Disney to Release 'Muppets Movie' Next Thanksgiving

[Beauregard]

Oh wow! I'm now totally psyched about the release date (I was never that excited about it being on Christmas as many people have non-cinema-based traditions for that day and it might have missed out on a lot of business.

On the other hand, the UK has no Thanksgiving...so might there be a big delay between USA release and UK release! (There was a months delay for Up...I don't know if I could hold out that long without reading every single spoiler available!)

 

[Drtooth]

Technically, most US studio pictures are judged on whether they exceed their budget domestically. "Bolt" didn't quite get there, but made over $114M of its $150M budget and was impressive overseas. "Princess and the Frog" actually cost less and made back its budget ($105M) domestically, but was considered a disappointment. A lot of the perceptions have to do with expectations. "Princess and the Frog" was supposed to bring back the traditional animation artform.

When "Cars 2" launches next year it will definitely be Pixar's biggest financial success, but not necessarily a critical one. You know, I'm not a big fan of Cars, but it is quality Pixar and will help the company make other original ideas later on. I wish they'd stagger the sequels between new film ideas. I think that's fair. I expect there to be a “Cars 3" down the line. The toys sell like crazy! The Toy Story ones don't that much...funny, huh?

Princess and the Frog would have done SOOOO much better than it did if it got THIS cherished release date... but they put too much stock in that Christmas Carol film that was a huge, ugly flop, and tossed PnF to fight against the surprise hit of Avatar and the "I can't believe there's a director WORSE than Tim Hill" Chipmunks sequel. And after ALL the crap they went through to get that movie out. Bet it did good on DVD now, and apparently, that's the ONLY thing that matters. I really feel if they gave it the Thanksgiving slot it was SUPPOSED to have, the film wouldn't have Superman Returns syndrome written all over it...

The Toy Story stuff isn't selling as well, partially because of recession, and also... well, the stuff really isn't particularly that good. I like the Buddy Packs, but I find they're WAYYY overpriced... the action figures don't look all that good and cost a fortune... and it just goes to prove my point that Mattel doesn't care about making a quality product anymore, unless it's specifically catering to adult collectors. And they market every single little character in the film for 5 seconds that WASN'T Totoro. I dunno who would want the Octopus, unless they were a completest. But Cars... Opening weekend and for several weeks after that you couldn't FIND a single Die Cast replica in stores.

As for the Muppets...I think if this one does well that Disney will crank more out. Films are expensive, but Muppet films are cheaper than animated films and take a fraction of the time. The Muppets are iconic cast members owned by Disney who can venture out and promote projects in the real world. They can become just as commercially beloved by Disney as Mickey Mouse or Pooh. I have doubts about Muppets on television. We live in a different sort of world. Nobody watches live TV anymore and the medium is filled with gross and exploitive reality programs that feed off the worst part of human nature. Maybe their future is in specials, movies and marketing, but I would love a new tv show if they made one!

We can all safely say that a LOT is riding on this movie. If we expect to see future merchandise, projects, or whatever, this movie has to do substantially well. And I agree... I do not see the Muppets having a TV show UNLESS Disney Channel or ABC family were to do one... but they're hard pressed by single demographics and we'd never see a regular one. The best we unfortunately can do is specials and future movies. We seem to forget how kind syndication was to the Muppet Show, and syndication is all crappy cheap programming now, so that's out.

 

[zns]

Good move. Thanksgiving open is just as "prestigious" as a Christmas open plus not only is it sooner but it frees the Muppets up to do more Christmas promotion and still makes it seem more as a "2011" movie as opposed to coming out the last week of the year.

And - now it's less than a year away

The way i've been feeling lately, the idea of the new movie and all the promotion attached with it is literally the thing that's been keeping me going and getting through on a daily basis. It's nice that i'll be able to see it before i turn 40 and not after.

Yep. It just doesn't get any better than that.

 

[Mupp]

We can all safely say that a LOT is riding on this movie. If we expect to see future merchandise, projects, or whatever, this movie has to do substantially well. And I agree... I do not see the Muppets having a TV show UNLESS Disney Channel or ABC family were to do one... but they're hard pressed by single demographics and we'd never see a regular one. The best we unfortunately can do is specials and future movies. We seem to forget how kind syndication was to the Muppet Show, and syndication is all crappy cheap programming now, so that's out.

Oh yes, I agree!

 

[beaker]

And so did Bolt.

Well, I'm glad someone liked it

 

[beaker]

Technically, most US studio pictures are judged on whether they exceed their budget domestically. "Bolt" didn't quite get there, but made over $114M of its $150M budget and was impressive overseas. "Princess and the Frog" actually cost less and made back its budget ($105M) domestically, but was considered a disappointment. A lot of the perceptions have to do with expectations. "Princess and the Frog" was supposed to bring back the traditional animation artform.

When "Cars 2" launches next year it will definitely be Pixar's biggest financial success, but not necessarily a critical one. You know, I'm not a big fan of Cars, but it is quality Pixar and will help the company make other original ideas later on. I wish they'd stagger the sequels between new film ideas. I think that's fair. I expect there to be a “Cars 3" down the line. The toys sell like crazy! The Toy Story ones don't that much...funny, huh?

As for the Muppets...I think if this one does well that Disney will crank more out. Films are expensive, but Muppet films are cheaper than animated films and take a fraction of the time. The Muppets are iconic cast members owned by Disney who can venture out and promote projects in the real world. They can become just as commercially beloved by Disney as Mickey Mouse or Pooh. I have doubts about Muppets on television. We live in a different sort of world. Nobody watches live TV anymore and the medium is filled with gross and exploitive reality programs that feed off the worst part of human nature. Maybe their future is in specials, movies and marketing, but I would love a new tv show if they made one!

Yeah I can put up with the Cars franchise if it means more amazing originals(like Up, Incredibles) and sequels to films I want to see(Monsters Inc) Cars 2 looks great, I just cant stand the premise, Mater's look or accent, etc. Then again, who knows I may just like it...I thought I'd love Toy Story 3 but really ended up disliking it. And I have to say the original Cars was a beauty to look at, especially the open roads and canyons.

And yeah, The Muppets are the ONLY characters in the entire non human Disney universe(now that they dont own Power Rangers) that can go out and do promotions, meet and greets, etc. Sorry to the Mickey, Goofy and Disneyana lovers...your guys are iconic, but they don't exist in the tangible world(park employees in big suits dont count) Also if I wear a Mickey hat or a furry Fozzie hat out in public, you can guess which one will get the most comments, attention and reaction.

Princess and the Frog would have done SOOOO much better than it did if it got THIS cherished release date... but they put too much stock in that Christmas Carol film that was a huge, ugly flop, and tossed PnF to fight against the surprise hit of Avatar and the "I can't believe there's a director WORSE than Tim Hill" Chipmunks sequel. And after ALL the crap they went through to get that movie out. Bet it did good on DVD now, and apparently, that's the ONLY thing that matters. I really feel if they gave it the Thanksgiving slot it was SUPPOSED to have, the film wouldn't have Superman Returns syndrome written all over it...

The Toy Story stuff isn't selling as well, partially because of recession, and also... well, the stuff really isn't particularly that good. I like the Buddy Packs, but I find they're WAYYY overpriced... the action figures don't look all that good and cost a fortune... and it just goes to prove my point that Mattel doesn't care about making a quality product anymore, unless it's specifically catering to adult collectors. And they market every single little character in the film for 5 seconds that WASN'T Totoro. I dunno who would want the Octopus, unless they were a completest. But Cars... Opening weekend and for several weeks after that you couldn't FIND a single Die Cast replica in stores.

Over saturation...tho Cars has a lot of market saturation too, but sold well. I don't know...cars just doesn't seem cuddly as plushes or toys(neither did Wall E, but that definitely performed poorly in merchandise)
On the other hand, who wouldn't have bought a Kevin bird plush?
I liked the colorful designs of the Toy Story 3 characters, but I hated the movie and just have no interest in the toys. I liked 95-99 era Toy Story more.

 

[Mupp]

Yeah I can put up with the Cars franchise if it means more amazing originals(like Up, Incredibles) and sequels to films I want to see(Monsters Inc) Cars 2 looks great, I just cant stand the premise, Mater's look or accent, etc. Then again, who knows I may just like it...I thought I'd love Toy Story 3 but really ended up disliking it.

Did you even read my post about Toy Story 3 in the Fraggle Rock Movie thread?
http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showpost.php?p=849411&postcount=761

You REALLY need to do some research on the inspiration for Cars and the character of Mater. It may make shed some light on things.

Again....Cars was NOT just about Nascar.....As I stated in another thread, it did have other important themes....Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean that they aren't there.

You cannot just look at these things at face value.

 

[frogboy4]

Yeah I can put up with the Cars franchise if it means more amazing originals(like Up, Incredibles) and sequels to films I want to see(Monsters Inc) Cars 2 looks great, I just cant stand the premise, Mater's look or accent, etc. Then again, who knows I may just like it...I thought I'd love Toy Story 3 but really ended up disliking it. And I have to say the original Cars was a beauty to look at, especially the open roads and canyons.

And yeah, The Muppets are the ONLY characters in the entire non human Disney universe(now that they dont own Power Rangers) that can go out and do promotions, meet and greets, etc. Sorry to the Mickey, Goofy and Disneyana lovers...your guys are iconic, but they don't exist in the tangible world(park employees in big suits dont count) Also if I wear a Mickey hat or a furry Fozzie hat out in public, you can guess which one will get the most comments, attention and reaction.



Over saturation...tho Cars has a lot of market saturation too, but sold well. I don't know...cars just doesn't seem cuddly as plushes or toys(neither did Wall E, but that definitely performed poorly in merchandise)
On the other hand, who wouldn't have bought a Kevin bird plush?
I liked the colorful designs of the Toy Story 3 characters, but I hated the movie and just have no interest in the toys. I liked 95-99 era Toy Story more.

I agree with you on Cars. It does have the standard "Pixar heart" ,a thoughtful story and a good moral that winning means nothing without integrity and friendship; but I'm not a great fan of animated vehicles in the first place. As charming as they are they are inherently more alienating than the other Pixar stars IMHO. I do have a particular fondness for Guido and I actually like Mater. Don't get me wrong; I can't stand the comedian, his live action hick-shtick or his 20th century backwoods politics, but for some reason everything comes together sweetly for Mater.That's the power of Pixar, I guess. Still my least fave of their franchises, but it's one with great power and I hope the "Muppets Movie" trailer goes in front of the film!

 

[Mupp]

Well, I'm glad someone liked it

I was telling the truth by the way, Bolt really DID get good reviews.

 

[Mupp]

Sorry to the Mickey, Goofy and Disneyana lovers...your guys are iconic, but they don't exist in the tangible world(park employees in big suits dont count)

I have to say, that was pretty harsh, and sounded like it was meant in a derogatory sense.

They are animated characters, what do you expect?

Being in a Disney park is all about suspending your disbelief.

And speaking of which, people would definitely have to suspend their disbelief when meeting a "real" muppet in the parks, because there would be a guy underneath!

And to add to that, Disney actually has had "real" tangible characters in its parks that people get up close and personal with,

Like Lucky the Dinosaur; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKAb-duP3FQ


And let's not forget the Muppet Mobile Lab; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkDYbW0Ai_c&feature=related
That portrayed Bunsen and Beaker in the same way as they look on television, only seemingly moving on their own. Making them all the more real. (And yes, Dave and Steve were on-site helping out with this test, it says so on Muppet Wiki.)

Audio-animatronics (or just plain animatronics) are very similar to puppets, so Disney has created characters that are as "real" as the "real" Muppets.

Anyone agree?