The Muppets

So, I’m a huge fan of the Muppets, so much so, that last year my parents got me a customized Muppet of myself for my birthday. My love of the Muppets started when I was young, I grew up watching not only the “Muppet Show”, but “Fraggle Rock” as well. What I loved about the original Muppet productions is that they were never kiddy down. The situations and dialog on the Muppets were natural and believable. Even the actors that guest starred on their shows or films never treated it as if they were on children’s program. In fact, the only difference between the Muppets and adult comedies is that it less crud, clean-mouthed and instead of actors there were Muppets. Muppets in their films were only a caricature of people and their personalities, again it was easy to see why it was appealing and still is today.

However, these same comments can not be said of the Muppets in the most recent years, especially since their acquisition by Disney.The first Muppet movie after the passing Jim Henson, the man who brought the Muppets to life, was “A Muppets Christmas Carol”. This movie, however, works really well and the main reason is that it’s not really about the Muppets, it’s about Ebenezer Scrooge who happened to be played by Michel Caine, who is an excellent actor and like many before him acted on-screen with the Muppets as if they were real people. The Muppets in this film played only minor roles and the only two that really played a major part was Gonzo and Rizo, who were narrators and there for a few laughs.

Although “A Muppets Christmas Carol” worked the many films since then did not. Films like “Muppet Treasure Island”, “Muppets in Space” and the TV movie “Muppets in OZ” all seemed to place the Muppets slightly out of character. Even the actors who starred in them did help. The last few Muppet movies seemed to employ a lot of Teen actors, who’s acting is questionable, to begin with, but they interacted with the Muppets as if they were saying “Ah isn’t it cute!”. No, they are not! Okay maybe they are cute, but you have to act just as if they were a real person/character that’s what made the Muppets so good. Aside from the last movies, there have been a few TV Christmas specials, which again I think the acting was off. Some of the specials included big name celebrities, but the script was childish and made for children, even the actors acted as if they had to talk down to the Muppets because it was children’s program. This is not how the Muppets should be portrayed.

This brings us to Disney’s latest Muppet project “The Muppets”. The script was actually written by Jason Segel, who’s probably known best for the TV show “How I Met Your Mother”. In interviews, he’s mentioned how he loved the original Muppet productions and was hoping to rekindle their success. I must admit I when I first heard about the production of a new Muppet movie, I was excited but also fearful that it would just turn out a dud. The trailers seem promising, but there is too little dialog and content in the trailer, to actually make a full judgment on the film. There have also been some pre-reviews that say that some of the Muppets actions in the film are out of character and that even long time Muppeteers aren’t happy with the production. Even Frank Oz, who was Jim Henson’s longtime partner and voice of several Muppets, opted out of working on the project. This has seriously got me worried that the film will not be good, and just another tween-teen movie with cheap jokes and some pretty face actors for the show. With all this said I’m still hopeful and plan on going Thanksgiving day to see the film. One thing that has risen my hopes is the recent music video that the band OK Go released which is a rendition of the original Muppet Show theme song. In the video Okay Go play straight face as if the Muppets are real people, just like the original films, and odd things occur in the video which has a more adult situation, but still appropriate for all viewing ages. I assume the video/song was done up for the upcoming movie, and if the movie is as good as this video then I’m hyped. Below is Okay Go’s  video for your enjoyment.

Akram Taghavi-Burris

Akram Taghavi-Burris is an award winning designer, an educator with over 15 years of experience in graphic arts and web design. Akram has an M.Ed. with an emphasis on Design Education and has been awarded several prestigious awards for her work such as the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Award and, the Davinci Fellows Award for innovation in teaching. Currently, Akram teaches Computer Simulation and Gaming (Video Game Design) at the University of Tulsa. to life.

2 thoughts on “The Muppets

  1. Okay, so it took me a while before I had time to see the movie, but I finally did today. And I can honestly say, I enjoyed it!

    The new movie, has the feel of the original movies and even includes jokes, by parodying some of the original movies scenes and includes the original “Rainbow Connection” song.

    I don’t want to give away the movie, but I must say, the only think kiddy about the film is the cameo of Selena Gomez near the end of the film, which feels like an obvious Disney exc decision to promote one of their current stars.

    The rest of movie feels genuine and again, as if the Muppets are merely characterization of real people/actors. And since the whole movie is brought to you from the point of view of a fan, it works well.

    There are few things that I would change, for example I really wanted Statler and Waldorf to have a more meaningful part, especially at the end and Animal needed a much grander connection to playing the drums again (oops I’m giving away things). And although the end worked, it seems like, oh, well we need to wrap things up nicely and quickly. Ironically the nicely part isn’t even obvious until you watch the final scene in the credits.

    Through with every movie there are things one would change, I think on the whole it was really good. And I would really love to see them bring back the Muppet Show. Perhaps on ABC or ABC family, aimed at a slightly older audience than the Disney channel’s and add modern gags and celebrities. Even if the film does well, I’m doubtful that Disney will bring back the show, but here’s hopping 😉

    Overall good job to Jason Segal and the Muppets!

  2. After doing some research I discovered I wasn’t alone with thinking the ending of “The Muppets” was a little lack luster. In fact the ending in the film is not the original one. The original one, is exactly what I thought should have happened, with Statler and Waldorf saving the day at the last minute.

    Why was the ending changed? I’m not sure. Some people say because of time, but there was a whole song after the changed ending. I think they wanted a more edgy ending, you know life’s not all rainbows and people don’t just get a rich and famous contract. But wait this is the Muppets, they do. That’s what make it fun. I also think their last attempt to make a pseudo happy ending in the credits, was only after the changed ending and perhaps text audience weren’t too thrilled, or may it was just the director fooling you saying, “Wait there’s a happy ending after all”.

    All I can say is I hope that the original ending will appear on the DVD release. I think it’s a shame that the it didn’t use the original ending because it works better, especially for a Muppet movie.

    What bothers me is that a lot of directors and producers think, that happy endings are cliche and that drama is more important. But lets face it movies are an escape from real life, we have drama in life, we’d much rather see a happy ending. At least I would and so would the Muppets.

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