How To Create a New Muppet Fan?!!!

[Scooters Jacket]

I'm looking for suggestions.

My 5 year old nephew is a huge fan of "The Muppets" (he spends most of his day singing Life's A Happy Song or Man or Muppet) and I'm planning to indoctrinate him further so I've invited him over for a Muppet Day next Tuesday.

So my question is what should we watch? I have all the movies, but I think that at 5 years old to just watch movies all day will bore him, so if I choose just a couple which ones would you recommend?

And then what else? I have all the TMS season boxsets and some other episodes on VHS. I also have some specials from across the years (Hey Cinderella, Muppets Go To the Movies etc.) and some of the 1980's compilation videos. I even have Tale of the Bunny Picnic and some sing along songs videos, Studio DC etc. etc.

So what would you suggest to give a good overview without boring a 5 year old? I could throw in some Fraggles or Sesame Street, but I'd like to stick to Muppets really.

Any thoughts?

 

[Vincent L]

I suggest to go with the classics. Pick one of TMM, TGMC or TMTM. With TV specials, I think The Frog Prince will do. And for TMS, if your nephew knows any of the guess stars, show him that episode. If not, I suggest picking one from either season 2 or 3.
I have a two-year-old sister that I also want to "make" a fan of Henson productions. Sadly, Sesame Street does not air in Taiwan.

p.s. play The Muppet Show album if you have it.

 

[MissMusical12]

Do you have Muppet Classic Theater by any chance? I was about 5 or 6 years old when I saw that one. That would be a good one to show your nephew.

 

[Hubert]

I think I might stay away from the older specials like The Frog Prince and Hey Cinderella. These specials tend to be less Muppety, and I would imagine they might bore a 5 year old.

Definitely stay away from showing TMS episodes that have the Sesame characters in them (Connie Stevens, Leslie Uggams, Marty Feldman). All this will do is end up confusing Sesame Street and the Muppet Show into one big blur of Muppets.

I think also a lot of what you show depends on the child at hand. If he likes songs, maybe you want to pick productions with fun, catchy songs. If songs make him lose interest, maybe focus more on the non-song material, picking out things that will make him be entertained and have a good time. I think something more fun and fast moving would be good, so I might refrain from showing TMS episodes such as the Rich Little or Milton Berle episode, ones where the entertainment is more in the speaking (whether impressions or monologue) might make him lose interest.

The Tale of the Bunny Picnic is a great thing that a 5 year old would like, however I'm not sure how much you want to venture out of the main Muppet world. Bunny Picnic was always a childhood favorite of mine.

As for movies, I would stick to the classics, and stay away from MCC, MTI, MWOO, and so on. I would navigate more towards the original three, TMM, GMC, and TMTM.

 

[Scooters Jacket]

I've been thinking about either TMM or TMTM as the older movie as I think GMC is a bit "talky" (it's only as an adult that I really catch a lot of the jokes) and the dance sequences slow things down a bit. I also wondered about MTI as every 5 year old boy likes pirates!

I'm trying to think which TMS guests he might know - probably the Star Wars episode would be my best bet if I can dig it out. Otherwise I'm not sure. As a Brit in his mid-30s, I don't always know who they are!

Muppets at WDW might be fun as he's been to Disneyland Paris and he LOVES Mickey Mouse.

Then I guess it would be Bunny Picnic or one of the compilations like Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff and perhaps the sing along videos as they skew quite young.

I don't think I have Muppet Classic Theater.

Sesame Street isn't shown here in the UK, but he does know some of the characters. He was wearing a Cookie Monster shirt today.

I lost a lot of my Muppet music when my last PC died (a lot of it's on my iPod, but that doesn't play now either)!

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming!

 

[MissMusical12]

Awww what shame you don't have Muppet Classic Theater. That would've been a great one. I believe all of the segments from MCT are on Youtube, though. Other than that, your best bet would be TMM or TMTM or some of the episodes of TMS. What about anything involving Muppet Babies? Would that work?

 

[Hubert]

MTI would be a great one that would entertain most 5 year olds...but I would only show it if you're confident it won't scare him. Some of those pirate scenes can be kinda scary to young kids, and also things such as the sword fight and such could be a bit violent for some 5 year olds.

 

[Scooters Jacket]

MTI would be a great one that would entertain most 5 year olds...but I would only show it if you're confident it won't scare him. Some of those pirate scenes can be kinda scary to young kids, and also things such as the sword fight and such could be a bit violent for some 5 year olds.

He should be fine with MTI. He managed a trip on the Haunted Mansion and POTC at Disneyland Paris when he was 3!

I'll see what MCT I can find online. I may have some somewhere.

I have a Muppet Babies VHS which I've never watched myself so that might be fun.

 

[Vincent L]

My suggestion: no, not Muppet Babies.

 

[minor muppetz]

What I would suggest:

• The Muppet Movie (you can have him watch The Great Muppet Caper on the next visit, then The Muppets Take Manhattan the visit after that...)
• 3-4 Muppet Show episodes (I would suggest the ones with Candice Bergen, Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, and Roger Miller)
• The Muppets Go to the Movies
• If there's time for more (or you could cut back on what I suggested) I'd show a compilation video. Not sure which ones you have (well you did mention having Muppet Weird Stuff, which is one of my favorites). If you have any of the three non-themed videos (The Muppet Revue, Muppet Treasures, or Muppet Moments) I'd pick one of those (The Muppet Revue seems to have the best clips selected of the three).

EDIT: Does your nephew seem to have any particular favorite characters? If so, maybe it's be a good idea to theme your choses by that character (unless his favorite is somebody like Walter, for now all you can really do there is have him watch The Muppets repeatedly). If Kermit is his favorite then it shouldn't be too hard to please him, if his favorite is Rowlf it might be a little hard (unless you happen to have copies of Rowlf's Rhapsodies with the Muppets, Country Music with the Muppets, and/or Sing-Along Dance-Along Do-Along). If his favorite is Gonzo (though I wonder if he really would be a favorite to someone who's only seen the recent movie, where Gonzo seems to be udnerused), I'd say have him watch The Great Muppet Caper (which I feel is his best role in the original trilogy; Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space would also be good choices, though if you're trying to make him a fan it might be better to save MFS for after he's become a bigger fan), Muppet Classic Theater, and Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff.