Muppets.com relaunches with Disney XD

[theprawncracker]

Haha! Oh the Gonzo elevator clip was fantastic! Kermit was GREAT in it, "Alright, I give, what's with the costume?" Reminded me SO much of TMS backstage Kermit. And the part where he jumped out was hillarious and so Muppety.

 

[Muppet Loverr]

I kind of upset that there is no updated Piggy clips

 

[beaker]

Vaughn: I am so sorry all these things are befalling you right now.
Youve been one of the most creative and knowlegable/passionate JH fans Ive come to know on here, and it's painful to see one of us
have to go through so much.

It's powerful as well to know how much JH's work continues to add levity, inspire, and lighten people's day.

Im glad theyre continuing with the elevator sketches.
I hope they can expand to more scenery

I absolutely LOVE the Murray on the street segments on
Sesame Street and the Lester Possum/Pepe on the street segments on From the Balcony.

Btw, I urge everyone to check out the From the Balcony archive if its still up, if you cant get enough newer online Muppet contents

 

[frogboy4]

I'm glad they will keep updating. I know I'm not going to enjoy everything but Today I enjoyed Gonzo quite a bit, he was very on for me in terms of the character. Of course that's not hard to do considering Dave is still the man behind Gonzo.

Hope you're feeling better these days. I am the world's worst person when ill. Nobody believes me about that until it happens - then duck!

I've seen Dave as the heart of the Muppets since Jim and Richard passed and Frank moved on. So, really since Muppet Christmas Carol (Frank dubbed a lot of that if I'm not mistaken). Dave and Gonzo really embody what the Muppets have always been about. I find it interesting how much "classic Kermit" Gonzo has incorporated into his temperment. Of course he hasn't forsaken his Gonzoisms - just grown a little and takes care of the others a bit more than he did in Jim's day.

 

[Luke]

I've seen Dave as the heart of the Muppets since Jim and Richard passed and Frank moved on. So, really since Muppet Christmas Carol (Frank dubbed a lot of that if I'm not mistaken). Dave and Gonzo really embody what the Muppets have always been about. I find it interesting how much "classic Kermit" Gonzo has incorporated into his temperment. Of course he hasn't forsaken his Gonzoisms - just grown a little and takes care of the others a bit more than he did in Jim's day.

** Applauds **

Well said Frogboy, totally agreed. Dave and Gonzo are my absolute favourites.

I am loving the elevator clips, and love that Gonzo outfit. I think these will go to show Diz that these guys are ready for their own show.

 

[dwmckim]

Okay -it's taken me awhile to get to this thread as i tend to read the forum in order by thread # so as not to miss anything and easier keep track of what i've read and what i haven't ... and February's been a very difficult and personally challenging month for me so given that this thread was started at the beginning of the month and i'm now replying to it at the end of the month...you can see how i've been a bit distracted!

But while Feb 2008 has been an overall extremely low point for me personally, the new Muppets.com has given me some rare reason to smile. I can only really view this when i go to the library but in a way that almost makes it a little more special when i take a weekly trip there to see the new content! This is all just Way Too Cool For Words and it's amazing how well they've struck the balance as far as being just as awesome a site for a newbie and an oldtime Muppet fan!

I really think this site and a lot of the optimism that Muppet fans are feeling right now has to be credited to current Muppets head Lylle Breier. Chris Curtin had a lot of great ideas and his plans were really starting to take off when he was essentiall removed in a Robert Iger powerplay and replaced by Russell Hampton who was just a bad choice overall and a pretty good (if i can use that word) representation of all the fears Muppet fans had of Muppets being run by Disney.

By his replacement Lylle Breier, while i've not heard much about her, what i have heard has been all good - and actions are currently speaking louder than words...i think 2008 will be the year Muppet fans have been waiting for (had it not been for the writers' strike and its length, i'm sure we would have had even more Muppety goodness by now) and i believe Ms Breier is a large part of who we have to thank for that. The website seems to be a good representation of the Muppets' current place within Disney and on their own. This is really the first time i've really been excited about being a Muppet fan since Disney has owned the Muppets.

Just some random comments on other things posted in the thread...Kermit is many things - snarky, tender, serious, silly...and i think the clips are actually a good representation of him - remember the Muppet Show itself was largely a backstage drama with Kermit having to be the "parent" taking responsibility for everything - but even while he had to do his best to keep some control over the craziness, he was still basically good friends with most of the people involved with the show - and that dancing clip that has been both praised and panned is a good example of the friendship and goofing-off-with-friends Kermit can have with Fozzie and Gonzo when he can be more free to play in front of the camera while not having to be so consumed with everything going on behind it. Same with the clips in Kermit's channel. I don't think of it as much as "a second childhood" so much as one person put it as more the "offstage" Kermit that we don't get to see much - the Kermit who gets together for lunch dates, fishing trips, and road trips with Fozzie and Gonzo and friends during his days off.

Yeah, that Animal puppet made its debut on America's Got Talent and it really weirded me out - i could not figure out if it was a new Animal puppet that really looked odd, or if they were trying to make a gag of Animal impersonating David Hasselhoff. And even then he still looks slightly better now than he did on AGT, i think they realized they may have gone a bit too overboard (maybe we now know what happend to Sam the Eagle's propecia - Animal drank it!)

I've always felt even before Jim's passing that Gonzo really was the soul of the Muppets - because even though Kermit is often thought of as the iconic representation, he represents the glue holding things together where Gonzo is more a representation of the Muppets' craziness ie the glue Kermit's trying to hold together. So i guess one could extend that to Dave's current place too - i was really pleased with his recent presentation tied in with the Vision of Jim Henson exhibit he did here in AZ a month ago; he certainly does feel very passionately about the Muppets as both an insider and a fan, as both a performer and a previous puppet builder.

Trivia game is cool but not without its flaws (yet another official source that credits The Frog Prince as being where Kermit became a frog...and EVEN WHEN THEY EVEN HAVE HEY CINDERELLA AS AN ANSWER CHOICE!) - plus crediting Wayne & Wanda as being a "dancing duo" moreso than a singing duo. Still aside from their goofs here and there most of it is actuall really great and makes me wish there would be so kind of physical trivia game (ie one bought in game stores) for purchase. Loved the question about Gags Beasley with the other answer choices being takeoffs on J Juhl & C Shemin!

In between my general optimism for Breier's leadership, the current tone of the Muppets/Muppet.com, and what we know about upcoming projects, it makes me all the more excited about what the Big Top Secret Project will be about!

 

[theprawncracker]

Just some random comments on other things posted in the thread...Kermit is many things - snarky, tender, serious, silly...and i think the clips are actually a good representation of him - remember the Muppet Show itself was largely a backstage drama with Kermit having to be the "parent" taking responsibility for everything - but even while he had to do his best to keep some control over the craziness, he was still basically good friends with most of the people involved with the show - and that dancing clip that has been both praised and panned is a good example of the friendship and goofing-off-with-friends Kermit can have with Fozzie and Gonzo when he can be more free to play in front of the camera while not having to be so consumed with everything going on behind it. Same with the clips in Kermit's channel. I don't think of it as much as "a second childhood" so much as one person put it as more the "offstage" Kermit that we don't get to see much - the Kermit who gets together for lunch dates, fishing trips, and road trips with Fozzie and Gonzo and friends during his days off.

*applauds!* Oh my gosh. That is something I've been trying to get across for awhile now, thank you for saying that so eloquently.

 

[Katzi428]

I'm finally able to access it! But I think I'm missing some things on the site.I think I'll need to look around it some more.

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

*applauds!* Oh my gosh. That is something I've been trying to get across for awhile now, thank you for saying that so eloquently.

*sigh* yes that person was me, I don't know why I can't see it that way..but mostly I think it's because any time some one was acting goofie around Kermit be it on the muppet show, any of the movies, or The Jim Henson Hour.
Kermit would be like "aww come on guys" or "fozziiee"
I also personally don't like what a push over he's become with the pig.
But when your the only person who feels this way, it's hard to talk about it. And it's hard to make people understand where you're coming from.
Perhaps I just don't know anything about the Frog...

 

[CensoredAlso]

*sigh* yes that person was me, I don't know why I can't see it that way..but mostly I think it's because any time some one was acting goofie around Kermit be it on the muppet show, any of the movies, or The Jim Henson Hour.
Kermit would be like "aww come on guys" or "fozziiee"
I also personally don't like what a push over he's become with the pig.
But when your the only person who feels this way, it's hard to talk about it. And it's hard to make people understand where you're coming from.
Perhaps I just don't know anything about the Frog...

Actually, I know exactly what you mean and have often felt the same way. There's this odd sense of jadedness and slight cruelty that keeps popping up in the new projects, that wasn't there before. It's not the same sort of snarky he was before.

I actually don't think he's become a pushover with the pig, I think he's a bit more mean now. I don't think it's anyone's fault, I just think it's hard to recreate a classic like the Muppets.

I don't want to get into a big debate, hehe, just expressing.