Your Thoughts: "The Muppets" Theatrical Film

[Puckrox]

I hope the bookstore downtown has a copy of the junior novel, because now, after the conversations had on here, I desperately want to read it.

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

Regarding why Kermit and Piggy split up, in The Movie Junior Novel, there's a flashback to the wedding, with Kermit saying "I thought Gonzo was going to play the priest" (yeah, in MTM he says "minister"). Then, a few weeks later, Miss Piggy tells Kermit that she's gotten them a home, to which Kermit reminds her that their wedding was just a movie, until it hits him why Gonzo didn't play the priest, then yellign at Piggy about what she did and saying that he'd never be her frog, but then when he apologizes Piggy realizes that Kermit was right and leaves. And it's said that after this break-up Kermit tried to find work for the others, but was too depressed and they went their seperate ways.

I think one of the early reader books says that the break-up was due to Kermit being too busy running things to be around Miss Piggy.

See, I'm not sure how much I would take the book into consideration. The reason I say that is that you can clearly see Kermit's apprehension when he realizes that Gonzo isn't the minister. That's what he hesitates a little before delivering that line. I think he knows exactly what he's doing and the result at that point.

 

[minor muppetz]

I hope they have an extended version when it comes out on DVD.

Normally I prefer the deleted scenes to be kept seperate (otherwise they wouldn't be listed as features), though in this case I think it'd be best for the DVD to be an extended version with all deleted plot points and all deleted scenes not inportant to the plot be seperate.

 

[zoebell]

the only problem i have with that scenario is that it would kind of erase anything they did as muppets past MTM, or otherwise this argument happened like many years AFTER their supposed wedding

as for the two canons, the muppet stuff in interviews, print, AND the muppet show is their real selves, right? and i guess muppets tonight, too. that's also why i count any special where they are at least putting on some kind of show, like the miss piggy one. that one is clearly canon because they're behind the scenes of the actual show, just like TMS. i don't remember if there was others. i guess the muppet family christmas would be just acting, right?

this movie kind of blurs the line because it directly references TMS and the other movies as just being movies. so that some aspects of this one seem to be talking about their real selves (kermit/piggy and the show's history), while other parts are just the movie

 

[Gonzo's Hobbit]

I really really want to put this in the "Most Touching Muppet Moment" thread but I'm afraid of giving away spoilers.
Did anyone else go awww when Floyd gave Animal his old drumsticks and told him he'd been holding onto them for all those years?

 

[zoebell]

yeah, that was sweet.

also- because this one blurred the line btw the two canons to an extent, i think that explains why kermit is now saying in all his interviews that he and piggy ARE a couple. it seems the era of outright denial is over

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

That's not true! Becuase there are TMTM refrences, so it exists in this movie

The Muppet movie though when you really think about is a movie about a movie...i know you said you didnt see it before hand and i really wish you did

in the begining Kermit says that The Muppet movie is sorta how all the Muppets meet up and got together

if i had to make an official timeline of how the sotry works its:

The Muppet Movie(actual story)
The Muppet show 1-3
The Muppet movie( the one they sit down to watch) 1979
The Muppet show 4-5
The Muppets-2011

its a tad confusing but if you think of them as actors they sorta are it works...since the other movies are sorta that movies they act in(not counting tv specials)

 

[RobintheBrave]

Well, I've been a part-time Muppet Central lurker for a long time (sheesh, I think it's been about ten years now), posting only occasionally when something important comes up. And it just wouldn't be right to not say something now.

2011 has certainly been a whirlwind year for the Muppets and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the interviews, trailers, and web videos leading up to this movie. And it did not disappoint! I have seen it twice now and both times I laughed, cried, and came away pretty happy and hopeful for the Muppet future.

Unfortunately, I think I also came away from the second viewing a little more conflicted about some of the films' problems. It's certainly a wonderful movie -- the Muppets' best feature film since MTI, or even MCC -- but it reminds me of evaluating some of my own attempts at story writing or filmmaking: there are parts that you love, but the imperfections can drive you batty if you're not careful.

Now, I disagree with some of the opinions about too many things being cut out of the movie. I don't think we needed more explanation about why the Muppets broke up or Kermit and Piggy's quarrel. As goldenstate5 and daltysmith pointed out, the audience can fill in those gaps pretty well with our knowledge of the lack of Muppet stardom in recent years and Kermit and Piggy's rocky relationship. Too much exposition can bog down a movie and those were good plot threads to leave to the audience's imagination by showing, not telling.

But I'm conflicted over Tex Richman's backstory. On one hand, the brevity of his rap number worked well for the hilarious randomness factor. (Interesting to note a number of critics, including the reviewers for Variety and Entertainment Weekly, really liked that part). But his inability to laugh adds an interesting element to his character and better explains the rather haphazard ending, so it would have been nice to highlight this information better.

Speaking of the ending, that's another area that I'm conflicted over. It's messy. After some reflection, I can appreciate the concept of Kermit & Co. losing the studios but gaining the confidence that would make the studios inconsequential. But the way they get it back anyway, through a series of somewhat-important plot points squeezed into the credits, just feels odd.

With that said, I'm going to try to hold off further judgement on what should or should not have been cut until we (hopefully) see some of those scenes on DVD. Having studied film editing in film school, I don't always assume the "Extended Cut" is a better one; more often when you watch deleted scenes on a DVD, it's clear they were cut for good reason. In the case of this movie, I'm curious if the ending could have been smoothed out, but the film's overall pace seemed pretty solid.

There were some other doubts and nitpicks that I could mention, but in the end, you can't keep those little things from ruining what was overall a fun, beautiful, zany, and yes, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational experience. No piece of art is perfect; what is important is that you put your best into it. And I think it's clear Segal, Bobin, the Muppeteers, and the many other people involved in this movie put a lot of their hearts and souls into this movie and it shows. Just like Kermit, the important thing is we believe in the Muppets and thanks to the efforts of these talented artists, we can do just that.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

The Muppet movie though when you really think about is a movie about a movie...i know you said you didnt see it before hand and i really wish you did

in the begining Kermit says that The Muppet movie is sorta how all the Muppets meet up and got together

if i had to make an official timeline of how the sotry works its:

The Muppet Movie(actual story)
The Muppet show 1-3
The Muppet movie( the one they sit down to watch) 1979
The Muppet show 4-5
The Muppets-2011

its a tad confusing but if you think of them as actors they sorta are it works...since the other movies are sorta that movies they act in(not counting tv specials)

I've seen most of The Muppet Movie. I've seen enough to get all the refrences in The Muppets. I've seen the beginning even when they're all in a theater to watch it. (that is one of my favorite Muppet scenes ever).
I've seen the first 45 min. after that I've only seen parts of the other scenes but I saw everything that there's a refrence to in the new movie (including Sweetums running after the car, again)

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

I've seen the first 45 min. after that I've only seen parts of the other scenes but I saw everything that there's a refrence to in the new movie (including Sweetums running after the car, again)

i wont bring it up again cause it will derail the thread..but basically what im saying is that seeing it just to get the references you missed out on a fantastic piece of original Jim Henson Muppet art..The Muppet Movie tells the story of how a frog from nowhere swamp made had a dream to make millions of people happy and along the way he found bunch of friends who became a family and followed their dream...the result being everything we see now

i mean kermit say's it best himself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVO0fRpens8&feature=related