Unofficial Script Review of the New Muppet Movie

[frogboy4]

Just thinking of old and new. My thoughts.

Good New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Bill Barretta's Pepe, Johnny, Bobo etc
Gonzo has never looked better
Muppets.com & YouTube
Muppet dream merchandise of figures and posers
Muppet pirates with Tim Curry
Some Muppets Tonight moments
Dave & Steve dynamic
Bill & Brian dynamic

Bad New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Miss Piggy puppet
Scooter, Rowlf and others stuffed into the background
Lack of steady leadership
Few new photoshoots for press pictures
Cuts in home video that might not have happened with Jim
Frank & Jim dynamic is gone

 

[MWoO]

Just thinking of old and new. My thoughts.

Good New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Bill Barretta's Pepe, Johnny, Bobo etc
Gonzo has never looked better
Muppets.com & YouTube
Muppet dream merchandise of figures and posers
Muppet pirates with Tim Curry
Some Muppets Tonight moments
Dave & Steve dynamic
Bill & Brian dynamic

Bad New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Miss Piggy puppet
Scooter, Rowlf and others stuffed into the background
Lack of steady leadership
Few new photoshoots for press pictures
Cuts in home video that might not have happened with Jim
Frank & Jim dynamic is gone

I think the Bill and Brian dynamic is pretty much gone. When was the last time we saw Jonny and Sal together? Oz? Since then Brian Henson doesn't seem to have much if anything to do with the muppets, at least not the disney owned ones.

 

[frogboy4]

I think the Bill and Brian dynamic is pretty much gone. When was the last time we saw Jonny and Sal together? Oz? Since then Brian Henson doesn't seem to have much if anything to do with the muppets, at least not the disney owned ones.

It's still a post-Jim element in the Muppets over the past several years. But, yeah. It's gone unless somehow Brian returns for the Halloween special. I hope he does.

 

[Drtooth]

Just thinking of old and new. My thoughts.

Good New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Bill Barretta's Pepe, Johnny, Bobo etc
Gonzo has never looked better
Muppets.com & YouTube
Muppet dream merchandise of figures and posers
Muppet pirates with Tim Curry
Some Muppets Tonight moments
Dave & Steve dynamic
Bill & Brian dynamic

Bad New (post-Jim) Muppet Stuff:
Miss Piggy puppet
Scooter, Rowlf and others stuffed into the background
Lack of steady leadership
Few new photoshoots for press pictures
Cuts in home video that might not have happened with Jim
Frank & Jim dynamic is gone

I'm surprised that you didn't say Steve and Eric dynamic... It's a shame that Frank doesn't really work with the TMS characters anymore (he only occasionally does Sesame, and Joey Mazzarino vouched that he'll be back this season)... but I really think his chemistry with Steve's Kermit (and for that matter Ernie) had some sort of bump in it... It just didn't feel the same to me... especially in MFS (of course, that's cuz he was a recording for a good part of the film, considering half his characters were in one scene as well). But I think Eric really has a nice handle on Frank's characters (Grover and Fozzie especially... and the Ernie and Bert segments didn't have that miniscule akwardness they've been having).

But no doubt the lack of leadership, and the questionable projects (Oz, again) really hurt the Muppets in recent years. I think the Youtube and website stuff really showed that they can be the same old gang. Porblem is, we really needed a big project to launch that. I think LTS was that project to some extent... but they need something that isn't a Christmas special to really get things going. And we've got ample opportunities...even with a comic book.

 

[Rax]

Reading frogboy4's list, it surprises me that the good stuff stands out so much more to me than the bad stuff.

It's a shame that Brian doesn't do much Muppety things anymore, but I think I can understand the guy.

BTW, "Hunt's dynamic is gone" would be in my list of bad things.

Gr, Rax

 

[Drtooth]

He doesn't do anything TMS Muppety, you mean. He's been doing a lot of Henson muppet stuff (Puppet Up for example)... plus, we've only had one project since he "left" the TMS stuff (LTS), so we don't know if those characters will never come back.

 

[CensoredAlso]

BTW, "Hunt's dynamic is gone" would be in my list of bad things.

Agreed, when a member of a group is gone, one who was so inhibited and outside the normal and whose opinions were very direct, there is bound to be a difference.

 

[dwayne1115]

If Brian does not want to work with TMS Muppets, that will be kind of sad I think.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well I don't really like the new stuff more. To me, the new stuff will never hold a candle to the original stuff. It's just that there are things I like that are post Jim even if it's not as good as it was when Jim was still running things.

Oh sorry what I meant to say was some fans like the new stuff a bit more than other fans do. Not that some fans like the new stuff more than the old. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Yeah I mean I don't mind if some fans like the new stuff. I just think the only way the Muppets are going to really obtain the immortality so many other classic groups have, is for their best work to be recognized and featured. Rather than them constantly trying to reinvent themselves.

I mean there does come a time in every artist's life when he/she has done his/her best work. That doesn't mean the work after that is awful, but we shouldn't expect it to achieve the same success. It's not pessimissism, it's just that art is very fragile that way.

 

[Rax]

He doesn't do anything TMS Muppety, you mean. He's been doing a lot of Henson muppet stuff (Puppet Up for example)... plus, we've only had one project since he "left" the TMS stuff (LTS), so we don't know if those characters will never come back.

Yeah, I mean the Disney part. And it was like that before LTS. MWOO for example. If I'm not mistaken, he only provided voices for that movie. The Barretta/Henson dynamics come from performing mostly, not from voicing afterwards, so that's a shame.

Gr, Rax