2011 Muppet Movie plot officially announced

[Frogpuppeteer]

...
It gives the impression that the muppets are kinda an afterthought, and that breaks my little muppet daft heart.

i can totally understand that...i have been in years to Muppet vision 3D so im hoping the store look is still there

as for the Disney store them selves ive been very disappointed in them, is it so hard to carry muppet stuff a kermit plush in the giant center plush area they have

or anything besides the vinylmation

 

[beaker]

There has not been much Muppet merch from Disney. Maybe now there is at Disney parks, but there wasnt from 2004 to 2010. Not at Disney stores or Disney parks. Least not in California. There has been a lot to complain about relating to the Muppets handling by Disney. Maybe now they can make it all up...or maybe they'll just quietly slip the Muppets into theaters with very little merchandise(like with what happened with Up) I wish they'd bring back the all Muppet stores to Disney parks and then expand into more Muppet attractions/food places/etc.

I don't think Muppet fans or the general public realize that there is absolutely no Muppet canon established in the tv shows, specials nor films that fits any overall narrative. All Muppets are just actors working for a paycheck. That is the canon. When Kermit or Pepe is on a late night talk show, they mention this. Now, certain tropes and themes are reoccurring and referenced and reused. VMX referencing Doc Hopper, or little injokes that dovetail throughout various productions. Gonzo is not an alien. Kermit and Piggy are not married. Even the new film which acknowledges the Muppets as actors and all the films/tv shows they've done, is itself set in its OWN canon separate from anything else.

The Muppets are an afterthought with Disney. It's no secret. I have no idea why they decided to make the Muppets its flagship Holiday film, but clearly they thought they'd take a chance on it. Indeed, had Segal not aggressively campaigned and lobbied to make this...we'd ALL be complaining how Disney is not doing anything with the Muppets.

This film to me looks and feels nothing like the original film or films. To me it feels more like a tv special. It doesnt look any more "theatrical" than VMX or Letters to Santa(which I thought felt a bit theatrical in look) Now please dont take that the wrong way, maybe its just the way Bobbins films. But I dont see "theatrical" so much as "90 minute tv special"...one that will hopefully be very memorable. I personally am not a fan of the cinematography used from trailers Ive seen, but then again I can be a bit of a film science nerd.

 

[Drtooth]

There has not been much Muppet merch from Disney. Maybe now there is at Disney parks, but there wasnt from 2004 to 2010. Not at Disney stores or Disney parks. Least not in California. There has been a lot to complain about relating to the Muppets handling by Disney. Maybe now they can make it all up...or maybe they'll just quietly slip the Muppets into theaters with very little merchandise(like with what happened with Up) I wish they'd bring back the all Muppet stores to Disney parks and then expand into more Muppet attractions/food places/etc.

It seemed that movie specific Pooh stuff just popped into Disney stores (again, that's kinda tricky... but they have Owl and Rabbit stuff that they'd never have before), and even with Cars, I haven't seen anything with the new characters specifically until the movie came out. Of course, thanks to Simon Mall-nopoly, there's only one DS near me again.

Now I can't fully say it's afterthought, but somehow it seems that every time there's momentum, they completely step on the breaks and stop for a few months. They keep being a bit too cautious. Now, if there's a rights hold up with The Muppet Show Season 4, that's their ONLY excuse. There's no call to sit on 2 seasons of a show for 3 years plus. The one thing Henson does right is releasing it's back catalog. We've only seen 3 season sets, and the 4 movies rereleased 6 years ago. Then to pull the Pixar and Muppet license from Boom so they can just rerelease crummy reprints of what we already have wasn't exactly a genius idea. The comics really gave the Muppets a bigger hold in the media than they think. There's no way a Muppet television project could find a stable place on any network... I think we all know why.

I still say, give it August, because that's when a few of the little things like the cover band album and the cheap reprint come out. Still, I don't think a small plush Kermit or a T-Shirt with anyone besides Animal will cause overload.

 

[beaker]

If all we're gonna see is a few token Kermit/Animal/Group cheap gift stuff and shirts at Disney, forget it. It'll be time to declare what we've known all along. As Muppet fans, it's not a "fool me once" thing, but a "fool me 385,005 times" situation.

 

[Duke Remington]

No offense to anyone, but it's a bit heartbreaking to see people losing faith in this movie.

 

[frogboy4]

This film to me looks and feels nothing like the original film or films. To me it feels more like a tv special. It doesnt look any more "theatrical" than VMX or Letters to Santa(which I thought felt a bit theatrical in look) Now please dont take that the wrong way, maybe its just the way Bobbins films. But I dont see "theatrical" so much as "90 minute tv special"...one that will hopefully be very memorable. I personally am not a fan of the cinematography used from trailers Ive seen, but then again I can be a bit of a film science nerd.

I understand in part what you're talking about here, but I think it's a good thing.

The plot itself is based in the classic film trilogy, but the Muppets are first and foremost creatures of television. They work best in that format so infusing those elements, especially with the reported telethon segment, seems to be the best fit for this re-launch (not reboot) of the franchise. Personally I hope this movie reflects the best of the Muppets in both film and television. After all, we've never been given the opportunity to see the Muppet Theater in film.

I just hope the movie has polish. The trailer footage looks really digicam and not as seasoned as their previous efforts. This is often altered in the later stages of digital film processing so I believe that will be remedied in order to give the image more of a film look.

 

[Drtooth]

If all we're gonna see is a few token Kermit/Animal/Group cheap gift stuff and shirts at Disney, forget it. It'll be time to declare what we've known all along. As Muppet fans, it's not a "fool me once" thing, but a "fool me 385,005 times" situation.

It's not time to declare until the movie's out. I see what you're getting at. Everytime Disney starts getting some momentum on something with the Muppets, they immediately pull it back. No virals, no new comics, there's been nothing since the movie finished wrapping. Again, I have a feeling this stuff will pop in August and have 3 months of drilling this home... but the time to start was as soon as the teasers popped up with POTC4. The cheap gifts should have happened by now, leading into collector friendly stuff. Somehow I get the feeling this is holding stuff hostage until the movie box office comes in. And I worry heavily about those 2 movies. I don't want to see a gaping black hole if this movie doesn't do well.

But I'm sure, closer to movie time, we'll see Kermit on talk shows or something. I guess they just want to promote movies about 3 months in advance anyway because they just have so many... but I hope they take notice of Pooh's poor performance, and release date opposite Harry Potter.

Yet... Henson is REALLY promoting the heck out of Fraggle Rock with weird stuff at Spencers, those overpriced plush, the amazing but sadly temporary comic series... Karen and Red at Comicon again. And they're basically promoting nothing, since that film's never going to happen.

I just hope the movie has polish. The trailer footage looks really digicam and not as seasoned as their previous efforts. This is often altered in the later stages of digital film processing so I believe that will be remedied in order to give the image more of a film look.

The line is blurred. TV shows look theatrical, movies look like TV shows... Though, I'm sure that this is because this is the first theatrical film of someone. But HEY! At least this time he likes the Muppets and has a symbiotic relationship with the writers, unlike that MFS guy (whose films ALWAYS look like low budget TV movies). I'm not terribly worried about that, we've only seen a handful of scenes...

 

[frogboy4]

Disney has some time between summer and winter to reveal their marketing model. I hope and believe that stuffed Kermits will fill every Disney store or at least have some retail deal with Macy's like they did in years past. Maybe some other characters too. They need some type of plush and figural representations. I think that has a good chance of happening. Let's see what happens at ComicCon! Part of me hopes they won't do too much 'cus I'm poor!!

 

[Drtooth]

Disney has some time between summer and winter to reveal their marketing model. I hope and believe that stuffed Kermits will fill every Disney store or at least have some retail deal with Macy's like they did in years past. Maybe some other characters too. They need some type of plush and figural representations. I think that has a good chance of happening. Let's see what happens at ComicCon! Part of me hopes they won't do too much 'cus I'm poor!!

That's what I'm hoping for. But still, I hate beating a dead horse, but not when the horse was wrongfully murdered...

Canning the comic book to make reprint magazines was a DUMB idea. I know it clearly has something to do with the Pixar license being married to the Muppet one, but canning the comics wasn't smart at all. The comics did moderately well, I only tend to find loose fairy tales ones still on shelves, maybe the occasional Family Reunion issue... but they did quite well, the comic book carriers I bought them from were very enthusiastic about them, and it really gave the Muppets a foothold and new stories in a world where they couldn't possibly survive on television. And I will contest that the Muppet Show Comic Book actually improved upon the actual concept. Now, even if Disney gets the hint and brings them back, the fact that they didn't keep the momentum going is going to hurt all the work they did.

Sure, Roger left, but there's no doubt they would have either found someone else, or just continued the Classics line and given us something else later.

Think about it this way... virals could pop up from now till the movie, there is NO WAY they could film a TV special back to back after the film (they shoulda worked on the Halloween one after filming finished... just saying), but the comics could have carried the weight a television project could have.

Other than that, everything seems to be coming out around August. That's when they SHOULD start on the media blitz... NO ONE will benefit if this movie doesn't do well... Disney will be stuck with yet another property they'll never revisit, the fans will be angry at Disney for doing it... it's lose lose. They've been careful, but too much so. If they don't do something soon, which I do still have some faith in, then they'll completely lose a fanbase that will promise to be snotty if we're stood up again.

Again, I have faith... but COME ON! Give us something already!

 

[frogboy4]

That's what I'm hoping for. But still, I hate beating a dead horse, but not when the horse was wrongfully murdered...

Canning the comic book to make reprint magazines was a DUMB idea. I know it clearly has something to do with the Pixar license being married to the Muppet one, but canning the comics wasn't smart at all. The comics did moderately well, I only tend to find loose fairy tales ones still on shelves, maybe the occasional Family Reunion issue... but they did quite well, the comic book carriers I bought them from were very enthusiastic about them, and it really gave the Muppets a foothold and new stories in a world where they couldn't possibly survive on television. And I will contest that the Muppet Show Comic Book actually improved upon the actual concept. Now, even if Disney gets the hint and brings them back, the fact that they didn't keep the momentum going is going to hurt all the work they did.

Sure, Roger left, but there's no doubt they would have either found someone else, or just continued the Classics line and given us something else later.

Think about it this way... virals could pop up from now till the movie, there is NO WAY they could film a TV special back to back after the film (they shoulda worked on the Halloween one after filming finished... just saying), but the comics could have carried the weight a television project could have.

Other than that, everything seems to be coming out around August. That's when they SHOULD start on the media blitz... NO ONE will benefit if this movie doesn't do well... Disney will be stuck with yet another property they'll never revisit, the fans will be angry at Disney for doing it... it's lose lose. They've been careful, but too much so. If they don't do something soon, which I do still have some faith in, then they'll completely lose a fanbase that will promise to be snotty if we're stood up again.

Again, I have faith... but COME ON! Give us something already!

The Boom comics were always an experiment, one that went really well, but I never got the feeling that they'd be around forever. There was an over-saturation of the Muppet titles and they should have slowed down! However, I didn't agree with the decision to axe the comics when they did. It happened and it's time to move forward. I believe that's exactly what they'll do on all fronts once the movie hits. They're letting the movie reintroduce the characters and that's the way it should be. It's good to have a little silence before the storm. I trust this method 100%. As for the upcoming blitz, I can't scrutinize what hasn't happened yet. I do believe it's coming.