IAVMMCM - Thoughts?

[Daffyfan4ever]

Well, I don't know if it will air on TV anytime soon because it hasn't in a few years. But luckily I taped it when it was on. I agree that this was about the best new Muppet film. It was both humorous and sentimental just like the original Henson's projects. In my opinion "Muppets from Space" and even "Muppet Wizard of Oz" might have been a bit too wacky. The Christmas movie had more of the feel of some earlier Muppet projects.

 

[Ruahnna]

One of the best recent things. Piggy and Kermit and Fozzie seem much like their old TMS selves. (Which they don't so much now, you will notice.) Gonzo was dead-on, but then Dave can't do bad gonzo--it's just not possible. Also, they captured some of the things that we wanted, that we were looking for--Sam the Eagle being both vain and censorious, Rowlf playing the piano with relish, Scooter continuing to be mystified by the intricacies of adult relationships, Gonzo and Rizzo's camaraderie and the usual stuff between Bunsen and Beaker. Also, some truly heart-breaking moments--Fozzie running through the lasers--TWICE because Kermit is counting on him. Kermit's genuine horror at letting everyone down (his biggest fear of all) plays very believably here. Also, Gonzo's song is one of the best Christmas songs I had heard in a long time. (looks around shiftily) <is not a fangirl of IAVMMC>

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yes, IAVMMC was sort of half and half. It still has the modern unfunny moments, but managed to sneak it some of the old magic.

 

[Beauregard]

<is not a fangirl of IAVMMC>

<me either>

<or at least, not a girl>

Somethign I noticed was a tiny little moment when Kermit walked past Gonzo on his way to find Fozzie, and Gonzo glanced after him with SUCH a concerned look on his face before decideing to leave it to Kermit and returning to watch Rowlf playing piano.

 

[Dearth]

I only bought this movie on DVD a couple of months ago, after seeing a friend's taped-off-the-air copy. I've probably watched it a dozen times already. I've been really exploring it the last couple of days because I just found out about three Easter eggs that are on it.

So yeah, I went looking for any threads on this flick and I see a lot of my own thoughts echoed here.

I was just thinking about Fozzie making those additional runs through the lasers (he'd have made three, really) and how tragic and needless that was, since the money wasn't even in that bag anyway. Poor Fozzie.

And I too liked that moment of Gonzo glancing over at Kermit.

There's so much to like in this film. Like how the cell-phones being turned off almost sound like an electronic medley of the Muppet Show theme. Or is that just my wishful thinking?

It doesn't even matter to me that I've never watched a full episode of Scrubs, nor seen Moulin Rouge, nor seen It's A Wonderful Life for that matter. Those references which might 'date' the film are just some added layering. The story still works on its own merit, and the parodies don't detract from the overall tale.

But here's something that I just noticed...

The movie was released in 2002, right?

So, when we're in Piggy's apartment in the Kermitless world, we can see the World Trade Center towers out the window.

I'm trying to wrap my brain around this...

Was the movie perhaps shot in 2001 (before September 11, I mean) and then only aired in 2002?

Or is its setting supposed to be prior to 9-11-2001?

Because otherwise... if it was made in 2002 and the towers were put in that scene as an intentional anachronism... then that means if Kermit had never been born, the Towers would not have been attacked?

And so, at the end of the movie, when Kermit wishes he HAD been born, and things are put back to normal... then I now have this niggling little pang of guilt that saving the Muppet theatre means losing the WTC.

That one little set detail, of those towers out that window in that specific scene, is really confusing me, thematically. It seems to really go counter to the message of the film.

Oh well, has anyone ever seen Kirk Thatcher being interviewed about this?

Dearth

 

[RedPiggy]

I never even noticed that. However, who's to say that the terrorist attack didn't happen? It's not like the Towers were all THAT new. They're under construction in my grandfather's 8mm home movies. It's possible that other events happened which upset the timing of the buildings. Maybe the terrorists hit Hollywood instead. Maybe they rebuilt the buildings. Who knows? While we only see what impact a Kermit-less universe has on the principal characters, we don't know just how far the ramifications stretch around the world over decades. Kermit was a founding father of Sesame Street. What happened to it? I like to think an impoverished urban neighborhood was inspired to educate everyone and spread their message on TV around the world, spreading knowledge and tolerance. Would that have even happened without Kermit? How would celebrity guest stars' lives be different if they'd never had a Muppet Show to appear on? Would children aspire to their dreams? You could spend years just thinking about how it would affect everyone on the planet.

 

[frogboy4]

Whoopi's VMX God character holds a mug that states "I love NY - more than ever" or something to that extent so it's safe to assume the program was shot after 9/11. The view of the towers from Alternate Piggy's apartment is awkward but I see this as either some sort of NY pride from the production crew or just an oversight/neglect in the backdrop being used.

 

[Drtooth]

It doesn't even matter to me that I've never watched a full episode of Scrubs, nor seen Moulin Rouge, nor seen It's A Wonderful Life for that matter. Those references which might 'date' the film are just some added layering. The story still works on its own merit, and the parodies don't detract from the overall tale.

I honestly think that the Crock Hunter reference makes the whole thing a LOT more dated than everything in the movie. Plus, the fact that the movie was a bi-product of early 00's era comedy, when making as many pop culture references as possible was still considered funny. I really wonder if any of the Shrek movies still hold up. Even the new one.

The thing that bugs me about the Scrubs reference is that the entire scene was written without ANY reference of the show whatsoever. It's almost as if an ER cameo was written, but NBC decided to push Scrubs instead. The scene just didn't deal with Scrubs's blend of bittersweet comedy. I feel the Sesame Street episode of Scrubs was the better muppet blending, as they worked WITH the show's aesthetic, instead of "generic mediacl show reference here."

But other than that, I still really like this movie. Too bad MupOz tried too hard to be like this and failed at every attempt. And I still hate that the Snoop Dogg scene is lost forever.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

One of my very favorite Christmas specials. Then again, I love It's a Wonderful Life and it's spoofs. The only problem I have with it is, with the exception of certain points, it doesn't feel like a Christmas movie. But I do appreciate the Henson team for using NBC to it's full potential even if it results in the movie being a bit dated. At the end of the day, it is one of the better spoofs and one of the better post-Jim Muppet movies. It's a crying shame this was never considered as a theatrical movie.

 

[beatnikchick300]

I absolutely love it, and have since it first premiered (when I was 15.... man, I feel old). The music was awesome, the whole atmosphere was great, the humor was good, and the villain was awesome (I actually hated her, but for a villain, that's a complement, because it means that the actress was convincing). And actually, being as into feminist spirituality as I am, I actually liked that a woman was in the God role. She actually had some of the "kindly Earth Mother" look I imagine a creator Goddess would have. But that's just me.