Saving Hooper's Store

[minor muppetz]

Chapter 7

Kermit introduced the next act…

“And now I’d like to intro…”

Harvey Kneeslapper interrupted.

“Hey, would you like some P soup?”

“Uh, of course”, said Kermit.

Harvey handed Kermit a bowl of soup, and the dropped a letter P in there.

“P soup!”, said Harvey, who then laughed uncontrollably as Kermit scrunched his face.

“Hey, Kermit!”, whispered Bert from behind the camera, “I’ve got an act!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing camera work?”, asked Kermit.

“Ernie got to do an act”, said Bert.

“Alright”, said Kermit, “here’s Bert!”

Bert then came on-stage, pushing a cart full of pigeons.

“And now, the wonders of the world: My pigeons!”

Kermit scrunched his face, “A pigeon act?”

“Yeah, exciting, huh?”, asked Bert.

“Yeah…”, said Kermit, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Watch my pigeons as they walk around their cage!”, said Bert.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this”, said Susan.

“Hey, the phone’s stopped ringing”, said Biff.

Backstage…

“Maybe Rocko can do an act”, said Zoe.

“Rocko can’t do an act, Zoe”, said Elmo, “Rocko is just a rock!”

“Well, maybe Rocko can pledge some money”, said Zoe.

Elmo gave an annoyed sigh.

Bert pushed his cart backstage.

“They liked me! They really liked me!”, said Bert, “They liked me so much they respectfully didn’t make any noise to interrupt my act!”

Dexter came by, juggling some balls.

“Hey, is there room for a juggling act?”, asked Dexter.

“I don’t think so”, said Herry.

“Oh, well”, said Dexter, “I’ll just juggle backstage.”

“And now here’s Maria, Luis, and Rosita with Tu Me Gustas!”, said Kermit, “YAAAAAYYYYY!”

The three sang the song.

“Well, we’ve only got a few minutes left”, said Kermit, “How much more money do we need?”

“Just one! One more wonderful dollar!”, said The Count.

“Hear that? All you’ve got to do is donate one more dollar! Only one dollar can save the store now!”

“I thought you said that one dollar couldn’t save it”, said Dr. Nobel Price.

“Uh, anybody got anything else to entertain the good folks at home?”, said Kermit.

“Well, I can say some words about Cooper’s Store”, said Big Bird.

“Hooper! Hooper’s Store!”, said Kermit.

“Well, it was first owned by my friend Mr. Loo- Err, Hooper. He was such a nice man.”

“We all loved him”, said Maria.

“He was a great friend”, said Gordon.

“One time”, said Ernie, “Bert and I gave our favorite things to Mr. Hooper in exchange for Christmas presents to each other, but then on Christmas Eve, Mr. Hooper stopped by and gave us our things back.”

“That’s right”, said Bert.

“When Mr. Hooper died”, said Big Bird, “it was one of the saddest things that ever happened. After he died, David got the store, and then David sold the store to Mr. Handford, who later sold the store to Alan.”

“And even after all these people took over ownership of the store”, said Bob, “they all kept the original title, Hooper’s.”

Backstage, Oscar started to get all teary-eyed. The same applied to those in the control room and those taking calls.

“Well, that…”, said Kermit, at a loss of words, “that was a beautiful story.”

A loud buzzer went off.

“Well, have we reached our goal?”, asked Kermit.

“No”, said The Count, “we’re one penny short!”

“A penny short???”, said Bert in disbelief.

“Well, thank you for watching”, said Kermit, “we unfortunately didn’t make it.”

 

[Twisted Tails]

Chapter 7

Kermit introduced the next act…

“And now I’d like to intro…”

Harvey Kneeslapper interrupted.

“Hey, would you like some P soup?”

“Uh, of course”, said Kermit.

Harvey handed Kermit a bowl of soup, and the dropped a letter P in there.

“P soup!”, said Harvey, who then laughed uncontrollably as Kermit scrunched his face.

“Hey, Kermit!”, whispered Bert from behind the camera, “I’ve got an act!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing camera work?”, asked Kermit.

“Ernie got to do an act”, said Bert.

“Alright”, said Kermit, “here’s Bert!”

Bert then came on-stage, pushing a cart full of pigeons.

“And now, the wonders of the world: My pigeons!”

Kermit scrunched his face, “A pigeon act?”

“Yeah, exciting, huh?”, asked Bert.

“Yeah…”, said Kermit, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Watch my pigeons as they walk around their cage!”, said Bert.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this”, said Susan.

“Hey, the phone’s stopped ringing”, said Biff.

Backstage…

“Maybe Rocko can do an act”, said Zoe.

“Rocko can’t do an act, Zoe”, said Elmo, “Rocko is just a rock!”

“Well, maybe Rocko can pledge some money”, said Zoe.

Elmo gave an annoyed sigh.

Bert pushed his cart backstage.

“They liked me! They really liked me!”, said Bert, “They liked me so much they respectfully didn’t make any noise to interrupt my act!”

Dexter came by, juggling some balls.

“Hey, is there room for a juggling act?”, asked Dexter.

“I don’t think so”, said Herry.

“Oh, well”, said Dexter, “I’ll just juggle backstage.”

“And now here’s Maria, Luis, and Rosita with Tu Me Gustas!”, said Kermit, “YAAAAAYYYYY!”

The three sang the song.

“Well, we’ve only got a few minutes left”, said Kermit, “How much more money do we need?”

“Just one! One more wonderful dollar!”, said The Count.

“Hear that? All you’ve got to do is donate one more dollar! Only one dollar can save the store now!”

“I thought you said that one dollar couldn’t save it”, said Dr. Nobel Price.

“Uh, anybody got anything else to entertain the good folks at home?”, said Kermit.

“Well, I can say some words about Cooper’s Store”, said Big Bird.

“Hooper! Hooper’s Store!”, said Kermit.

“Well, it was first owned by my friend Mr. Loo- Err, Hooper. He was such a nice man.”

“We all loved him”, said Maria.

“He was a great friend”, said Gordon.

“One time”, said Ernie, “Bert and I gave our favorite things to Mr. Hooper in exchange for Christmas presents to each other, but then on Christmas Eve, Mr. Hooper stopped by and gave us our things back.”

“That’s right”, said Bert.

“When Mr. Hooper died”, said Big Bird, “it was one of the saddest things that ever happened. After he died, David got the store, and then David sold the store to Mr. Handford, who later sold the store to Alan.”

“And even after all these people took over ownership of the store”, said Bob, “they all kept the original title, Hooper’s.”

Backstage, Oscar started to get all teary-eyed. The same applied to those in the control room and those taking calls.

“Well, that…”, said Kermit, at a loss of words, “that was a beautiful story.”

A loud buzzer went off.

“Well, have we reached our goal?”, asked Kermit.

“No”, said The Count, “we’re one penny short!”

“A penny short???”, said Bert in disbelief.

“Well, thank you for watching”, said Kermit, “we unfortunately didn’t make it.”

(Gasps!) Oh no! They didn't reach the goal? Oh please minor muppetz! More story before I....I.... (cries)! Poor SS and I can't believe this! They didn't make it? You can't let Doug win! This was like close to the end of The Muppets (2011).

 

[minor muppetz]

Chapter 8

Everybody was in the lobby.

“I can’t believe we were off by a penny!”, said Big Bird.

“I can’t believe it either”, said Snuffy.

“We were so close”, moaned Hoots.

They were about to go out the door, but then Alan turned around, addressing the whole crowd of characters.

“Look, we may have lost Hooper’s Store”, said Alan, “Actually, it’ll still be a store, but while Mr. Hooper must have been a great guy, what’s important is not a name. We tried, we failed, but we worked together, and when I’ve got a great bunch of friends, isn’t that all that really matters?”

“I feel like I’ve made this speech before”, said Kermit.

“I’m sure I can get a new job somewhere”, said Alan.

“If you want, you can help us at the Fix-It Shop”, said Luis.

“And we can always use more help at the Laundromat”, said Leeya.

“And I’m sure I’ll still be working at Hooper’s, even if it’s no longer called Hooper’s”, said Chris.

“It’s great to have such great friends who are willing to work together to help me out”, said Alan, “And hey, I’m only a penny short. I’ll have plenty of money for awhile.”

“That’s right”, said The Count, “you made 8 thousand 9 hundred and 99 dollars and 99 wonderful cents!”

“Yip yip yip yip”, said the Martians.

“That’s a lot of (cue cash register sound)”, said Simon Soundman.

“Well, I’ve got to go congratulate Doug at the store”, said Alan.

Alan walked out the door, and then the others followed him, slowly.

As they were walking…

“Hey, look what I found on the ground!”, said The Count, “One wonderful penny!”

“It’s too late”, said Gina.

“Take me home, Bruno”, said Oscar, “I can’t be seen crying.”

Oscar then put the lid over his trash can.

Alan then came to Hooper’s, and encountered Doug Shaunessy.

“Hey, that was a great telethon”, said Doug, “and that speech your friend made, I can’t remember if it was Big Bird or Cookie Monster, it was the most beautiful speech I ever heard.”

“Well, I’m glad you liked it”, said Alan.

“I didn’t realize that Hooper’s was named after an actual person”, said Doug, “I thought they all wanted to keep the title because it was some kind of local name brand. But I get it now. He meant so much to everyone.”

“Well, I never actually met him”, said Alan.

“That speech got to me so much, I wanted to pledge that last penny, but you ran out of time before I could reach the phone”, said Doug.

The others showed up behind Alan.

“Since you all seemed to miss Mr. Hooper so much, I’ll tell you what: Hooper’s Store will keep its name!”

“Really?”, said Big Bird.

“Really”, said Doug.

Everybody cheered.

“Now, a deal’s a deal”, said Doug, “so I’m keeping ownership, but I’ll let you work for me.”

“Sounds good to me!”, said Alan.

Abby Cadabby then showed up.

“Well, I’m back from my vacation”, said Abby, “Did I miss anything?”

“Well, Doug here owns Hooper’s Store now”, said Alan.

“Well, pleased to meet you”, said Abby.

“I didn’t notice you were gone, Abby”, said Zoe.

“I think I know what’ll happen next…”, said Biff.

“I saw the greatest magic show ever!”, said Abby, “this magician waved his wand…”

Abby started waving her wand as she was talking about the trick.

“…And he said, ‘publima ex machine, static pro status quo!’”

Extending her wand in the direction of Doug’s face, it suddenly zapped Doug.

“Oops”, said Abby.

“You know, I don’t want to own this place anymore”, said Doug, “Alan, I give you your store back.”

Everybody cheered.

“Well, thank you”, said Alan.

“You’re gonna have to teach me that trick, Abby”, said Mumford.

Abby did a confused take to the camera.

“All the money I gave you combined with all the money you made on the telethon should ensure that you can continue running Hooper’s Store the way you always did”, said Doug, “at least for five more years.”

“Hey, everybody”, said Alan, “let’s celebrate! Meals are on the house!”

Everybody cheered.

“As usual”, said Doug, rolling his eyes, “Besides, I also bought a struggling business around the corner. I don’t think I could possibly find the time to run both places at once.”

He then walked away.

“Hey, let’s all sing!”, said Big Bird.

Music started playing…

“Everything’s great”, sung Big Bird.

“Everything’s grand”, sung Ernie.

“We’ve got the whole wide world at the palm of our hands!”, sung Bert.

“Everything is perfect”, sung Grover.

“It’s falling into place”, sung Prairie.

“I can’t seem to wipe this FROWN off my face!”, sung Oscar.

“Life’s a happy song”, sung Elmo, Zoe, Abby, Rosita, Telly, Murray, and Ovejita.

“When there’s someone by your side”, sung Biff, Sully, Stella, Roxy Marie, Kingston Livingston III, and Sherlock Hemlock.

“To sing along”, sung Grundgetta and a group of grouches.

“Everything turned out great, we’ll live happily ever after!”, sung Kingston.

Sully was about to speak before being interrupted by Biff.

“And we’ll be giving the world the third greatest gift, laughter.”

“Life’s a happy song”, sung by Roosevelt Franklin and his classmates.

“When there’s someone by your side”, sung Hoots, Athena, Placido Flamingo, Little Bird, Poco Loco, the penguins, chickens, and the duck.

“To sing along!”, sung Herry, the Two-Headed Monster, Maurice Monster, Deena, Pearl, and Harvey Monster.

Cookie Monster walked by with a large plate of cookies.

“Me got everything that me need”, sung Cookie.

“We can be what we want to be!”, sung Murray.

“Nothing that we can’t do”, sung Ernie and Bert.

“The skies are blue with its me and you and you and you and you and you and… All of you!”, sung Big Bird.

“Life’s a happy song!”, sung Mumford, Simon Soundman, Harvey Kneeslapper, Don Music, and Guy Smiley.

“When there’s someone by your side to sing…”, sung Elmo.

“Life’s a happy song”, sung Forgetful Jones, Clementine, Buster, and Gladys.

“When there’s twelve-thousand six-hundred and ninety-four people by your side to sing….”

And everyone finished, “Life’s a happy song when there’s someone by your side to sing alooooooong…”

But as the song was ending, Sherry Neverland, Humphrey, Ingrid, and Benny all walked onto the street.

“Stop singing!”, yelled Benny, “Life’s NOT a happy song!”

“You can say that again”, said Oscar.

“What’s wrong?”, asked Susan.

“Due to the poor economy I had to sell the Furry Arms Hotel”, said Sherry.

“And the new owner wants to change the name of the hotel”, said Ingrid.

Big Bird turned his head to us.

“Well, here we go again!”

The End

 

[minor muppetz]

And now for some info on the planning for this story!

A few years ago, at least as far back as 2009, I had a desire to do a story where Hooper's Store was affected by the economy. In fact I also wanted to do a story where the Muppet Theater was affected by the economy as well (I can't remember whether I did write that fan fic). But here it seems Alan's financial problems aren't caused by the economy as much as it's caused by Alan frequently letting his friends eat at Hooper's for free. It seems like the characters often get free snacks and meals at Hooper's, only rarely being charged or shown paying (usually only having to pay if it's a plot point). In fact I was trying to remember if Hooper's Store has ever charged money since Alan took over (and then I remembered that it was mentioned in the Cookie Hood episode that they sell cookies "for money", though I don't think Alan appeared in that episode). So I sort of made that a joke in this fan fic.

I had planned on having Cookie Monster be a main character, getting enough "screentime" to make him among the top 5 characters in this story. But pretty much everything Cookie does in this story I had already planned on Cookie doing, aside from giving Cookie a featured part at the beginning and some dialogue here and there that came to me while writing.

On a similar note, I had also wanted to give Grover and Herry bigger parts in the story. In fact, while I wanted Herry to have a big role, I didn't really think of what I wanted him to do before I started writing, with most of his lines just coming to me while writing, pretty much all of his dialogue could easily be given to anybody (I was just rereading the first few chapters and noticed Herry gets the same basic "to the studio!" line TWICE), and the closest thing to thinking of a Herry scene in advance is his pressence in the Monsterpiece Theater segment (which I'll talk about further down this post).

Similarly, I had initially wanted Hoots to have a bigger part, but couldn't think of many ways to use him, and I had wanted Abby to have a slightly bigger part. I oriignally wasn't going to have her end up saving the day, but was going to give her a handful of scenes and lines here and there, before thinking of the fact that she could easily use her magic to save the day. Then I decided to keep her out of the story until the very end because of this (I know, Mumford very well could have saved the day using magic as well).

On an opposite note, I had initially planned on having Ernie and Bert featured less than they appeared in the story, mainly because of Kermit's role as host of the telethon (Kermit and Ernie sound so similar it'd be weird for them to interract directly, even in non-audio fan fiction). I had planned on giving them large parts in the scenes before the telethon (and they did end up getting quite a bit of screen time and dialogue there) and then during the telethon use them less (though I did plan on having Bert's pigeon act), until I got the idea of making them be the camera men, increasing their roles a bit (I would say they're 4th and 5th most important/featured in the story, behind Alan, Big Bird, and Kermit.... And all three are probably tied in story importance). It's kind of ironic, I planned on giving Cookie Monster a large role and them small roles, and yet the reverse ended up happening.

I had planned on having a number of additional characters take on the jobs of answering calls. Among those who were dropped from this job include Elmo, Ernie, Rosita, and Dr. Nobel Price (once I got the idea to have Professor Hastings take calls instead).

The opening scene was originally going to have Big Bird and Snuffy as opposed to Big Bird and Cookie Monster. I replaced Snuffy with Cookie because I wasn't sure if Snuffy could fit in Hooper's Store (has he ever been shown inside?), not thinking about the fact that he could have just ordered from outside. Cookie also replaced Snuffy because I thought it would make more sense to have Cookie going to get cookies than Snuffy getting cabbage or spaghetti, in addition to my short-lived desire to give Cookie Monster a bigger part.

I had always planned on including a new "Monsterpiece Theater" segment, but until I started writing I wasn't sure what kind of parody would be featured. When I got the idea to make it "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", I went through a bit of casting decisions: I considered Herbert Birdsfoot and then Farley for the role of "the good" before settling on Herry, Sinister Sam for the role of "the bad" before replacing him with Bad Bart (mainly because "Bad" is part of the character's name), and the news stand dealer was originally going to be the shopkeeper from the Busby Twins segments.

I had initially planned on having Kermit agree to host the telethon as soon as he suggested the idea, as opposed to them going to a network, learn they need a celebrity host, and then having to search for a celebrity host.

For the "We Built This City" sequence, I had at one point considered having Chris and the Alphabeats perform the song while Biff, Sully, and Stella built a city in the background. Another idea I had but dropped was for Biff to sing the song dressed like a punk rock star, wearing a blakc leather jacket, silver chains, and even a mohawk.

For years I had the idea to do a fan fic script of Simon Soundman on "Name That Sound", and now I finally got to do that idea. And realizing I couldn't think of a good enough ending, I just did it "Muppets Tonihgt"-style, by cutting away from the on-stage act before the sketch ended.

I had thought of a number of ideas for how to end it, and I ended up incorporating pretty much all elements in some way. Among the considerations: I planned on having them reach their goal shortly after the telethon started, but then a "The Muppets"-style glitch revealed that the amount they made was actually a lot less, right before time ran out. And I planned on showing Doug get teary-eyed over the speech everybody gave on what a great person Mr. Hooper was, and calling in to pledge whatever amount was still needed (which he ended up mentioning that he tried to do).

After the big speech about how important it was for the place to remain being called Hooper's Store I had considered having it followed by a big closing number, but then felt it was unneccessary with everyone singing "Life's a Happy Song" after the telethon ended. I had no particular song in mind, but it was going to be like the performance of "The Rainbow Connection" in "The Muppets", with all of the human adults (still in the main cast, of course), in addition to a mix of major and minor Sesame Street Muppet characters: Big Bird, Snuffy, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, The Count, Biff, Sully, Don Music, Two-Headed Monster, Elmo, Rosita, Gladys the Cow, Herry, Guy Smiley, and Hoots. But then again, maybe it would have been better if the big speech led to a song, without Kermit going on-stage to introduce it. I'm thinking maybe "Just One Person" or "All Together Now" from Follow That Bird (only a little of that song's heard in the movie, with the soundtrack containing the full song) would have been nice.

 

[Twisted Tails]

And now for some info on the planning for this story!

A few years ago, at least as far back as 2009, I had a desire to do a story where Hooper's Store was affected by the economy. In fact I also wanted to do a story where the Muppet Theater was affected by the economy as well (I can't remember whether I did write that fan fic). But here it seems Alan's financial problems aren't caused by the economy as much as it's caused by Alan frequently letting his friends eat at Hooper's for free. It seems like the characters often get free snacks and meals at Hooper's, only rarely being charged or shown paying (usually only having to pay if it's a plot point). In fact I was trying to remember if Hooper's Store has ever charged money since Alan took over (and then I remembered that it was mentioned in the Cookie Hood episode that they sell cookies "for money", though I don't think Alan appeared in that episode). So I sort of made that a joke in this fan fic.

I had planned on having Cookie Monster be a main character, getting enough "screentime" to make him among the top 5 characters in this story. But pretty much everything Cookie does in this story I had already planned on Cookie doing, aside from giving Cookie a featured part at the beginning and some dialogue here and there that came to me while writing.

On a similar note, I had also wanted to give Grover and Herry bigger parts in the story. In fact, while I wanted Herry to have a big role, I didn't really think of what I wanted him to do before I started writing, with most of his lines just coming to me while writing, pretty much all of his dialogue could easily be given to anybody (I was just rereading the first few chapters and noticed Herry gets the same basic "to the studio!" line TWICE), and the closest thing to thinking of a Herry scene in advance is his pressence in the Monsterpiece Theater segment (which I'll talk about further down this post).

Similarly, I had initially wanted Hoots to have a bigger part, but couldn't think of many ways to use him, and I had wanted Abby to have a slightly bigger part. I oriignally wasn't going to have her end up saving the day, but was going to give her a handful of scenes and lines here and there, before thinking of the fact that she could easily use her magic to save the day. Then I decided to keep her out of the story until the very end because of this (I know, Mumford very well could have saved the day using magic as well).

On an opposite note, I had initially planned on having Ernie and Bert featured less than they appeared in the story, mainly because of Kermit's role as host of the telethon (Kermit and Ernie sound so similar it'd be weird for them to interract directly, even in non-audio fan fiction). I had planned on giving them large parts in the scenes before the telethon (and they did end up getting quite a bit of screen time and dialogue there) and then during the telethon use them less (though I did plan on having Bert's pigeon act), until I got the idea of making them be the camera men, increasing their roles a bit (I would say they're 4th and 5th most important/featured in the story, behind Alan, Big Bird, and Kermit.... And all three are probably tied in story importance). It's kind of ironic, I planned on giving Cookie Monster a large role and them small roles, and yet the reverse ended up happening.

I had planned on having a number of additional characters take on the jobs of answering calls. Among those who were dropped from this job include Elmo, Ernie, Rosita, and Dr. Nobel Price (once I got the idea to have Professor Hastings take calls instead).

The opening scene was originally going to have Big Bird and Snuffy as opposed to Big Bird and Cookie Monster. I replaced Snuffy with Cookie because I wasn't sure if Snuffy could fit in Hooper's Store (has he ever been shown inside?), not thinking about the fact that he could have just ordered from outside. Cookie also replaced Snuffy because I thought it would make more sense to have Cookie going to get cookies than Snuffy getting cabbage or spaghetti, in addition to my short-lived desire to give Cookie Monster a bigger part.

I had always planned on including a new "Monsterpiece Theater" segment, but until I started writing I wasn't sure what kind of parody would be featured. When I got the idea to make it "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", I went through a bit of casting decisions: I considered Herbert Birdsfoot and then Farley for the role of "the good" before settling on Herry, Sinister Sam for the role of "the bad" before replacing him with Bad Bart (mainly because "Bad" is part of the character's name), and the news stand dealer was originally going to be the shopkeeper from the Busby Twins segments.

I had initially planned on having Kermit agree to host the telethon as soon as he suggested the idea, as opposed to them going to a network, learn they need a celebrity host, and then having to search for a celebrity host.

For the "We Built This City" sequence, I had at one point considered having Chris and the Alphabeats perform the song while Biff, Sully, and Stella built a city in the background. Another idea I had but dropped was for Biff to sing the song dressed like a punk rock star, wearing a blakc leather jacket, silver chains, and even a mohawk.

For years I had the idea to do a fan fic script of Simon Soundman on "Name That Sound", and now I finally got to do that idea. And realizing I couldn't think of a good enough ending, I just did it "Muppets Tonihgt"-style, by cutting away from the on-stage act before the sketch ended.

I had thought of a number of ideas for how to end it, and I ended up incorporating pretty much all elements in some way. Among the considerations: I planned on having them reach their goal shortly after the telethon started, but then a "The Muppets"-style glitch revealed that the amount they made was actually a lot less, right before time ran out. And I planned on showing Doug get teary-eyed over the speech everybody gave on what a great person Mr. Hooper was, and calling in to pledge whatever amount was still needed (which he ended up mentioning that he tried to do).

After the big speech about how important it was for the place to remain being called Hooper's Store I had considered having it followed by a big closing number, but then felt it was unneccessary with everyone singing "Life's a Happy Song" after the telethon ended. I had no particular song in mind, but it was going to be like the performance of "The Rainbow Connection" in "The Muppets", with all of the human adults (still in the main cast, of course), in addition to a mix of major and minor Sesame Street Muppet characters: Big Bird, Snuffy, Grover, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, The Count, Biff, Sully, Don Music, Two-Headed Monster, Elmo, Rosita, Gladys the Cow, Herry, Guy Smiley, and Hoots. But then again, maybe it would have been better if the big speech led to a song, without Kermit going on-stage to introduce it. I'm thinking maybe "Just One Person" or "All Together Now" from Follow That Bird (only a little of that song's heard in the movie, with the soundtrack containing the full song) would have been nice.

Wow! That must have been a lot of work to do an amazing fanfic for everyone. Holy moly! I really loved it! I am glad I saw The Muppets (2011) last year, but my gosh they are simlarities from that movie I saw. Seriously!