New Video: Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody!

[beaker]

Bear isn't owned by Disney.

Gr, Rax

Actually it is:

Bear in the Big Blue House

In February of 2004, The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company signed an agreement for Disney to buy the "Muppets" and "Bear in the Big Blue House" franchises, including all worldwide production, distribution and merchandising rights. All inquiries regarding Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House should now be directed to The Walt Disney Company.

http://www.henson.com/bearbigbluehouse.php

 

[Rax]

Actually it is:

Bear in the Big Blue House

In February of 2004, The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company signed an agreement for Disney to buy the "Muppets" and "Bear in the Big Blue House" franchises, including all worldwide production, distribution and merchandising rights. All inquiries regarding Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House should now be directed to The Walt Disney Company.

Woops! THen you're right, of course. Didn't know Bear was included.

Gr, Rax

 

[Drtooth]

This is so true! Even going back to 1998 on this forum. I remember how insane people got with the remarks and fussyness with the 2002-2005 era of the Muppet figures...Im surprised Ken didnt just give up on us all

There was a lot of it that was fussiness, and a lot of it was praise. I'm glad they kept going on for as long as they could. Now, the stuff that everyone said about Fun4All's Sesame Street line that never happened was uncalled for. Yeah, they weren't great... but if they didn't go bankrupt, we probably would have gotten some SS line. Not that I'm glad the license changed, but we didn't get it from either side. Now all we have are the same lame Elmo stuff...

I've even changed my position on a lot of things. I now view Muppets From Space in a positive light, and greatly enjoy it for what it is, same with Verry Merry Muppet Christmas.

I still say MFS, with a BETTER director that let Joey keep all the great things he wrote in the script (especially the Traveling Matt cameo. That and the ending being changed to something so banal was inexcusable). But I enjoyed it ever since I saw it in theaters.

I really think that this IS the project we can all agree upon. There's a lot of classic muppet ideals and sentiment in these little Youtube videos. As I said, if Jim were still around, there's no doubt he would have embraced this to the fullest. He loved what TV could do... think about what he would have done in the same context. I really hope they can get this into a movie or special or something.

 

[Dearth]

Well, it took me a few days to watch this video, but I've probably made up for it by watching it a couple dozen times in just three days.

For those who dislike the slower pace on the Gonzo/chickens part and the Animal "Mama" scene (which was a brilliant solution, in my opinion, to the family-unfriendly aspect of those lines in the original), my feeling is that they don't understand the deliberate construct of the original video by Queen.

Without those slower introductions, the viewer won't appreciate the, ahem, "modulation" of the later rock moments. Without the long takes of the 'first act', the relentless fast edits of the 'third act' would seem too sudden, too overwhelming.

No, the Muppets paid proper tribute to Queen by perfectly recreating the genius of the structure of the song.

***
Now then, I have a couple of questions:

1) Does anyone know the name of the two monsters who are seen with "Angel Marie" and "Old Tom"?
2) WHO is doing Dr. Teeth now? OMG, he's amazing. I'm sure if I heard Jim and then him, I wouldn't think it was as good, but the performance and the voice are SO perfect, it really felt like Dr. Teeth was back from post-Jim Limbo.
3) Is that Jerry Nelson on Floyd/Lew/Harry, or has he been replaced?
4) Who is doing Janice now? By the way, I love her longer hair and the beret is a much better hat for her.
5) Who are the other two rats with Rizzo? I assume the girl is Yolanda. Is the one with the black 'metal band' wig Masterson? Chester? Tatooie?

***
Some other nitpicky observations: Robin and Sweetums were seen at D23, but aren't in this video. Most of the rest of the puppets look exactly the same as those used at D23, except for the outfits on Piggy and Floyd.

By my count, there are 69 puppets seen in this video. When you see everyone on Kermit's monitor at the end, there are 57 visible simultaneously. (Watch closely, because Mahna Mahna will drop out of frame very early, leaving only the Snowths.)

The 12 puppets seen elsewhere in the video who do NOT appear on the monitor are: Gonzo's three chickens; the other three monkeys seen with Sal; the four flowers also seen in that part; Kermit and Scooter.

These totals do not count the one rabbit seen with Angel Marie et al., presuming he is also one of the four seen later. Nor did I count Lew Zealand's fish, as they are props rather than puppets.

***
Miscellaneous:

Rowlf does have a line, of sorts. He sings along with the other 56 Muppets on Kermit's monitor on the final "any way the wind blows" line.

I could watch Beau getting hit in the eye by Lew's thrown fish over, and over, and over. I love how it smacks him right in his big eyeballs, and THEN he blinks after it falls away.

For some reason, the foreground banana, lying on its side so the one above will still be visible, cracks me up every time.

At the very end, Rizzo appears to have a new mechanism in his neck which allows him to look up at the ceiling. It doesn't look like he's simply tilting back at the waist, it really looks like his head moves separately from his body. (Has he ever shown this ability before? His single axis of articulation on the neck is sort of a trademark.)

I'm assuming there's a lot of digital rod removal on certain shots (especially Pepe's silhouette), but the only time I consciously think about it is on Janice's amazing guitar work. If you watch it in slo-mo, there's a bit of wobble to her arm that is most likely the result of the frames being touched-up slightly differently each time, due to the movement of the rod. Funnily enough, it only adds more life to her, as if muscles are actually expanding and contracting as she works the fret.

I don't know if that's an off-model rebuild of Gonzo or just a REALLY poor camera angle on him. I know they were trying to get the Queen video angles proper, but maybe the camera should have been just a bit higher.

I also think I detect a bit of the Muppets Tonight methodology for puppeteering 'glove hand' characters. On the classic Muppet Show, with the obvious exception of Rowlf or Dr. Teeth on piano, the general approach was to have the person doing the voice to also do the left hand, with the assistant doing only the right hand. This tends to make the hand movements seem independent and random, if only noticeable to the viewer on a subconscious level.

But on MT, I noticed it was much more common for one puppeteer to concentrate on the mouth/voice, and the other to do both hands simultaneously, which allowed for more symmetry in the timing of gestures.

Sam the Eagle's wonderful "No no no" moment looks like it could be either method, though at the end the two hands are really in synch, while the shot of Beaker which immediately follows definitely looks like the Muppet Tonight symmetrical method.

I don't know, maybe I've analyzed it too much. The problem is, every time I start to dissect it for nuances, I get so caught up in the sheer joy of it that I forget to watch it analytically.

And, really, that's ALWAYS been the power of the Muppets, hasn't it?

My feeling is that this video was intended to create some groundswell for bigger things to come in the next year. If so, it has surpassed its goal amazingly, because even if this was the LAST thing the Muppets ever did, it would be good enough for me.

I think the tagline for Muppets from Space is far more appropriate to "Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody":

The MAGIC is BACK!

DN

 

[Rax]

Now then, I have a couple of questions:

1) Does anyone know the name of the two monsters who are seen with "Angel Marie" and "Old Tom"?
2) WHO is doing Dr. Teeth now? OMG, he's amazing. I'm sure if I heard Jim and then him, I wouldn't think it was as good, but the performance and the voice are SO perfect, it really felt like Dr. Teeth was back from post-Jim Limbo.
3) Is that Jerry Nelson on Floyd/Lew/Harry, or has he been replaced?
4) Who is doing Janice now? By the way, I love her longer hair and the beret is a much better hat for her.
5) Who are the other two rats with Rizzo? I assume the girl is Yolanda. Is the one with the black 'metal band' wig Masterson? Chester? Tatooie?

1) They're Frackles, a group of Muppets who first appeared in The Great Santa Claus Switch, but I don't know their names. In the 80s the word Frackle was used (in a slightly changed form) to name a new group of Muppets: The Fraggles.
2) Bill Barretta, who also took over Mahna Mahna and Rowlf from Jim. And I agree, Teeth/Barretta totally rocks in this vid.
3) Jerry Nelson has been replaced. Lew's being played by Bill Barretta nowadays. Floyd is either John Kennedy or Matt Vogel (although I could be totally wrong on this one). Vogel did play Harry and Floyd in Letters to Santa, btw.
4) I heared David Rudman is the official recast for Janice and Scooter now. I really love Janice, and I'm so happy we finally hear her sing again!
5) Sorry, don't know.

Gr, Rax

 

[dwmckim]

I don't know if that's an off-model rebuild of Gonzo or just a REALLY poor camera angle on him. I know they were trying to get the Queen video angles proper, but maybe the camera should have been just a bit higher.

Both. The latest Gonzo puppet actually isn't too bad - in many ways it's an improvement because for the last decade Gonzo's features have become real generic and oversimplified. The latest puppet gets Gonzo back on track for the most part BUT they made the nose too big and it throws off the whole look (especially in relation to the eyes). The angles Gonzo is shot from in BR really emphasize the flaws!

 

[frogboy4]

Both. The latest Gonzo puppet actually isn't too bad - in many ways it's an improvement because for the last decade Gonzo's features have become real generic and oversimplified. The latest puppet gets Gonzo back on track for the most part BUT they made the nose too big and it throws off the whole look (especially in relation to the eyes). The angles Gonzo is shot from in BR really emphasize the flaws!

I still think Gonzo looked his best in Muppets Tonight. His design just seemed so effortlessly right.

Miss Piggy hasn't looked her best since Muppet Caper. She's come close here and there, but from the Manhattan fright-wig to the current puppet's duller-looking face, Piggy just hasn't been quite right.

Kudos to Disney for finally dropping Janice's 80's pigtail! It's funny that now the 80's are coming back in fashion, but hopefully not that portion of it. The whole Mayhem is looking really stylish except that something's up with Animal. The new puppet looks kind of like a poorly modified MR poser.

Of course, this is all fan-love nit-picking. I'm stoked!

 

[MuppetsFan4Life]

To be honest: I have NEVER heard of Bohemian Rhapsody before I found out the Muppets did their own version of it. So, I click the video link and start watching it and I am just laughing through the whole thing. And now I have the song by Queen on my Ipod. That's my story. I'm watching it now and the video has over 9 MILLION VIEWS! How awesome is that? The Muppets are coming back strong and I can't wait to see what they're going to do next!

 

[beaker]

Woops! THen you're right, of course. Didn't know Bear was included.

Gr, Rax

Well what's strange is Disney has done absolutely *nada* with the Bear brand, and essentially killed it and put it in the archives.

Did they forget what a strong connection kids and parents alike had to the series and character?

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

Well what's strange is Disney has done absolutely *nada* with the Bear brand, and essentially killed it and put it in the archives.

Did they forget what a strong connection kids and parents alike had to the series and character?

Hit me if im worng


but dont they still have the bear show at Disney Studios in florida


anyways back to the video, for me i feel the new gonzo's cheeks are to big

as for singing off key its never really bothered me i mean just listen to piggy