Is there an overrated/underrated Muppet production?

[JJandJanice]

I enjoyed Muppet Christmas Carol a lot, so even though I'll put that in as my vote for "most overratted" don't take it as I hate it. If there was a Muppet project I would give the "hate" nod to, it would probably be Wizard of Oz, which is a shame since I'm a fan of the Wizard of Oz and a HUGE fan of the Muppets.

As for underratted, I guess my vote would go to "It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" (ok so I went with two christmas themed ones). I thought it was pretty well done for what it was, and that's a "made for TV movie."

 

[jvcarroll]

Overrated: The Muppet Christmas Carol - This is the first film that the Muppets seem to be guest starring in the picture. Not even the ghosts or the townspeople are traditional Muppet characters. Jim and Frank knew that was the real magic of having Muppets in cinema was location shooting rather than the modified sound stages needed for television shoots. This causes the human actors to appear even more shoehorned into the puppety world of a television special. The subject matter required such a look and the result is beautiful, however I wish some of the somber bits had been diffused and more Fozzie, Electric Mayhem and general Muppet madness had been included. By the way, Michael Caine was the perfect choice for Scrooge.

Underrated: Little Muppet Monsters - Yes, it was a train wreck, but the animated segments were the same quality as the acclaimed Muppet Babies. This show had so much potential for crazy fun and definitely had that 80's MTV VJ style down pat, yet it was never given the opportunity to grow. The ingredients were all there. It just needed a little better writing and direction.

 

[Drtooth]

Underrated: Little Muppet Monsters - Yes, it was a train wreck, but the animated segments were the same quality as the acclaimed Muppet Babies. This show had so much potential for crazy fun and definitely had that 80's MTV VJ style down pat, yet it was never given the opportunity to grow. The ingredients were all there. It just needed a little better writing and direction.

To this day, I'll never understand why Jim thought it was that bad. I liked the idea of Muppets hosting cartoons, especially the animated version of Pigs in Space. Too bad they couldn't pull a Star Trek and get the actual puppeteers to do the voice work for it.

But the concept was done much better with better animation for the also underrated Dog City. I feel that went the extra step LMM didn't take, having the Muppet characters directly interact with the cartoon characters. Plus, better writing and animation over all.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Overrated: The Muppet Christmas Carol - This is the first film that the Muppets seem to be guest starring in the picture. Not even the ghosts or the townspeople are traditional Muppet characters. Jim and Frank knew that was the real magic of having Muppets in cinema was location shooting rather than the modified sound stages needed for television shoots. This causes the human actors to appear even more shoehorned into the puppety world of a television special. The subject matter required such a look and the result is beautiful, however I wish some of the somber bits had been diffused and more Fozzie, Electric Mayhem and general Muppet madness had been included. By the way, Michael Caine was the perfect choice for Scrooge.

I know a ton of people who are in love with this movie and I'm glad they have it in their life...but I'm just not one of them, lol. It's a nice kid's movie, but it does not feel like a Muppet movie. It feels too childish to make me want to watch it at Christmas (Even Bear in the Big Blue House's Christmas special had more mature emotion for me). The Muppets felt forced into the characters and, with the exception of Michael Caine, the humans were just bland and forgettable.

As far as underrated, I can't think of too many. The ones that deserve the praise generally tend to get it and the ones that don't, well they deserve that as well, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

My family did try watching it back in the day but quickly turned it off; it just didn't hold our attention. It didn't feel Muppety for me, though I really wanted to like it. I loved the Muppets so it was disapointing. Maybe given time it could have worked itself out, it does happen.

Well, that's the problem with getting out of a show early on, because things usually tend to get better as time progresses, especially second seasons. I for one can't stand early Seinfelds before George became an insane jerk that had an outburst an episode.

Too bad most of the audience felt the same way about MT. They really got into a groove the last season, especially during the last episodes. It really stinks they couldn't get the show to that quality earlier. They were clearly trying to do too many things, not much of which stuck, and too much of it fell flat early on.

The Muppets felt forced into the characters and, with the exception of Michael Caine, the humans were just bland and forgettable.

THANK YOU! Yeah. Those other humans were pretty much the focus of the movie at numerous points. I can forgive the Ghosts being new characters (especially Christmas Present), but they really should have made Scrooge's nephew (and his wife) a Muppet. Otherwise, those scenes he's in are useless. You don't really need the "we're making fun of Scrooge at a party" sequence... like I said before, Mickey's Christmas Carol didn't, and they had Donald Duck as the Nephew. That would have been funny. It just pads out time, like Belle's number.

 

[minor muppetz]

Not even the ghosts or the townspeople are traditional Muppet characters.

Actually the townspeople are a mix of humans and Muppets, some traditional.The townspeople consisted of such characters as Pops, Droop, Lew Zealand, Sprocket, certain members of Geri and the Attrics, Link Hogthrob, Bobby Benson and his baby band, JP Grosse, George, and Boppity.

 

[jvcarroll]

Actually the townspeople are a mix of humans and Muppets, some traditional.The townspeople consisted of such characters as Pops, Droop, Lew Zealand, Sprocket, certain members of Geri and the Attrics, Link Hogthrob, Bobby Benson and his baby band, JP Grosse, George, and Boppity.

Sigh. Yes, I know some classic characters were peppered into the mix, but for the most part they were puppet and people extras.

 

[Drtooth]

They really went overkill on the other humans. Too bad they couldn't get any name actors (or even interesting ones) to balance the project out. Only actor I didn't like in MTI was Jim Hawkins.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

Underrated: The Muppets Go To The Movies (we really need a special like this to keep the Muppets in the public eye before the next movie is released), The Jim Henson Hour (especially Dog City and its eventual animated spin-off), Muppets Tonight (which occasionally had bigger laughs than TMS, from where I sat), Muppets From Space (yes, it could have been better but I still enjoyed it), It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (featuring one of the best Whitmire Kermit performances and a lot of awesome Muppet Theatre moments), and Letters To Santa (with one of the best modern-day Muppet songs, "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus," and some great classic Muppet nuttiness including Rudman as Scooter).

Overrated: The Muppets Take Manhattan (parts of it were downright depressing, the Kermit-Piggy wedding never really worked for me, and don't get me started on the Muppet Babies), Muppet Babies (I TOLD you not to get me started!), and The Muppet Christmas Carol (too many humans in pivotal roles, as others have noted, and the whole thing seemed really dark for a Muppet movie).

 

[CensoredAlso]

Overrated: The Muppets Take Manhattan (parts of it were downright depressing, the Kermit-Piggy wedding never really worked for me, and don't get me started on the Muppet Babies)

Some parts were downright depressing and that's why I love it, because it had an incredible ability to tug at my heartstrings like very few movies have.

But agree to disagree.