It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Appreciation Thread!

[peyjenk]

I watched It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie the other day and was shocked. Simply shocked.

This? This is the movie that has been so maligned on MC? This is the movie that made me wince and cringe when I watched it last? This is the movie that Muppet fans were most embarrassed of (before MWoO, of course)?

It was wonderful! I don't know how one movie could have changed so much in just one year, but IaVMMCM was so much more enjoyable this time around. I don't know why. But whatever the case, it made me think. Why do we trash this one so much?

And so, here we are... The Very Merry Muppet Christmas Appreciation Thread! What are some of the things you love about this movie? Here are some of mine...

-Joan Cusack as Rachel Bitterman. I had been waiting for the Muppets to face a female villain ever since Muppets From Space, and this movie finally gave it to us. She was a great, classic Muppet villain in the vein of Doc Hopper and Nicky Holiday (and lots better than K. Edgar Singer). Cusack is wonderful at interacting with the Muppets, and her performance is even better when you consider that almost every scene is either solo or opposite puppets.

-Kermit as a human being. No sillies, I don't mean literally. I mean when he loses his cool and starts shouting and wishing he had never been born (always wondered, shouldn't he say "I wish I had never been spawned"?). Now, you may remember that he occasionally lost his cool on TMS, but those were usually temporary moments played for comedy. In this movie, though, Kermit gets to let loose and show his full range of emotion and yell at people who don't deserve it and say rash, uncaring things. Of course, I don't condone or appreciate that when people do it in real life, but it really shows the pressure he's under and the love he feels for his friends. All in all, I think it rounds out his character very nicely and shows that even a patient and understanding guy like Kermit can have a terrible, rotten, no good day... and then come out better on the other side.

-The world without Kermit. It's a horrible, horrible place, but it's nice to know what we've ben spared.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I didn't like the jaded and mean spirited jokes that occasionally popped up in this show. But I did like the moment when Kermit realized he never should have wished he was never born, that was very inspirational.

 

[peyjenk]

At the risk of derailing the thread, what do you mean "jaded and mean spirited jokes"? People keep referencing those, but I'm still not exactly sure what they mean. Yes, I know the movie is far from perfect, but I do believe it captures more of the Muppet awesomeness than we have generally given it credit for.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Hmm well honestly I don't want to derail it either. It's great that you decided you like it better now and I don't want to get into any negativity.

 

[peyjenk]

I feel the same way. I'm sorry if I seemed defensive in my last post.

 

[CensoredAlso]

No you didn't seem defensive, you wanted to stand up for a show you liked.

I actually liked Whoopi's moments better than I thought I would. I never minded the idea of a female God or anything, just that having a big celeb play God seemed odd. But she was a nice interpretation to me.

 

[frogboy4]

I was always on board

When it came out in 2002 I posted this brief review. I actually remember giving it an A-, but I still feel the solid B I actually gave still holds true.

Not-so-hot Points:
It was a little too somber and that threw the usual Muppety feeling off-balance. There were not enough musical numbers - I wanted to stay with the Moulin Scrooge show and backstage zaniness and it left all too soon. It was unevenly paced. Muppets usually have more of a kick to them than in this special. They also needed to be more inclusive of younger audience members that seemed to drift off or become too disturbed by the goings on.

Good Things:
The classic setting, the character performances, the character inclusions, some of the story, the alternate universe and that it wasn't just a kid's special. I liked the humor. Sure it was crass in bits. It is my belief that those bits just needed to be balanced with other shades of humor. It really appeared that the Muppets were back, just not given enough to do or the camera didn't follow the action fans wanted to see the most.

This new direction and special is leaps and bounds over what VMX and OZ contributed. It appears to have all the Muppety craziness classically orchestrated as if by Jim. I found a lot of the Jim spirit missing in VMX and that's why I think it got a lot of grief.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

Personally, I like this movie for various reasons. I have my problems with it too, but the good outweighs the bad.

It took a few viewings for it to really grow on me, but it did. If only because it had the Muppets return to a theater environment and they really work well there.

There were some jokes that while not quite jaded or mean spirited, just didn't go well with the Muppets and honestly, there are quite a few things that just seem dated.... And not in a "Oh, its dated but I can enjoy it anyway." It was more of a "Oh, this is hip and current so let's throw it in there."

Ms. Bitterman was... and for that matter, most of the human characters were a mixed bag. She was a fun character but just TOO evil for the point if being evil and greed. It's as though they were trying too hard to make people hate her. At least with Doc Hopper, he was somewhat likeable, even if he was somewhat exagerated in his desires. I thought Daniel was a sweet character though and I liked his interactions with Kermit.

I liked Gonzo's role as a sort of second in command character. And of course, it was great to see Scooter in a role. I thought it was sweet how he was the first character after Fozzie's speech to say that he would forego his salary. He's come a long way since the early Muppet Show days when he was more interested in money and taking advantage of the fact "his uncle owned the theater." And though I think some things could have been handled differently, I do like the refrences to It's a Wonderful Life. And the Kermit statue (or rather, what it said) was very nice.


And I'm glad this thread was started. I was thinking about starting one about this movie myself.

 

[TripleG]

I've never seen this Christmas special or The Muppets Wizerd of Oz (which I've been told to avoid like the plague)

I've heard mized things about this special. Can anybody go into great detail for me in what was wrong or right with it?

 

[Libba Yuki]

I loved this movie when I first saw it back in 2002 the night it aired, and I love it even more now.

I was honestly suprised to see so much dislike for it, I thought it was excellent.

The humor was great, and the emotion (and wonderfully performed range of emotion for the key characters) was superb!

My only problem was the the part at DOT...I'm STILL trying to figure out WHY Sam the Eagle of all people would be there, and why Robin (still a child in this movie, I'm assuming, although he could be a few years older than he was originally...but still a child) would be working at such a place.

I've come up with explainations in my head as to how and why Scooter, Bunsen and Beaker, Johnny, and the two critics would be there since they're not far fetched at all...but I just couldn't explain a reason for Sam and Robin.

While Fozzie being a pick-pocket was suprising and out of character (for OUR Fozzie)...I do have a theory on why the Fozzie of the Kermit-less world may have done that. (I've been plotting a fanfic to expore this alternate reality, I think I'll start it tonight!)

I found Piggy and Gonzo's situations to be believable, and also both sad and touching (Piggy's scene proved that Kermit really loves her, and Gonzo's was just plain depressing *hugs Gonzo* but well done).

I'm rambling on too much, sorry!

Back to the point, I loved this movie. I loved the emotion (one heck of a performance by Steve in this one, seeing Kermit at his worst is not something I'll forget...it was wonderfully done, such great range!), I loved the humor, I loved the singing and the new original song, it was just what I like to see from the Muppets!

I'd give it an A-