The Muppets on the Cover of EW

[Drtooth]

That was ok though because it was balanced with his kindness and compassion. I totally agree with you that they need to bring back that balance again...Kermit has been very "weak" in character during the many recent projects, and IAVMMCM was the one time in recent years where we really saw that balance again and look at the great reaction the special got! Really hoping that we get the real Kermit back in this new movie, the one that's not "nice to everyone".

Example...In MCC where he's the underdog character and doesn't even show much emotion other than being extremely grateful for Scrooge's tyranny and refusal to pay what he was worth, like Bob Cratchit should be. Other than being the authority figure and that one outburst of "WHO HIRED THIS CREW?!?" in MTi, he seemed really tame.

Kermit's a gentile soul, but when he gets frustrated, he tends to flip out... like this Sesame Street clip will show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfXm5qFZnXQ

It's a slow burn, sure. He starts of friendly, gently trying to correct a mistake, and ends up shouting at the store owner and the customers. He even says "TAKE YOUR T-SHIRT AND GET OUT!!" at one point.

 

[dwmckim]

Thanks Drtooth for bringing up what i was planning to - that there was a GLARING reference to the Muppets being outright referred to as puppets in MWOO that was probably the thing in that film i hated most...yet no comments about disgruntled Muppeteers from that era.

I love Steve and his portrayal of Kermit to death...but i do think he's a little too precious about it at times. He tends to imagine Kermit as "the perfect one" and "the ultimate role model" but Henson's Kermit had some wonderful snark and edginess that i miss. Frog gave great asides! All things considered, i'd prefer the Keeper of the Froggy Flame to be oversensitive about his depiction that the opposite, but Steve could stand to do some marathon viewings of 70's Kermit and his nature and take ample notes.

 

[Drtooth]

Thanks Drtooth for bringing up what i was planning to - that there was a GLARING reference to the Muppets being outright referred to as puppets in MWOO that was probably the thing in that film i hated most...yet no comments about disgruntled Muppeteers from that era.

Everything about that movie just seemed like a bad experiment that became gruesome... something more atone to VanNeuter than Bunsen and Beaker. The fact they wanted it to look like 1960's Batman for one. Made it too brightly colorful... in the words of a Pimple Faced Teenager from The Simpsons "All I can see is HORRIBLE rainbow." But the fact that they said Puppets was more disturbing than the playful nipple aside. It wasn't a fun little self awareness like Grover playing with a water bottle Marionette and saying "It must be fun to be a puppet" or Uncle Matt looking upon a Clown puppet to find an eerie resemblance. If the joke was "Hollywood puppets" as in they control Hollywood, then the joke was totally botched and mishandled.

I will say there were some iffy moments (I had no problems with) in VMX, but a lot of the seems to have been taken with humor. Only thing that sort of bugs me is how Sam the Eagle talks EXACTLY like Sideshow Mel (Simpsons writer to blame).

Somehow it seems that if there was any real resistance it was to A) this being the first major project under Disney (though there weren't any complaints about LTS or any of the virals... not that there was anything objectionable in those) or B) the fact we had some outsider working on the movie. But everything seems to be resolved, and any second thoughts from the team should be washed away when we say positive things about the film.

 

[beaker]

Thanks Drtooth for bringing up what i was planning to - that there was a GLARING reference to the Muppets being outright referred to as puppets in MWOO that was probably the thing in that film i hated most...yet no comments about disgruntled Muppeteers from that era.

I love Steve and his portrayal of Kermit to death...but i do think he's a little too precious about it at times. He tends to imagine Kermit as "the perfect one" and "the ultimate role model" but Henson's Kermit had some wonderful snark and edginess that i miss. Frog gave great asides! All things considered, i'd prefer the Keeper of the Froggy Flame to be oversensitive about his depiction that the opposite, but Steve could stand to do some marathon viewings of 70's Kermit and his nature and take ample notes.

I never realized that...just how over reachingly kind Whitemire Kermit is. The replacement performance portrayal of Fozzie, Piggy and Animal to me seems almost 100% authentic to Oz. But Kermit has become so docile and gentle, that you kind of miss the days of arms flipping out frustrated Kermit. In the new CBC interview, Kermit seems to be almost sad to have to beg people to see the film, knowing the whole future of their projects rests on the box office.

In a way though I love modern day gentle Kermit. It's the Kermit little Jon Jon in the classic 70's clip believes is real. But yeah, Kermit definitely needs to get frazzled now and then, as the whole flipping out thing was hilarious.

 

[dwmckim]

The only thing that would make that cover even better would be if it instead read "HOW THE MUPPETS WERE SAVED: Hare Krishna"