Muppet Wizard of Oz - Positives and Negatives

[Mo Frackle]

Okay, we all know the drill. In your opinion, what are the positives of MWoO? What are the negatives? (Please try not say everything about the movie was negative, unless you truly can't think of anything else).

Positives:
- The sets are nice, even if some of them are phony CGI/greenscreen.
- Pepe steals the show, as always. BUT, I think that can also be a negative (see below).
- Gonzo getting Fozzie across the log.
- Statler and Waldorf as the "Kalida Critics"
- Pepe calling Sam "Big Bird"
- "Are you by any chance realted to Frank Oz?"
- "Gallyo! Hoo Hoo!" snuck its way into the opening of the forest scene.
- Johnny and Sal steal every scene they're in.
- The return of some of the pirates from MTI.
- The return of Crazy Harry (though he did appear in the background of other productions, and had bits in a few video games).
- Possibly the first time in awhile that everyone in the Electric Mayhem had something to say.
- Clifford and Mulch make cameos.
- Pepe talking to Eisener on the phone.
- David Alan Grier, Queen Latifah, and Jeffrey Tambor (need I say more?).
- "He's not a shrimp, he's a king prawn!"
- "But most of all, I am naked, h'okay!"
- All of Bunsen's and Beaker's scenes.
- Fozzie as the lion.
- Miss Piggy as all four witches.

Negatives:
- Ashanti. I'm sorry. She's a beautiful gal and has a great voice, but she's no actress. Also, while she seemed to enjoy working with the Muppets, is it just me or does it seem like she doesn't have much chemistry with them?
- Quentin Tarantino's cameo. Big Lipped Aligator moment reaches a new height.
- The songs are only so-so.
- Getting back to Pepe, while I love him and do think he saves much of this movie, I found myself becoming rather annoyed by him during the latter half of the movie. I felt like he was getting a little too much attention. For that matter, why is Pepe the only one of the main characters who gets funny lines? Sure, Fozzie has his usual shtick, but give Kermit and Gonzo something.
- Could have benefited from other character getting more to do.
- While there are some nice 'in-character' moments (mainly from the supporting characters), there seems to be a lack of the usual Muppet-style humor. Instead, there seems to be a lot more Dreamworks style humor.
- Overall, while there are several good little moments, overall the film could have been A LOT better. While it's extremely unlikely, I would be curious to see what James Bobin and Nick Stoller could do with the Muppets in the WoO world.

That's all I got now. Maybe I'll think of more.

 

[CensoredAlso]

there seems to be a lack of the usual Muppet-style humor. Instead, there seems to be a lot more Dreamworks style humor.

Yeah pretty much. The only thing I enjoyed of MWoO was a very impressive Scooter.

 

[Vincent L]

I'll throw "Miss Piggy as all four witches" and Pepe on the phone in negative. Gonzo's cell-phone nose joke is also negative.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Oh yeah, forgot about a few in-betweens.

- I guess I'll put the songs in here.
- "Nothing, those are my nipples". Yeah, I know Dave Goelz suggested this gag, but I'm still not sure what to make of it. I guess I can consider it a positive. After all, it is fully in character for Gonzo and Pepe. Gonzo seeing those "buttons" as something totally normal, while Pepe feels complete dirty about what he just did. And Gonzo's line "Jeez, what a weirdo" tops it.

 

[MissMusical12]

Oh yeah, forgot about a few in-betweens.

- I guess I'll put the songs in here.
- "Nothing, those are my nipples". Yeah, I know Dave Goelz suggested this gag, but I'm still not sure what to make of it. I guess I can consider it a positive. After all, it is fully in character for Gonzo and Pepe. Gonzo seeing those "buttons" as something totally normal, while Pepe feels complete dirty about what he just did. And Gonzo's line "Jeez, what a weirdo" tops it.

Other than "The Witch Is In The House" I didn't really like the songs so much in Muppets Wizard of Oz, in my opinion.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Positives:
It Ended

Negatives:
Everything else

 

[Mo Frackle]

Aw come on, somebodys got to have something good to say about this movie. I completely forgot about the few decent things in this movie until I rewatched it recently. I know it's not easy getting through it, but there is a possibility that if you haven't seen the flick in years and rewatch it, it might just be slightly better than you thought. Not much, though. In fact I admit that I didn't even get through the movie all the way through last time.

 

[Scooterforever]

To this day I still refuse to see MWoO, so I guess I can't say much other than that I think it's an abomination. It's right up there with "It's a Very Merry Muppets Christmas" in terms of tasteless, inappropriate gags and terrible cameos by celebrities.

 

[anytimepally]

"Nothing, those are my nipples". Yeah, I know Dave Goelz suggested this gag, but I'm still not sure what to make of it. I guess I can consider it a positive. After all, it is fully in character for Gonzo and Pepe. Gonzo seeing those "buttons" as something totally normal, while Pepe feels complete dirty about what he just did. And Gonzo's line "Jeez, what a weirdo" tops it.

This is one of my favorite scenes!

Other things I liked:
Johnny & Sal (hopefully, they'll come out of retirement in the future)
Scooter was great.
Camilla's importance to the story (also funny when the Wizard tries to temp Gonzo as a chicken)
Pepe, except for the cell phone

Things I didn't like:
Statler & Waldorf. Usually, they are among the highlights of any Muppet production. Here, none of their jokes were funny.
Fozzie's Voice
Jeffery Tambor. Outside of having already been in Muppets from Space, I simply do not like him in anything. He's not a very good actor, and he's never funny.
No use of Rowlf, especially after they' finally let him talk in the Very Merry Christmas Movie a few years earlier.

That's all I can think of for now. I haven't seen it in a while.

 

[Vincent L]

Don't forget the unisex penguins! I loved that.