NEW Muppet Poster

[Reevz1977]

dont loose sleep over it dude...

Turns out I didn't

I know from which he comes from. He's been working on a photorealistic illustration that he tried to submit, but he got turned down because, and let's not forget this... anytime you send something to a company that owns it, it's unsolicited work. E.i. if you want to work on the Simpsons, DON'T write a sample Simpsons script.

And while that's the way things ARE done (not to mention a LOT of nepotism) I can't help side with Reeves, ONLY because they really don't seem to get posers anymore. I mean, they weren't wonderful to begin with...

I have just got to emphasise that I am really not sore at Disney for not being able to look at my artwork. I was fairly naive sending the artwork through directly. Since that time I have had a relationship of sorts with Disney and am more familiar with the way things work and with regards to me ever doing any work for them, lets just say never say never

That said, I still sincerely dislike this poster and shall attempt to explain why...

To me, this poster looks like a job that has been rushed together and thrown out the door (take the money and run if you will). It has probably been done by a marketing agency who have little or no regard for the material and are in it just for a fat wedge of cash. The concept is poor...I mean REALLY poor! If it was an attempt to parody the TS3 poster it failed miserably!! If it was made to serve as an introduction to the Muppets...it failed again. Does anyone remember the teaser campaign for TS3. They started out with maybe a dozen single character posters re-introducing the characters and eventually built up to a full on character driven image. This would have been 1000% better than this horrendous effort.

Next up is the the actual craft of the poster. In addition to being an Illustrator I am a fulltime Retoucher and the image that has been sent out here I would regard to as the "Raw" image. It needs so much love and attention to give it some life. The Muppet posers, for me at least, ALWAYS look bad. They are lifeless, inanimate objects that do the characters, and the performances given by the puppeteers little justice. Kermit in particular here is just simply terrible. This poster need so much work in order to something I would consider acceptable. What about exaggerating a characters smile? Give life to the eyes? Exaggerate the poses? Make the armatures straight and even resemble a proper skeleton as opposed to bent metal covered in felt? And what about actually giving the poses some thought??? Fozzie holding his hat, Waldorf doing the rabbit over Statler - have we not seen this enough already? ? ? ? And look at poor Rowlf. People will probably say "well if you retouch them, they won't look like the puppets". To that I say walk into any Ferrari showroom with a Ferrari poster and tell me they look the same. Its about making them look their best! ! ! !

I'm sorry if I seem ranty, miserable, not in the spirit of thing or if people feel my comments are unjust. All I can say is (with the exception of my Threadless submission Dr Tooth) I put everything into every piece of work I do and get very annoyed when I see lazy pieces of artwork like this. There are some incredible talented people who would give anything to work on this brand - just take a look at all other other Threadless submissions other than mine, people who would have made a significantly better effort than this and I simply cannot celebrate mediocrity, even if it's the Muppets.

 

[frogboy4]

Turns out I didn't

I have just got to emphasise that I am really not sore at Disney for not being able to look at my artwork. I was fairly naive sending the artwork through directly. Since that time I have had a relationship of sorts with Disney and am more familiar with the way things work and with regards to me ever doing any work for them, lets just say never say never

That said, I still sincerely dislike this poster and shall attempt to explain why...

To me, this poster looks like a job that has been rushed together and thrown out the door (take the money and run if you will). It has probably been done by a marketing agency who have little or no regard for the material and are in it just for a fat wedge of cash. The concept is poor...I mean REALLY poor! If it was an attempt to parody the TS3 poster it failed miserably!! If it was made to serve as an introduction to the Muppets...it failed again. Does anyone remember the teaser campaign for TS3. They started out with maybe a dozen single character posters re-introducing the characters and eventually built up to a full on character driven image. This would have been 1000% better than this horrendous effort.

Next up is the the actual craft of the poster. In addition to being an Illustrator I am a fulltime Retoucher and the image that has been sent out here I would regard to as the "Raw" image. It needs so much love and attention to give it some life. The Muppet posers, for me at least, ALWAYS look bad. They are lifeless, inanimate objects that do the characters, and the performances given by the puppeteers little justice. Kermit in particular here is just simply terrible. This poster need so much work in order to something I would consider acceptable. What about exaggerating a characters smile? Give life to the eyes? Exaggerate the poses? Make the armatures straight and even resemble a proper skeleton as opposed to bent metal covered in felt? And what about actually giving the poses some thought??? Fozzie holding his hat, Waldorf doing the rabbit over Statler - have we not seen this enough already? ? ? ? And look at poor Rowlf. People will probably say "well if you retouch them, they won't look like the puppets". To that I say walk into any Ferrari showroom with a Ferrari poster and tell me they look the same. Its about making them look their best! ! ! !

I'm sorry if I seem ranty, miserable, not in the spirit of thing or if people feel my comments are unjust. All I can say is (with the exception of my Threadless submission Dr Tooth) I put everything into every piece of work I do and get very annoyed when I see lazy pieces of artwork like this. There are some incredible talented people who would give anything to work on this brand - just take a look at all other other Threadless submissions other than mine, people who would have made a significantly better effort than this and I simply cannot celebrate mediocrity, even if it's the Muppets.

They should totally use your idea for the marketing campaign. I'm a little sore this morning at Disney marketing team, but the one thing that actually makes me happy is the notion that I'm in good company! I don't understand the inner-politics, but it has little to do with quality work. Are you ever going to proceed with the theater portrait?

 

[Duke Remington]

Dear Disney..

get all the muppet puppets, get them a room (like they used to), set up a scene, so they all look alive and are having fun interacting ( The dynamic within the muppets is very important..take note), set up some lights (not shadows in photoshop..no no) and hire someone who can hold a camera and take some nice photos.

OR

Just ask Struzan.

Or maybe lean out the window and ask the guys at Pixar to give you a hand. They know what they're doing, you certainly don't.

Now, that's just getting a bit pushy and hostile, don't you think?

It's just a measly poster, folks. It's not something to lose sleep over. Just because you personally don't like it doesn't mean that it's bad or that the rest of the world will hate it. It's wrong to nullify a company just because of one teeny-weeny little thing that you personally didn't care for.

Can we please a bit more supportive? After all, Disney has spent TONS of money on the movie and they're going to need all the support they can get if we going to want the big Muppet comeback we've all been clamoring for for so long.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I was thinking and want to point out that, while they may be trying to parody the TS3 poster and possibly make people relate thde quality of TS to the muppets, there is a flaw with their reasoning.

The jumbled, "wook at all da pwetty characters" look works for 3S because they are toys. What do you see when you open a toy box? A jumble of toys. It is as if the poster is a window looking down into a toybox. It looks natural because it is a sight we are used to.

Now look at the muppets poster. They are not toys and represent living creatures. People do not stand on top of each other in an odd jumbled fashion. Therefore, to see the muppets essentially stacked on top of each other in odd poses is not natural. It would look better if there was some kind of perspective that gives the illusion they are standing behind each other on a sloped ground.

Just a theory. *shrugs*

 

[Drtooth]

The jumbled, "wook at all da pwetty characters" look works for 3S because they are toys. What do you see when you open a toy box? A jumble of toys. It is as if the poster is a window looking down into a toybox. It looks natural because it is a sight we are used to.

Even by that logic I greatly disliked that TS3 poster, as I stated (really, check out the ones I posted a page back everybody). It was a jumbled mess of "150 new characters to collect" and not (poster 1) "Woody and friends are in a strange new world. Is this a Good thing?" or (Poster 2) "There's trouble everyone seems to be running away from, but it's all in good fun."

Now, I have to admit, I really appreciate the teaser poster, and the "Don't call it a come back" vibe it gave... this one seems to just be the same "Gotta Catch them ALL!" feeling the TS3 poster had without adding anything of what the movie is going to be about, any suspense, or anything really exciting.

I like Reeve's idea here... Have separate smaller posters with one or two of several characters on each with either... A) some sort of small caption (I can picture a Statler and Waldorf one with this exchange... Whatever you do, DON'T see this movie! Hey... but if they don't, we won't get paid Oh... uh... Whatever you do, PLEASE see this movie) or B) Interacting with the M logo... (say, have Animal trying to eat it or Gonzo carrying it while Rizzo lies on top of it).

Now what REALLY would have been great is if they got either Amy or Roger or one of the Muppet comics illustrators to draw something up.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Well, I'm not saying I like the TS poster, I really dont. I was looking at it more as a technical aspect (if thats the right word) than if I like it or not. Yes, Reeve's idea is much better.

(why do you think I said "look at the pretty toys" in a mocking way )

 

[Drtooth]

It took me forever, but I finally got why this poster bugs me....

lack of depth.

Check out these posters with a whole bunch of characters on them...

(please ignore the poorly photoshopped Piggy Head... I couldn't find the original picture)

They aren't all smushed together in front... one character is in front, everyone else is behind them in neat little rows, some poking their heads out...

You can get a LOT of characters in a shot without making it look too crowded and jumbled.

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

Like: The selection of characters.

Don't like: The fact that it's just a bunch of posers jumbled together.

Know that's been said, but I just wanted to express my displeasure. The posers worked for the teaser poster, but don't here. I hope the posters to come look better than these.

 

[Ruahnna]

Just some random observations about the new muppet poster:
Kermit posed like this looks...young. I can't decide if it's because it's an adolescent pose (very tweenish) or if there's something different about the face. Like the other puppets similar to Kermit, SO MUCH depends on the muppeteer and when there isn't one, well, it looks different. Personally, I guess I'd have to say I prefer the more cynical, grumpy, sardonic looking Kermit (yes, yes--have a field day with my psyche) like the one we see in the "Eats flies. Date's a pig." posters because...hm...because he looks so confident, so sure of himself in those poses. In this pose, he looks a little tentative about his approval. But, like Piggy, I'll take Kermit on any terms he's available!
Er...not sure how to say this but, well, Piggy girls are very much on display. I like that they are treating her like a grown-up--because she IS very much a grown-up girl, but that did surprise me a little. And--regardless of what Sophia says, Piggy needs a little more blush. Her dreamy blue eyes need a little blush to shine best.
I LOVED Fozzie--sometimes he gets short shrift and his is--at all times--completely adorable. This is a nice pose for him--and a visual joke. (Hold on to your hat, folks--it's going to be a bumpy ride!)
And Scooter is also a cutie, but I'm back to that sort of adolescent thing. I'm ready for Scooter to get to be a little more grown up. (He WAS hitting on the chorus girls in IAVMMC...hm, wait. That might still be an adolescent thing.)
Other nice comments: Janice's eyes and lips look luscious. Gonzo is spanking with his usual sexy-geek look. Um, Animal is very animated (but bears a disturbing resemblance to Mario). Beaker's great looking (and has a nice personality to boot!)
Yes--I would definitely like one for my wall--especially the sexy-geek Gonzo part....

 

[Drtooth]

I hope the posters to come look better than these.

I wouldn't doubt they would... but that's if there are others. Again, something suggests this is an international poster (the Bringlish use of the word "Cinemas").

Really... does anyone just in general dislike the look of movie posters from the past 15 or so years?