.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Osiris deems Prince Sahu unworthy to enter the afterlife, Big Bird challenges his decision, stating that Sahu has been alone for 4000 years and he's had no one to care for him. Yes, Big Bird chewed out the Egyptian God of the Underworld's judgement.
