Monday, April 11, 2011
IT'S TIME TO GET THINGS STARTED: It's the first time I've had the NYT Business section wrested away from me by a seven-year-old, because they've published a table-setter for the Muppets re-boot this fall. Of the Thanksgiving film, Lisa Henson says: "This is the first Muppet production of any size that is really being spearheaded by fans instead of hard-core Muppet professionals." Yeah, I'm excited.
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Excited barely begins to scratch the surface for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Chicago in January, I went (with boyfriend, cousin, and cousin's boyfriend) to the Muppet exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry. Beyond being awesome (which it was), what you saw were happy kids and even happier adults.
Life's like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending. We did just what we set out to do! Thanks to the lovers! The dreamers! And yoooooooooooooooooooooou!
Here's the message I want to send to Jason Segal et al.- "Don't fuck this up." Although this article implies that they have gotten this message loud and clear.
ReplyDeleteLast year's family road trip participants were 3 people over the age of 35 and 2 people under 14. On our way from Memphis to Vicksburg, we stopped in Jim Henson's hometown (Leland, Miss.) at the Birthplace of Kermit the Frog museum. The 3 of us over 35 were ecstatic. I downloaded "The Muppet Show" theme, and we were all singing along. The 2 of us under 14 didn't get it at all. They were raised on Nickelodeon, weren't big "Sesame Street" fans, and try as I might, I couldn't get them to enjoy the Muppet movies as much as I did. They indulged the crazy adults and smiled through many pictures with an oversized Kermit and more singing of "Rainbow Connection" and "The Muppet Show" theme.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally looking forward to the new movie, and they're coming with me whether they like it or not.
My wife is very skeptical about Disney here in terms of their "getting it." I'm not sure I share the depth of her feeling on that point, but either way, both of us have a lot of benefit of the doubt stored up for Segal.
ReplyDeleteThe Muppet-Vision 4-D attract at Disney Studios does "get it," so that seems cause for optimism. Also, the phrase "hard core Muppet professionals" is a phrase I find funny (yes, I'm twelve).
ReplyDeleteI'm close with a bunch of people involved in the production and have been sworn to secrecy on details, but I have a feeling people are going to love it. From what I know, they've really struck the right balance between kid-friendly and adult-friendly... James Bobin (the director, also co-creator/director of Flight of the Conchords and the Ali G show) is phenomenal and I'm massively excited to see the final result.
ReplyDeleteI call shenanigans on that article stating Muppet Christmas Carol was a flop and case in point why muppets should just play themselves. One, that movie is my fave muppet movie of all time. Two, the movie made money. It had a 12 mil budget and made a little over 27 mil (42 mil today). That's not a flop. And it was up against Home Alone 2 and Aladdin for pity sakes. Yeesh, indeed.
ReplyDeleteAgree re: Bobin's talent too -- that's another huge reserve of benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to MCC, but here was my younger daughter's (she was either 5 or 6 at the time) review of Muppet Treasure Island: "That was the worst Muppet movie I have ever seen."
ReplyDeleteI've had this idea that Disney didnt care about Muppets at all, or perhaps didnt know what to do with them (hence them tossing it around different departments endlessly) and that it took Segal to spearhead the reprise, at which point Disney execs kinda went "Oh, you want the blame for this? By all means..." Which I hope means Disney will stay out of it, for the most part.
ReplyDeleteI have high hopes. Honestly.
How many Muppet movies had she seen at that point? I love the specificity of the review...
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to focus on that one toss-off line in the article...but the author is just plain wrong about MCC. First off, it's the most faithful adaptation of Christmas Carol. (Yes, even with Rizzo.) Second, perfect slotting of Muppets into characters. Third, Christmas Present and the song "It Feels Like Christmas." Fourth, and most importantly (with all due respect to Alistair Sims), you have the single best Scrooge on film in Michael Caine. He delivers an incredibly top-notch Scrooge, and he does it the majority of time to pieces of felt, with nary a wink and a nod. Putt all that together, add in the joy of the adaptation and you've a minor masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Muppets from Space is the worst Muppet movie.
@bella - by that point she had definitely seen the original three films, plus Muppets From Space (which, @JJF, was indeed excruciating, but not as far as she cared). Can't recall whether we got Muppets: Wizard of Oz in before or after MTI; either way, her MTI review would have held because she liked MWoO.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm hoping for a debate between Adam C's daughter and Joseph J Finn on which Muppet movie is TRULY the worst.
ReplyDeleteI'm with JJF. I love the Muppet Christmas Carol. Except for the hideous song sung by Stooge's ex.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, that song is cut in one of the versions on the DVD.
ReplyDeleteThe now-7-y.o. stuck to her guns this morning when we discussed. MTI had too much violence (swords and tying people to posts) and wasn't funny enough, and she said she doesn't like it as much when the Muppets are put into a story that's already in a book. Her rankings of those she's seen: 1. The Muppet Movie, 2. Great Muppet Caper, 3. Muppets Take Manhattan, 4. Muppet Wizard of Oz (which she wasn't as keen on as I'd remembered), 5. Muppets from Space (parts of which she thought were too scary), 6. MTI.
ReplyDeleteMuppet Treasure Island was truly terrible. But it shouldn't be lumped together with Muppet Christmas Carol, which did a terrific job keeping true to the original story and was a great muppet showcase.
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