Is Gonzo Being phased out?

[jvcarroll]

To be fair, that was two movies. The first he was designated to a brick joke, the second they actually featured him a bit more, and for plot reasons he didn't join the expedition to find the real Kermit. I have not noticed a lack of Gonzo outside of that, and remember, for 3 movies, Gonzo outnumbered Kermit in screen time. And he did the commentary for MFS with Rizzo. So it was very much the Gonzo and Rizzo show up until recently. And then Gonzo got focus again in that Christmas special. Still, if you look at the merchandise, he's still right up front. He has an ornament this year. The character isn't going anywhere.

The Muppets started as an ensemble cast back in the 70's, but since then there's usually been a character that has risen above the others (besides Kermit) and consumes most of the screentime and/or attention. In the 80's it was Piggy. In the 90's it was Gonzo (with Rizzo). In the 00's it was Pepe. The 10's could have easily been about Walter, but they've kept him in check. The Muppets are much more of an ensemble again and I hope that doesn't change. Gonzo's my favorite, but he no longer has to carry the Muppets. No Muppet does. They are back. All of them.

I'm still curious to see what will happen to Constantine. I know he's just a one-off character. I hope they keep him and make more new Muppets in that same spirit. He is was the Muppets used to be about. He's an anarchist, a contrarian, he's someone that changes the energy in every scene. The Muppets used to be about that - strong personalities always one-upping each other. Too often now they just show up to say their carefully placed line. Again, that's changing and characters like Constantine will help them do that.

 

[Drtooth]

It's easy to forget that Gonzo wasn't up front and center in the first and third movies. GMC, sure, as he was part of the trio with Kermit and Fozzie (even then, the film was more about Kermit and Piggy anyway). Sure, he had more scenes in TMM than he TM. Need to really see MTM again. Other than that, when the post-Henson movies and projects came out, you'd swear they were phasing out Kermit, and Gonzo had to carry the characters. MCC and MTI were about the classic literary stars of the stories, played by humans. While Kermit had a more important role as Bob Cratchet in MCC, the Captain from MTi wasn't really the star of the movie until they got stranded on the island. And in both cases, they invented roles for Gonzo and Rizzo. MFS was all about Gonzo, with Kermit being almost delegated to a side character who wasn't even important (or well written) until the rescue sequence. It took until VMX to finally get a movie about Kermit back out there. And as such, TM and MMW were both about Kermit as well.

As for Constantine, I really hope they keep him around for something. He stole the entire movie. There's a lot of potential for him to have some sort of uneasy friendship with the group, yet harboring Starscream-like intentions against Kermit. The character is too darn funny to get rid of.

 

[Muppet Master]

It's easy to forget that Gonzo wasn't up front and center in the first and third movies. GMC, sure, as he was part of the trio with Kermit and Fozzie (even then, the film was more about Kermit and Piggy anyway). Sure, he had more scenes in TMM than he TM. Need to really see MTM again. Other than that, when the post-Henson movies and projects came out, you'd swear they were phasing out Kermit, and Gonzo had to carry the characters. MCC and MTI were about the classic literary stars of the stories, played by humans. While Kermit had a more important role as Bob Cratchet in MCC, the Captain from MTi wasn't really the star of the movie until they got stranded on the island. And in both cases, they invented roles for Gonzo and Rizzo. MFS was all about Gonzo, with Kermit being almost delegated to a side character who wasn't even important (or well written) until the rescue sequence. It took until VMX to finally get a movie about Kermit back out there. And as such, TM and MMW were both about Kermit as well.

As for Constantine, I really hope they keep him around for something. He stole the entire movie. There's a lot of potential for him to have some sort of uneasy friendship with the group, yet harboring Starscream-like intentions against Kermit. The character is too darn funny to get rid of.

Honestly, as much as I love Constantine, what would he do as part of the muppets? They ditched the moopets besides a breif Mrs. Poogy cameo, so unless the muppets go to some jail like place, Constantine should just not be in anything, we do not want another J.P. Grose scenario, he was in MT just standing around causing no trouble at all.

 

[dwayne1115]

I thought I would bump this thread to prove that Gonzo is in fact not being phased out at all! in fact him and Rizzo are back in a new YouTube video!

 

[Muppet Master]

I thought I would bump this thread to prove that Gonzo is in fact not being phased out at all! in fact him and Rizzo are back in a new YouTube video!

Though it is just a Youtube video, not a new movie, Rizzo seems to have large parts in everything but a film.

 

[Drtooth]

Gonzo wasn't the focus of 2 movies after being the focus of 3 and a special. Not really grounds for being Mildred Huxtettered out of the franchise. If he's a huge focus in internet videos, that seems to set the stage for him having his normal amount of screen time elsewhere.