Relaunching The Muppets: A New Plan

[beaker]

Haven read his blogs for several years, I now must say the following is the best article I have read...as it gives an insiders reccomendations to truly bring back the Muppets in an old but new light:
http://jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=1476

 

[muppetsforlife]

I read this article with an open mind and sincere hopes that there would be some good ideas listed here. Without a doubt, that was the biggest article of nonsense I have read in my life. The ONLY thing that i agree on is the that they need to get back in contact with the old puppeteers (such as Frank Oz) and keep them involved in the process. Disney is trying to revive the muppets and he wants them to go on talk shows and talk about how bad the movie was? Absolutely absurd. As far as the ratings goes, the movie did not tank, as he is trying to claim. I don't think ABC ever thought it was going to win its time slot. I could be wrong about that though. As far as the heavy promotion of the movie, I didn't see that at all either. I know they put the mupppets in a lot of commercials. But as far as advertising for the movie, if it wasn't for this site, I may not have ever known when it was on. Maybe not know it even existed. If this guy really wants to help the muppets he should come up with some valid ideas for future projects. Not for the muppets to go on tv and start bashing themselves!

 

[Hat Sharpener]

Jim Hill lives in a strange little fantasy world...

About the only valid point here is the general concept that the Muppets do their best as a pack of underdogs.

But the idea that Disney should cast their company as the bad-guy in the Muppets world? You'd think that someone who spends his life writing about Disney would have a clue...

Sorry, that's getting a little mean. Let's say I appreciate Jim Hill's enthusiasm fo rhte Muppets and it's always fun to see differen people's ideas for what to do with the Muppets. At this point, something definitely needs to be done if Disney is going to turn them into anything mro than a nostalgia merchandising machine.

- Derek

 

[muppetsforlife]

Jim Hill lives in a strange little fantasy world...

About the only valid point here is the general concept that the Muppets do their best as a pack of underdogs.

But the idea that Disney should cast their company as the bad-guy in the Muppets world? You'd think that someone who spends his life writing about Disney would have a clue...

- Derek

I could not agree with you more. I literally had to pick my jaw off the floor after reading that article. Lets put a little more thought into our suggestions Jim Hill.

 

[TogetherAgain]

just for accuracy's sake, let me remind us:
In this article, Jim Hill never takes the credit for these suggestions. He contributes every last one of them to Ken Plume. All he says is that he is hoping that Disney will listen to Ken Plume.
So Mr. Hill doesn't make the suggestions, he just agrees with them. At least, in this article.

 

[SNLIM]

while i do appreciate any efforts to bring the muppets more popularity and recognition, bringing them on tv to talk about how supposedly bad 'oz' was is a ridiculous idea. i'm sure everyone would agree that jim henson would not advocate the muppets on tv apologizing for themselves. you can't honestly expect a somewhat overnight renewed popularity of the muppets for a tv movie-

 

[muppetsforlife]

Yeah your right. None the less, the suggestions are not only very vague but never going to happen. Disney is not going to have the muppets talk about how big of losers they are and have them beg for another chance. I'm just saying if they want to offer some real suggestions for future projects, that would be more productive. But I do know what you mean. I apologize, Jim did not make the suggestions. I stand corrected on that.

 

[MWoO]

There actually was a good deal of promotion on ABC and Disney channel. Disney ran 2 or 3 music videos from the movie as well as trailers. The muppets did commercials for 3 of ABC's top shows. They also did talk show spots, tv appearances, and all kindso f stuff to push the movie. They really did a lot of promotion for a TV movie.

Disney really should reach out to Jerry Jhul who wrote basically everything muppet until he left during the writing of MFS. The only problem with that is you can't just have Jerry be the creative force. We need someone who is like Jerry, but also young enough to continue for many years. they should also reach out to Frank, not as a performer, but as a writer. While Frank may not want to/have time to put a puppet on his arm I'm sure he would be a consultant of somek ind.

While the characters shouldn't go out and bash the movie, they shouldnt have promoted it to be this huge thing in the first place. It really raised expectations. I do like the idea of going back to the old roots of TMS though. He is right, the muppets were always scrambling to put a good show on and that wash alf the fun. I mean, how many Muppet Show episodes actually ran smoothly? If they took that idea and used it for this America's Next Muppet thing it might work. Instead of making it look like a well oput together show, they should have some screw up scripted into the show. I like the idea of a running gag about Disney forcing them to do it, which is probably how everyone really feels anwyay. Kermit should not like doing the show, no one should like Gonzo's act, Fozzie should not be funny, Piggy should ham it up and not be liked. That's just the way it is. At one point they decided to really make the muppets stars and that is what kind of messed them up to start with. Piggy WAS a uge star instead of someone that acted as if she were ah uge star.

 

[muppetsforlife]

I agree with you on the muppet show thing. But this is two entirely different things here. Part of what made the muppet show great is that the whole show was about how they always messed up. They tried so hard and everything seemed to go wrong. It was often a running gag that the guests would try to get of doing the show. And it worked. But whats important to remember here is it was exactly that. It was all part of the show. These guys, however, want them to go on TV and say "Hey our last movie really sucked. Disney doesn't know what they are doing. Give us another chance and we will try to make a better one." That is not going to happen. If they had made playful jokes throughout the movie about it being dumb, it may have been another story. That may have actually been cute. But to go on after the fact and say the movie was bad is not going to happen. Nor would it be beneficial.

 

[beaker]

But the idea that Disney should cast their company as the bad-guy in the Muppets world? You'd think that someone who spends his life writing about Disney would have a clue...

As someone like me who has nothing but utter contempt and disgust for all that is the Disney world order, I like this theory....except for the fact it would be Disney behind the idea to begin with.

to me Muppet Oz was the biggest embarassment in the Muppet's 50 years, so Im hoping it isnt too detremental to their future.