2011 Muppet Movie plot officially announced

[theprawncracker]

Official Plot Synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino house band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, The Muppets hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.

LOVE.

 

[Mupp]

Official Plot Synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino house band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, The Muppets hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.

LOVE.

VERY NICE!

I love the fact that Gonzo has gone back to plumbing.

 

[beaker]

Official Plot Synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino house band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, The Muppets hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.

LOVE.

A telethon to save a studio? Sounds like the plot of UHF!
Ha, I've been to Reno one too many times and can totally see the "Moopets". I like the idea of having to go far and wide to re-assemble the Muppets. That was my idea in 2002 with a script idea. Very cool!

 

[Slackbot]

I can't help being just a touch skeptical about that plot synopsis. Though, with Muppets anything is possible.

Hmm... if Disney got the Fraggles too, it would now be "Fraggles Rock."

 

[Mupp]

Hmm... if Disney got the Fraggles too, it would now be "Fraggles Rock."

Not necessarily.

 

[Drtooth]

A telethon to save a studio? Sounds like the plot of UHF!

That's the only thing that's kinda a bother... the fact that it's generally that sort of plot... Not that I won't see this opening day. I'd shove kids out of my way to see it.

I just hope it's successful enough to lead to other films.

 

[dwmckim]

Details about the plot have leaked out previously - and these have either mostly been leaks or just a bare bones synopsis from interviews, but this seems to be the first "official" summary. What i like is that this is the first time i had seen the word "telethon" - which makes a little more sense because previous summaries just said "show" - and i was wondering, "now, how is one show going to raise that much money?"

I'm hoping the movie's a little closer to two hours than 90 minutes since it seems like there's an awful lot they're squeezing into it (besides the main plot, there should be ample time to see the eventual show they put on). Thankfully with a theatrical film, there's no set rules on final edit time unlike made-for-tv movies which have to be pared down to fit a specific run time (which hindered some of the overall quality and pacing of VMX and especially MWOO - editing it down to fit that 88 minute mark).

Back to the plot summary - of course, we all know how well Muppets do with marathons...just hunt down as much Muppet monsters as possible and have them threaten to shove pianos up noses.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm hoping the movie's a little closer to two hours than 90 minutes since it seems like there's an awful lot they're squeezing into it (besides the main plot, there should be ample time to see the eventual show they put on). Thankfully with a theatrical film, there's no set rules on final edit time unlike made-for-tv movies which have to be pared down to fit a specific run time (which hindered some of the overall quality and pacing of VMX and especially MWOO - editing it down to fit that 88 minute mark).

A 2 hour kids movie is in a word impossible! 90 is the industry standard... sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less... but there is pressure that keeps movies 90 minutes long, and I bet that's on the end of the theaters and cinema chains to get as many showings of multiple blockbusters as possible. There's less pressure for adult movies to follow that (as more action based films get the full 2 sometimes more), but other than Speed Racer (which is a bad example anyway) and Harry Potter (which is an epic that somehow seems skewed to kids... as is Narnia,... and any film types like that), 90 seems to be the magic number and the unbreakable force field.

I don't see a 2 hour Muppet movie in the cards at all... none of them were.

 

[Luke]

I agree, 90 minutes is about right for this - lets face it, most kids hardly even know the Muppet brand. I think the movie sounds amazing, i'm really looking forward to it. I'm just not so sure it'll do well enough though. Have they done enough to re-introduce (or introduce for the first time) kids to the Muppets .. other than web stuff? I guess it could be argued that seeing this is their introduction, and seeing the "Telethon" is a clever teaser to launch a new TMS TV show. But kids generally dictate what their families go to watch at the movies, and why would they choose this over something they already know like Madagascar? Segal is there for the adult fans (but then are adults going to go on their own to a Muppet movie .. other than "us") but i'd expect Disney like the look of the footage coming back, think once kids see it they will want to buy into a lot of future Muppet stuff and are going to put a heck of a lot of marketing into this movie and I would guess have a lot of child friendly stars as the "secret cameos". It still would have been nice for them to have done more though. That cancelled Halloween special would have been a great help!

 

[Muppetfan44]

I agree with a lot of the comments so far on this thread. Totally excited that we have an "official" plot synopsis announced that's a little more substantive than the other rumors we have seen, but I am skeptical about the telethon plot and how creative and successful it will be.

The little bit of info on places where the characters are is awesome! I love that Gonzo is going back to plumbing and that Piggy is a fashion editor in Paris (totally hope there is a Lady Holiday reference!), especially for all the plus-size beauties out there. Very creative and you can tell right off the bat that Segel is trying to maintain a connection with the other muppet motion pictures- which is fantastic! My main issue is when did all the characters "go their separate ways?" One thing about the Muppets is that they always seem to be together- it totally makes sense for this movie and what they are trying to accomplish, but I don't know how everyone got to where they are now and when they "split up" per se in the first place. (I know I'm probably looking wayyyy too much into it, but I can't help but wonder)

What I don't agree with is the argument that this will be or has to be a kids movie. They are definitely going to be a big part of the movie's success- that goes without saying- but I also think that Segel and Disney are definitely putting out all of the stops to bring a HUGE adult audience to this as well (like someone else said, I'm definitely willing to push kids over to get a good seat to see it, lol). I think they would not be tying everything together to other muppet projects if they weren't. I do think that getting it past 90min will be difficult, but I think it would be awesome if they could pull it off.

The synopsis also concerns me about how much other characters will be in it, such as Rowlf, Scooter, etc. I love Animal, but I really don't think he belongs in the primary set of characters that you always have to mention in every ad, etc. I really hope that we see more of Rowlf, Swedish Chef, Scooter and other characters that we have not seen a lot, but it always seems like whoever is running the show has their own preference, and I'm sure we'll see that with Segel.

I'm still super excited about the new release date and I am remaining optomistic. I really have to hand it to Segel for the "muppet-fandom" he is putting into the movie- I think he knows he had a tough job ahead of him but from what we have seen so far, he's doing well with his attempt so far.

I really hope that time flies until Thanksgiving 2011 because I can't wait to see this movie. I hope we get to hear more tid-bits about the movie soon and see a trailer or two (which would be the perfect christmas gift!)