Feeling Sad About Muppet Movies

[TwoHeadedLlama]

I've always felt kind of sad whenever I watch Muppet Movies. Mostly because I feel like there are so many Muppets and only so much screen time each one can have. On the Muppet Show, each character got a chance to have a little time in the spotlight, which is what I loved about it. But with the movies, there really isn't enough room for them all to get attention. When I saw MMW, I really felt like it had come to a head. Since there will probably never be another Muppet Show, we have to be satisfied with brief cameos. Or maybe I'm just being overly nostalgic.

 

[toadster101]

No, I agree with you completely. I've always been under the firm belief that the Muppets are better suited to television than the big screen. But in all fairness, I think Disney is doing a better job with the franchise than the Jim Henson Company was doing in the 1990s. In movies like Muppet Treasure Island, we were lucky to get a cameo from Lew Zealand or the Swedish Chef. Fast forward a few decades and obscure Muppets like Mildred Huxtetter and Thog are gracing movie theaters around the globe. That's a pretty big deal.

 

[TwoHeadedLlama]

No, I agree with you completely. I've always been under the firm belief that the Muppets are better suited to television than the big screen. But in all fairness, I think Disney is doing a better job with the franchise than the Jim Henson Company was doing in the 1990s. In movies like Muppet Treasure Island, we were lucky to get a cameo from Lew Zealand or the Swedish Chef. Fast forward a few decades and obscure Muppets like Mildred Huxtetter and Thog are gracing movie theaters around the globe. That's a pretty big deal.

Yeah, I know. Disney's done the best with what they have. Sadly, it will probably never be the same as it was when it was a tv show, even with their efforts.

 

[Plaid Fraggle]

When I saw MMW, I really felt like it had come to a head. Since there will probably never be another Muppet Show, we have to be satisfied with brief cameos. Or maybe I'm just being overly nostalgic.

Seeing it tonight, I absolutely hear you on this. The friend who saw it with me commented on missing a lot of his favorite Muppets in the film, but I saw it as, "There's absolutely no way to fit everyone in perfectly and make everybody happy, all the while keeping the film to an appropriate, commercial length."

I'm dreamin' of the day that The Muppet Show will make a roaring comeback, but the Golden Age of the Muppets is probably gone for the most part. It's not all sad, though--it's been so immortalized that we all miss it so much, even those of us who weren't alive for it in the first place. That's magic!

 

[MrsPepper]

I think the filmmakers/performers put in the cameos as a way of acknowledging to the audience that they can't use all the characters. The Muppets literally have a 50-year history; there's no way to get everyone's favourite character in there, and since not everyone is familiar with all their works, it might confuse people to have too many characters. Disney has an agenda, to promote the most popular characters and get a young audience familiar with them. Hence a coupe overt jokes about cameos as a nod to the audience members who would notice. However I really did feel the absence of Gonzo in the newest movie. He does make a great punchline but he can also have depth and soul and we haven't seen that from him in awhile. So I can relate, yeah.

 

[dwayne1115]

I think the filmmakers/performers put in the cameos as a way of acknowledging to the audience that they can't use all the characters. The Muppets literally have a 50-year history; there's no way to get everyone's favourite character in there, and since not everyone is familiar with all their works, it might confuse people to have too many characters. Disney has an agenda, to promote the most popular characters and get a young audience familiar with them. Hence a coupe overt jokes about cameos as a nod to the audience members who would notice. However I really did feel the absence of Gonzo in the newest movie. He does make a great punchline but he can also have depth and soul and we haven't seen that from him in awhile. So I can relate, yeah.

Hi Mrs Pepper good to see you again!

As for Gonzo in Most Wanted, I said this before and will say it again....He was on fire! He was the wild weird motorcycle riding stuntman that we have all grown to love. He may have not had a huge role in the movie,but the parts he was in where spot on. Unlike the 2011 movie where he was just flat.

 

[Drtooth]

Look at it this way.

We've got two theatrical films. At one point, that was considered impossible. I mean, if we were lucky, there's be some TV project that would be alright, I guess, but not a real movie. Things have been looking better.

Yeah, it kinda sucks that there hasn't been a TV series, but again... you look at the non-promotion that they gave JHH, and the fact that MT wasn't pulling in Boy Meets World ratings meant ABC couldn't cancel it fast enough. Networks haven't been kind to Muppet projects where they aren't animated baby forms of themselves. If we're lucky, we'd see something on cable or something.