Disney Enlists Segel & Stoller for new Muppets movie

[uppitymuppity]

Yeah, cool interview - I wish Steve would have hit that last note a little higher... This is what we call the muppet (high) show!

 

[frogboy4]

Watch this interview with Steve and Eric: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid192889081/bclid202217819/bctid202217783

Thank you for that. Sums it up nicely. There will never be an entire reproduction of Fozzie, Piggy or Kermit. There is an art and evolution to it. One that works for me, but maybe not everybody.

 

[Drtooth]

You know.. I think I finally found what's missing with the Kermit/Piggy dynamic, and also what was wrong with Muppet Oz....

Ya gotta gotta gotta try a little tenderness (couldn't get away with a set up like that, even for myself).

What makes the Kermit Piggy relationship work isn't just the reluctance on the part of the frog, and over zealousness on the part of the pig, but the deep caring tenderness they really do have for each other.

But it isn't just lacking there....

In the Muppets 30th anniversary special Kermit said it best. he stated his favorite muppet moments are when the muppets don't try to be funny. You see a lot of great heart warming 9and sometimes heart breaking) moments between the characters.

There was always one of those heart warming Piggy/Kermit moments in the films....

TMM, GMC, MTM had some great ones... they were also present (to a lesser extent) in MCC and MTI, and there was even that great scene in VMX where Piggy (in alternate reality) has a clear void in her life in a world without the frog.

MFS and Oz didn't have any of those moments between Pig and Frog. Granted, MFS did have some great moments of freindship between Gonzo and the others (and had the studio not ruined the ending, it would have been more significant). But Oz didn't have any of these moments. Oz was basically a brown nosing Ashanti film, with the muppet characters adjacent to the movie (they didn't even have good chemestry with her.)

If it's one thing we can look forward to in this film with these writers, it's that we can have another great Kermit and Piggy moment, and not a bunch of Oz rapid fire Simpsons-esque jokes and awkward celebrity cameos.

 

[Super Scooter]

You know.. I think I finally found what's missing with the Kermit/Piggy dynamic, and also what was wrong with Muppet Oz....

Ya gotta gotta gotta try a little tenderness (couldn't get away with a set up like that, even for myself).

Yeah, I think that was my only real problem with The Muppets Wizard of Oz. Some of the jokes just seemed too mean, and there really wasn't much heart to most of it. Even Statler and Waldorf were never as mean as the Kalidahcritics (though, perhaps that's just the characters they play in it). I still like Oz, it's not my favorite Muppet project, but I do agree with your point, for the most part. Kermit has always poked fun at Piggy, but there can be more to it than that. That's why I really liked the CW interview. Kermit poked fun at Piggy, but still showed he cared. I hope that sort of thing makes it into this movie.

... Wait, wasn't this conversation in the "View" thread?

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah, I think that was my only real problem with The Muppets Wizard of Oz. Some of the jokes just seemed too mean, and there really wasn't much heart to most of it. Even Statler and Waldorf were never as mean as the Kalidahcritics (though, perhaps that's just the characters they play in it).

I have to say, I can agree to an extent the humor in VMX was jaded, but the project still had heart to it. Oz was all jaded. There really wasn't any tenderness amongst the muppets at all. Just nipple jokes.

I mean, Oz did have the message of following your dream, but that was a recurring concept of most of the muppet movies. TMM, MTM, KSY and even MTI to some extent were about dreams. But they all did it in a much better fashion than Oz did. Personally, I think if they did it right, and had a stronger script and they cast the humans better (though Jeffery Tambor and Quentin Tarrentino were pretty good), they would have had a better product.

But even then, my 2 least favorite Muppet films were Oz and MCC. And clearly due to the fact that the Muppets weren't playing themselves, and acting as seconds to human actors. Of course, I liked MCC a million times more than Oz, looking back at it. But MCC was pretty dull, as most scenes were between humans (the scenes with the nephew and girlfriend for example). I think MTI was a vast improvement, mainly due to the fact most of the pirate crew were muppets (and memorable ones at that).

Something I'm glad these 2 writers want to step away from.

But once again, ask me this... When was Muppets in the old West? I appreciate their enthusiasm, but I don't think they ever even considered that one.

 

[Bubbadog]

Coolie Coolieness!

Ok, all shock aside at my triumphant return (LOL). No worries as I have watched the page religiously since my last post which was over a year ago.

Moving on, I must admit that with the sudden bursts of announcements on muppet projects over the last six months alone, we shouldn't be quibbling amongst ourselves on who is the better performer so much as looking at the approach they are taking with the characters. For example. I look at Gonzo in this light. The point on his voice in the 70's compared to the 80's as well as its change in the 90's to current. Despite being performed by his original performer, I think it is like a sign that the characters are aging. If you follow me.

70's Gonzo was a lot more naive and shorter (perhaps a younger, teenage-type Gonzo), as well as having a much higher pitched voice, which then leads me to the 80's and the appropriate character setting of out of college muppets in "TMTM" where the voice is still high pitched, but a bit deeper, moving into the late 80's and into the 90's and Muppets tonight where he is more embracing his strangeness, a much deeper voie, and very introspective (that's not to say the song from the Muppet Movie wasn't introspective) and ultimately finding himself in MFS. And even in the "muppet interviews" on the season 2 DVD, he was still funny while in a way, showing his age.

You can't say that about cartoon characters. They never age, they just change design from time to time like a comic book character. But the appearances of the muppets over the last three decades show a sort of aging process.

At least this is how I see it.

Though, true, I'm not the biggest fan of the recasting, but we couldn't expect all of the original performers to play our beloved muppets forever. And seeing as how they had a say in the recasting says a lot about the characters as they will be.
I personally would love to see more Floyd, Rowlf, Janice, Animal, and Zoot. I don't care if the voices have been recast. Bill Barettas work doing so many of certin characters, as well as his own (Pepe and Bobo being personal favorites of mine), has been phenominal! The man has a wit I would dare compare to the genius between Jim Henson and Frank Oz. And with Jerry Nelson continuing his work (at least the last I heard) on Sesame Street, it's good to know they have continued the work they have put so much of their heart and soul into, and what really built what the muppets are and what they stand for.

So basically, what I am getting at here is, we need to remember ultimately what it is that the muppet performers are all about. It was a learning experience everyday. If you have seen the season 3 special features and the behind the scenes vid included where I feel it was said best (but don't quote me specifically), where the muppet performers were basically always learning and that there were room for mistakes and learning from them, the mistakes in turn adding to the zaniness that the muppets were known for. At the very least it is good to know that there are performers who have worked with Henson and can help teach the new guys what they need to know in learning to be the best they can be, and we can expect once in a while that a performer will add their own personal touch to a character once in a while.

And even though I too wish they would stop doing book adaptations of the characters, I still enjoy watching something new with the muppets. At least the humor in TMWOZ was edgier and a bit more true to classic than the (and this is personal opinnion here) kiddified humor shown in the likes of other Henson/Disney ventures like Treasure Island and Christmas Carol. Both great movies, and I love them both, but a little too kiddie movie style in the humor dept. Where a hint of that came back in MFS, not to mention the terrific VMMCM or what I think you are all referring to it as VMX, I can't wait to see what else they come up with you know?

Perhaps bringing in Segel and Stoller is just what we need right about now. They're a couple of talented fellas, and why would they sign on if they didn't know a little of what they were getting into in the first place? The rumored plot revolving around oil being under the muppet theater may just very well be a hint that the old humor is making a comeback, and maybe with some of the classic characters who have only made cameos lately, finally coming back with a different voice. Its all down to the character of the character, not just how they sound.

It seems as though the mouse and the frog have declared a truce an shook hands. Now I will have to just wait patiently for season 4 and hope that they might release The Jim Henson Hour on DVD as well as Sam and Friends and Timepiece.

Then I shall be satisfied.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I agree--why would fans argue amongst themselves over the same thing we are all fans of? Nobody is a bigger fan than the next, and nobody owns them...

We can make suggestions and respectfully share opinions and accept each other's opinions, but be on the same team, folks.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I think it's important to keep in mind that Jim and Frank had a very specific and unique dynamic and chemistry together. And as good as any performer who takes over is, they're different people and they'll have a completely different chemistry. The original can't just be repeated, it's classic. Now some fans may prefer the old chemistry. Others may like the new, or both. That's their opinions and we're all entitled to it and that's fine.

 

[Bubbadog]

I think what really bothers me is that when I read the forums I mostly see people arguing over which is better and what they shouldn't do.

We all know in the end we're going to watch it.

At least I know I will. Something is better than nothing.

And I agree, there was that specific chemistry between Henson and Oz that has yet to be matched since Hensons passing.

But the spirit is there, you know?

 

[uppitymuppity]

Performing and entertainment should be the best it can be! This is why we have critics to keep the performers on their toes...

I haven't really seen any arguing - just healthy conversation as to what we like and don't like. Perhaps people are overly sensitive?

Also - if performers and entertainers went into things with the half-baked notion (bubbadog) that "Oh, well - that's as good as it gets... No reason to try harder... " Then our experience as an audience would truly suffer.

In the words of the late great Bette Davis:

"Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life."

AND

"Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work."