‘Sesame Street’ Adorably Spoofs ‘Birdman’ With “The Unexpected Virtue of Orange Pants”

Whatever your feelings on Birdman, we can all agree that Sesame Street’s spoof of the Oscar contender is absolutely perfect (and absolutely adorable). The long-running children’s program has made a delightful habit of spoofing some of our pop culture favorites, and their latest effort doesn’t disappoint. And it’s perfectly timed for this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony.

“Bigbird Man (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Orange Pants)” stars Caroll Spinney, the longtime Sesame Street puppeteer who brings Big Bird to life, as a man haunted by his giant yellow alter ego. Big Bird provides the voice over, echoing the trailers for Birdman, as the camera follows Spinney around in one long take. Big Bird wonders how they got there, adding “this place smells like bird seed,” before launching into a diatribe about all the places they’ve been (China! Puerto Rico!) and asking just how many ways there can be to learn the alphabet (“lots, apparently”).

The segment cleverly satirizes Birdman, removing all the dark, grittiness from the film and replacing it with a lighter tone — one that’s both cute and pretty thoughtful. Birdman is likely to take home at least a couple of statues at the Oscars this year, but if given the choice between watching Birdman again or watching “Bigbird Man,” we’d probably choose the latter. It’s just more enjoyable.