The new Muppet movie: Next Year's Yogi?

[Frogster]

So I'm watching television the other day like a good American and I see the Yogi Bear movie commercial come on. And I'm thinking, Way to strike while the iron's hot, with Tron, The Fighter and Harry Potter movie out right now. It really doesn't fit and it seems weird, like when they released another Big Momma's House or Scooby Doo movie.

Then I wondered what if that's the general feeling of the new Muppet movie next year? While the Muppets are universally adored, they've been out of the main spotlight for quite a while, and as Entertainment Weekly put it, "Been semi-retired for over a decade." The larger audience out there will most likely be thinking what I am about the Yogi flick: "Ummm... alright. What else is playing?" Since I'm even a member on this site I'm sure you guys know I'll see it but with the quality of the aesthetics of the puppets, the 'new' puppeteers lacking in their predecessors talent, and the corny, recycled jokes for each character played constantly, I don't think it's gonna do very well in the box office. Keep an eye on this thread, folks. I really want to be wrong here come this time next year.

 

[CensoredAlso]

This Yogi remake looks like unnecessary CGI coupled with unfunny attempts at humor nowhere near the original cartoon. If the new Muppets movie is like that, then yes it probably wouldn't do very well (and rightfuly so). These retro remakes all seem to have one thing in common, incredibly lazy, lousy writing. That is what will make the difference with this Muppet venture. Whether or not it will deliver I honestly don't know and all I can do is wait.

 

[minor muppetz]

One difference is that despite the claims that this'll "relaunch" the franchise, the Muppets have never really been gone, even when it seemed like they weren't doing much (around this time last year many fans seemed to think of "Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody" as a "comeback").

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well I guess the idea is that they haven't been gone, but they haven't been on top the way they used to be. So a successful movie would be a comeback of sorts.

 

[theprawncracker]

Yes, this is exactly the sort of thread we need right now. Thanks so much, Frogster.

How on EARTH do you derive the crap you sling about the Muppets from the amazing quality, support, and adoration of recent projects ("Bohemian Rhapsody," other YouTube videos, even Letters to Santa) from not only fans, but the public at large (don't you DARE argue that the public did not eat up these projects) has been staggering. You simply cannot look at the response "Bohemian Rhapsody" received, the dedication, passion, and talent of Jason Segel, Peter Linz, Matt Vogel, and all of these so-called "lacking" performers, and the belief Disney has in this project (there is NO WAY they would release a film the day before Thanksgiving if they were not 100% confident in it--they hold the top three Thanksgiving releases of all time, they DO NOT take this lightly) and honestly expect to be taken seriously when you make such egregious, uninformed, and slanderous comments like those above.

I've been trying so hard to stay out of these arguments... but when someone makes such ridiculous statements as this, something has to be said. I honestly cannot believe that comments such as these can come from someone on this forum. Jim Henson--Jim Henson--once said of the Muppets, "It’s hard to say how long they’ll live. I think this is something we’re waiting to see from the audience. If the audience wants these characters to live, they will, and if they get tired of them, they’ll go away." Obviously the audience does not want these characters to go away. The over 38 million viewers of the YouTube videos, the over 500,000 Facebook fans, the 36,000 Twitter followers, and all of the dedicated fans on Muppet Central, The Muppet Mindset, ToughPigs, and The MuppetCast are proof enough of this. If you need more, look at both two-page spreads in Entertainment Weekly, the most-read film-television magazine in the country, the ridiculous amount of notable celebrities clamoring to appear alongside the Muppets, and the sheer amount of excitement being shown by huge websites such as SlashFilm, Perez Hilton, and far too many others to mention.

If you honestly think that this movie will under-perform with a huge cast of celebrity cameos, the extremely passionate and hilarious and smart Jason Segel, the full-force of The Walt Disney Company marketing machine (the largest film marketing machine in the world), and, above all, the talents and heart of all of the Muppeteers and The Muppets themselves... then there's honestly nothing better you have to do with your time than to be negative, unsupportive, and unfaithful. That is the exact opposite of what Jim Henson would want, the exact opposite of what Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Juhl, Jerry Nelson, and everyone else once involved and still involved with the Muppets would want.

 

[Oscarfan]

So I'm watching television the other day like a good American and I see the Yogi Bear movie commercial come on. And I'm thinking, Way to strike while the iron's hot, with Tron, The Fighter and Harry Potter movie out right now. It really doesn't fit and it seems weird, like when they released another Big Momma's House or Scooby Doo movie.

Then I wondered what if that's the general feeling of the new Muppet movie next year? While the Muppets are universally adored, they've been out of the main spotlight for quite a while, and as Entertainment Weekly put it, "Been semi-retired for over a decade." The larger audience out there will most likely be thinking what I am about the Yogi flick: "Ummm... alright. What else is playing?" Since I'm even a member on this site I'm sure you guys know I'll see it but with the quality of the aesthetics of the puppets, the 'new' puppeteers lacking in their predecessors talent, and the corny, recycled jokes for each character played constantly, I don't think it's gonna do very well in the box office. Keep an eye on this thread, folks. I really want to be wrong here come this time next year.

The fact is that Yogi Bear is another in a long-line of "making old characters hip" movies. And they hardly work. It's not that fact that people will pass on it because it's Yogi Bear, it's that it looks like an awful movie. Disney cares about making this a success. They sent the script through the Pixar folks to make sure it was good! And they're already starting their super promotion campaign. Everyone will known about the movie. The Muppets aren't like Yogi; when was his last production? I don't recall. The Muppets are still in the public's eye and a new movie will guarantee that.

 

[CensoredAlso]

The Muppets aren't like Yogi; when was his last production? I don't recall. The Muppets are still in the public's eye and a new movie will guarantee that.

Actually I don't even think it matters whether something's still in the public eye if a decent marketing campaign is launched. I would be interested to see what they do with that.

 

[Aaron]

Yes, this is exactly the sort of thread we need right now. Thanks so much, Frogster.

How on EARTH do you derive the crap you sling about the Muppets from the amazing quality, support, and adoration of recent projects ("Bohemian Rhapsody," other YouTube videos, even Letters to Santa) from not only fans, but the public at large (don't you DARE argue that the public did not eat up these projects) has been staggering. You simply cannot look at the response "Bohemian Rhapsody" received, the dedication, passion, and talent of Jason Segel, Peter Linz, Matt Vogel, and all of these so-called "lacking" performers, and the belief Disney has in this project (there is NO WAY they would release a film the day before Thanksgiving if they were not 100% confident in it--they hold the top three Thanksgiving releases of all time, they DO NOT take this lightly) and honestly expect to be taken seriously when you make such egregious, uninformed, and slanderous comments like those above.

I've been trying so hard to stay out of these arguments... but when someone makes such ridiculous statements as this, something has to be said. I honestly cannot believe that comments such as these can come from someone on this forum. Jim Henson--Jim Henson--once said of the Muppets, "It’s hard to say how long they’ll live. I think this is something we’re waiting to see from the audience. If the audience wants these characters to live, they will, and if they get tired of them, they’ll go away." Obviously the audience does not want these characters to go away. The over 38 million viewers of the YouTube videos, the over 500,000 Facebook fans, the 36,000 Twitter followers, and all of the dedicated fans on Muppet Central, The Muppet Mindset, ToughPigs, and The MuppetCast are proof enough of this. If you need more, look at both two-page spreads in Entertainment Weekly, the most-read film-television magazine in the country, the ridiculous amount of notable celebrities clamoring to appear alongside the Muppets, and the sheer amount of excitement being shown by huge websites such as SlashFilm, Perez Hilton, and far too many others to mention.

If you honestly think that this movie will under-perform with a huge cast of celebrity cameos, the extremely passionate and hilarious and smart Jason Segel, the full-force of The Walt Disney Company marketing machine (the largest film marketing machine in the world), and, above all, the talents and heart of all of the Muppeteers and The Muppets themselves... then there's honestly nothing better you have to do with your time than to be negative, unsupportive, and unfaithful. That is the exact opposite of what Jim Henson would want, the exact opposite of what Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Juhl, Jerry Nelson, and everyone else once involved and still involved with the Muppets would want.

Bravo Ryan! I'm glad someone said it.

 

[Drtooth]

This Yogi remake looks like unnecessary CGI coupled with unfunny attempts at humor nowhere near the original cartoon. If the new Muppets movie is like that, then yes it probably wouldn't do very well (and rightfuly so). These retro remakes all seem to have one thing in common, incredibly lazy, lousy writing. That is what will make the difference with this Muppet venture. Whether or not it will deliver I honestly don't know and all I can do is wait.

I'll take that over Underdog or Dragonball which throws out the concept and replaces it with something generic that NO ONE will enjoy. Yogi doesn't look like all that good a movie, but trust me... they at LEAST made him an anthro, made the characters sound pretty similar, AND remembered the concept. Next Year's Smurfs? They threw out magical Medieval setting for mundane New York, and based the whole thing on "Oh, yeah, I watched an episode 2 minutes before I wrote the script... all they do is say Smurf... I could knock that out in 20 minutes."

Not to say I'm really defending that film, but it could be worse... much, much worse...

How on EARTH do you derive the crap you sling about the Muppets from the amazing quality, support, and adoration of recent projects ("Bohemian Rhapsody," other YouTube videos, even Letters to Santa) from not only fans, but the public at large (don't you DARE argue that the public did not eat up these projects) has been staggering. You simply cannot look at the response "Bohemian Rhapsody" received, the dedication, passion, and talent of Jason Segel, Peter Linz, Matt Vogel, and all of these so-called "lacking" performers, and the belief Disney has in this project (there is NO WAY they would release a film the day before Thanksgiving if they were not 100% confident in it--they hold the top three Thanksgiving releases of all time, they DO NOT take this lightly) and honestly expect to be taken seriously when you make such egregious, uninformed, and slanderous comments like those above.

I'm just gonna come out and say it... It's not that there wasn't a point in that, but really.. enough IS enough. I'm absolutely sick of people who just pop in and grouch about how "terrible" everything is. Jim's GONE, Jerry Juhl's GONE, Ricard's GONE, Jerry's getting too old to perform the puppets, Frank's gone on to other things... what else is there? There is no way to reclaim the glory days because everyone that shaped them is either gone or on their way out. It happens with every major property when they lose their creators. So, you're stuck with either throwing a sheet over it, putting in in mothballs, only taking it out for an Orange Juice commercial or something, OR you can continue the property as best as you can.

Now, I'm not just saying negativity will hurt the project, but it hurts the morale of the fan base. Yes, Oz sucked... VMX was alright but not all there, and MFS had a director who should never have been one. let's not forget how hard it was to re-establish the brand after Henson's death... there was a real lack of leadership. Disney HAS the leadership qualities that Henson lacked (look how long it's taking to get Dark Crystal 2 and Fraggle Rock out there and they're STILL not even in preproduction).

But above all, the likening it to Yogi, which was made CLEARLY because the Chipmunks movie was a surprise hit (NO ONE would have thought it would be a hit, not even the people who made it)... The Muppet Movie is a product of a ticked off fan with power who wanted to see a new project that DIDN'T retell an old story or didn't have some idiotic gimmick to it, so I'm sure he knows what we do and don't want to see.

 

[CensoredAlso]

It's not that fact that people will pass on it because it's Yogi Bear, it's that it looks like an awful movie.

I think that's very telling. I think you can people excited about retro entertainment very easily, all you have to do is write a decent script! But then they keep writing lousy scripts and people just go "Oh I guess people just don't like retro." Wrong.