Okay, I officially feel bad for critizing Walter off the bat the other day. It just came as a shock to me because he had that e-Bay bobbled-felt look that seemed amature...However, after going away from the site I suddenly realised that Walter obviously felt lonely in the world and was looking for others who felt the same as he does about the world and I realised (as others have done) that he's me. And that actually made me tear up a little...
I don't think we could get that same sort of feeling if he was this big detailed design like Mulch or something... It seems they're drawing a LOT of Sesame Street influence in the newer character designs. I thought at one point he wasn't even going to look like a Muppet (AM or otherwise) at all. The lack of features actually makes him more of an everyman, if you think about it.
Anyway...
Now see... I disagree here. Maybe I was just biased and tunnel-visioned, but when I saw Segel on Craig Ferguson I saw him mention The Muppets as his biggest project--something he was hugely excited about. Did you not see how giddy he was when he told Craig he started it? He was positively glowing (and then Craig got all defensive and wondered where his part was). Not to mention that it got the biggest applauding response from the crowd throughout the whole segment.
I'm wondering... how much of a leash are they keeping on Segel and how much a lid they're putting on the project. They definitely want to say there's one coming, but I 'm wondering if they're telling Jason et al to keep a lid on it until the published magazine articles start popping up (here's the thing about Magazine articles....no one really reads magazines anymore, BUT when they finally publish a story after a few months, it sort of... well, officialises everything). The movie IS over a year away, and I'm sure they'll drive the push towards marketing the closer they get to the actual release date.
Y'know i actually do feel there is concern - not quite as much for the movies content (although it does sound a little too human/walter driven to me but that remains to be seen), more for how the movie is marketed. Because it isn't down to what Segal thinks or wants. There are things Disney can do to influence how the media see the movie, but generally they will want to highlight the "star" to sell the most papers/magazines or get viewers to their shows. The Muppets haven't been around for a while but Segal is the current flavor of the month so obviously the press will go heavy on his involvement. I guess Disney may be fine with this if it actually gets people in movie theaters to sit down and watch the Muppets again (the start of bigger things - weekly tv show etc) but people definitely need to be walking away thinking "that was a great MUPPET movie".
That's what I'm thinking too. We will get a lot of press that it's Segal's project, sure... but that's because it was. I'm sure Disney would have done something at some point, but the will to make a movie, especially one attached to a group that makes constant hit after hit films is the driving force. We wouldn't see the extent of comics, web videos, and all that stuff if they didn't say "Hey! We've got a movie coming up." Movie prehype is very important now, apparently. I've been seeing Tron Legacy toys before they even FINISHED the film. Heck, I was wondering if we were even getting that film, and we'd be stuck with toys. Plus, that dreadful Smurf project has lead a wave of Smurf Merchandise that goes back to 2008. Again, I'm sure Disney would have done something with the Muppets, but once there was rumors of a movie, things just started popping up.
That said, star power can't hurt either. The last theatrical movie was like the starting point for a director who was famous for meh kiddy films who either had no passion, no will to do a Muppet movie, or... well... just sucked as a director overall. What can you say when you're crowning theatrical achievement was the first Chipmunks movie? And that lack of passion/talent showed. There wasn't a good relationship between the writers and director among other things. Now, we got a celebrity who's a fan of something doing the film, and having like minded fans as everything from cameos to direction... maybe even the caterers. Other than the fact we're coming out of a wonderfully bizarre time where almost EVERYONE is a Muppet fan, having someone like that working on a movie, means we'll get a very good project out of it. Unlike some joyless bunch who are making a movie for the sake of making a movie, being completely and totally ignorant of the source material they care little about and using it as a notch on their resume so they can make something more meaningful (I'm Looking at you Dragonball Evolution).
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