Petition campaign to Disney

[Bernstein229]

I am outraged that Disney has done almost nothing with The Muppet franchise, which has potential to make a large amount of money. The only things they are doing is put them on TV shows and the people who are watching think "Oh, thats that frog who was on that show with the puppets." The only good thing that they are doing is releasing the first two seasons of The Muppet Show. So I propose that we have a Petition or a Letter Campaign to tell Disney to do more with The Muppets. First I want to know who's with me. Second I want to know if we should have a Petition or a Letter Campaign.

 

[frogboy4]

I support the flooding of Disney with letters in support of more Muppet exposure. It seems they are sticking the Muppet on game and reality shows. That's something, but not nearly enough for most fans.

However, any correspondence with them should be positive (i.e., not shaming them for Muppet neglect). I might also consider waiting until after the writers strike. Hope it ends soon!

Disney has some top-secret special plan for the Muppets (could be a special, theatrical movie or TV show) in the works that could be postponed due to the strike. They also have the upcoming Disney Channel bumpers and "webisodes" planned with the Disney Channel stars. So, they are doing a little.

There are also a few products trickling around stores etc. Last year I got my Kermit Addidas shoes from Urban Outfitters. There's also a small new assortment of Holiday ornaments this year, a holiday album last year and of course the release of the Muppet Show season 2.

Who knows the method to their madness, but it seems to be working (albeit slowly). I do support sending letters of Muppet support through the appropriate channels.

 

[Luke]

I support the flooding of Disney with letters in support of more Muppet exposure. It seems they are sticking the Muppet on game and reality shows. That's something, but not nearly enough for most fans.

I suspect either one of the two, or a mix of both of these - a) they don't think the Muppets have enough of a "relaunched" profile just yet so they are trying to build them up again in the public eye in order to do new shows and things or b) they just bought them for the film library and merchandise and they stick them on the TV shows to sell that.

I really think they should have done that America's Next Muppet - a lot of people may not agree with the Muppets doing reality but it would probably have been a popular enough format to build them back up again. Maybe not a whole season, but a special holiday show with a live results show or something. They could have got huge publicity.

As it is, i believe the bumpers are to promote the webisodes Dave, Steve, Eric (and possibly Bill) shot for Disney XD, the Broadband Channel over the Summer.

 

[Blinky_Fish]

Shenanagans!

Look - I agree that the Mouse is holdin' down the Rat, Frog, Bear and whatever under a virtual boot. Well it seems that way anyway. I guess that whatever is going on internally in the house of the mouse must be pretty serious. I know that - at least in the papers - the Pixar thing is HUGE for them and is the cash baby. Little products like the Muppets are just a labor of love or like for that matter. Looking forward to ANYTHING that they ALLOW outside. I mean Anything. I Tivoed the whole Kermit thing on TCM - I'll drive anywhere to support the cause. But - Not producing anything is really having an effect on the window of childhood memories that most people have of the muppets. I mean, my son who is 3 is moving off of Sesame and into other things - Where is Bear, or More Johnny and the Sprites - These were the natural move from Elmo to an older more age appropriate entertainment venue - what do we have Bubkiss - nada - um...ON DEMAND. I am with the letter cause - But I would love to send a spy like Jim Hill or someone of muppetty character to find out what the dillio.

 

[frogboy4]

I really think they should have done that America's Next Muppet - a lot of people may not agree with the Muppets doing reality but it would probably have been a popular enough format to build them back up again. Maybe not a whole season, but a special holiday show with a live results show or something. They could have got huge publicity.

Didn't they already have some footage for a few of the Next Muppet shows in the can? Why didn't they at least make them into webisodes for Muppets.com? And why on earth is Muppets.com a ghost town? It's not just with the Muppets, but since the dot com bust several years ago big companies like Disney are seriously underutilizing the web. There's very little overhead, well, now that the writer's guild wants to charge for web content it's likely a missed opportunity. I just hope the project Dave mentioned is still go.

 

[Luke]

Didn't they already have some footage for a few of the Next Muppet shows in the can? Why didn't they at least make them into webisodes for Muppets.com? And why on earth is Muppets.com a ghost town?

I remember that, they filmed something like a spoof of Idol at Disney World and i guess it was a pilot for the actual show - new Muppet characters auditioning in front of the classic Muppets with the public voted winner joining the gang full time. I get the point reality isn't what people want the Muppets to be known for, but they also gotta realise that kinda stuff is what gets exposure right now and as a special it could have worked brilliantly. Totally a missed opportunity that they haven't bothered to put it out as even a one off viral video or something on Youtube - it'd all be great promotion.

As for Muppets.com - it was i think put together by the old people when they were part of merchandising so it does show how at the moment big companies just use the net as a virtual shop. The idea that content sells the stuff more seems lost on them but thats what has made a lot of smaller companies grow. The Disney XD channel stuff, and the success of Statler & Waldorf sounds like they see the Muppets as idea subscription web content, which is fine and could be great promotion for the brand, but just gotta hope that isn't all they see the Muppets as.

 

[petrieboy]

Here's a better place for my rant than the poor "Alvin and the Chipmunks" forum. I must be intoxicated with egg nog.

I would far rather wait something along the lines of 3 years for a new Muppet Movie, giving up anything and everything Muppet during those 3 years... for... for what? For a REAL Muppet Movie. Something with those old fashioned morals Jim cared about, beautiful music, a real storyline... and that doesn't mean it can't be fresh and exciting. I have a better idea for them than anything that's been released since "Take Manhattan," but they wouldn't accept it due to legality.

Time has passed and perspective, I think, shows the previous films for what they were. A question the other day on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was "What did Kermit sing a song about in The Muppet Movie" and everyone knows... rainbows. When will see an episode of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" where the question is "What blasphemous and unfunny remark did Kermit make, while hanging on a stick in the "The Muppets Wizard of Oz" ?

I don't know if Disney was a good idea or not, but what I do know is that The Muppets will continue to be a parody of themselves until they do something as remarkable as they once did - a long, long, long time ago.

The joy I once had for the old Muppets is still there... but these reality show appearances, talk show stints... and mediocre Christmas cd (Why am I more inclined to put on "Muppet Christmas Carol" soundtrack than to bother to look for "Green and Red Christmas" in my collection) are leaving a foul taste in my mouth over the new Muppets.

If Disney is hiding them away and working on some grand scale Muppet film, with a scriptwriter as good as Paul Haggis, and with a songwriter as good as Alan Menken - then good.

My point is... it's not MORE Muppets we need. It's QUALITY Muppets we need.

 

[frogboy4]

My point is... it's not MORE Muppets we need. It's QUALITY Muppets we need.

Couldn't agree more. The public is now aware the Muppets are out there (Ford ads, Idol, America's Got Talent, Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, Paula Dean, Pizza Hut, Mr. Magorium and more) but now they've gotta do something with them. Hope this writer's strike ends soon and that it hasn't tainted this "mystery project" too much.

 

[Luke]

The joy I once had for the old Muppets is still there... but these reality show appearances, talk show stints... and mediocre Christmas cd (Why am I more inclined to put on "Muppet Christmas Carol" soundtrack than to bother to look for "Green and Red Christmas" in my collection) are leaving a foul taste in my mouth over the new Muppets.

I agree about the Christmas CD. Why change something as obvious as a christmas CD into something that has to be more trendy or different. In my mind, anyone going into a shop and wanting to buy a Muppet Christmas CD is probably hoping to find the Muppets singing carols we all know and love with a Muppety "feel" to them. Instead the songs were just completely unrecognisable to most and distinctly even un-christmassy. The Muppets dont have a chance to do much nowadays, so when they get an opportunity like that better to just put out something everyone will love than start experimenting. I guess that last line pretty much sums up the whole Muppet scene at the moment - yes, i do feel they need to get on the reality shows, talk shows and do the interviews, but i think they can do that as they were rather than needing to be "updated".

 

[petrieboy]

Frogboy,

My brother, I joined this about 2 months after you did, in 2002. I'm only 4,550 something posts behind you. What kind of wicked magic do you possess?