Segal Might Love The Classic Muppets...

[Drtooth]

The thing about the Muppets is, unless there's a movie, there's never any real need for a bad guy or much of an antagonist. I mean, we can also sort of consider J.P. Grosse an antagonist of sorts or maybe even Fleet Scribbler... but even then, those guys are short lived. Sure, there was the occasional odd antagonistic force, the pigs that took over the show that one time... but it really was more of a comedy show. Even with JHH and MT, there was no need for an actual regular villain (Grouper only sort of counts if you count J.P. Grosse).

So, yeah. In the context of the show, there's no real bad guy characters. And Polly Lobster and Clueless Morgan wound up working with the Muppets in MT in the end. Sort of like, even then, the villains only play villains in the movies.

 

[beaker]

I'd disagree with Dr Tooth; I think it's good to have Joseph Campbell archtypes even on a smaller level. The monsters for instance, often acted as antagonists. If Kermit, Scooter, Rowlf and Fozie were on the extreme nice guy end I can think of a ton of characters from TMS and MT that seem more on the antagonist end. Monsters, frackles, Uncle Deadly, Grouper, Behemoth, JP Grosse, Statler, Waldorf, etc all serve that purpose.

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, the official trailer has been posted, and there have been glimpses of Rizzo, Pepe, and Carl.

 

[minor muppetz]

Many of the Muppets whose outfits have changed over the years have been spotted in their original outfits, but so far I haven't seen any clips with Miss Piggy in her white dress from the first 2-3 seasons of The Muppet Show (which was her regular dress at first, before she started wearing different outfits all the time).

I don't know if this is the best place to bring this up, but I wonder if Jason Segal's knowledge of the Muppets has improved since working on the film. It's been reported he's a big fan of the franchise, but I think it's been reported that he's more familiar with the movies than The Muppet Show. Considering he's a big celebrity and should have a lot of money, I'd be surprised if he didn't own all the season sets that have been out by now (okay, so it seems he didn't become that big outside of How I Met Your Mother until "Forgetting Sarah Marshall").

 

[Drtooth]

Actual factual proof of Pepe in the new movie:

 

[Slackbot]

I swear, it looks like there are Fraggles in the background. I know that can't be the case because those are Henson properties, not Disney, but I can still dream.

 

[beaker]

I swear, it looks like there are Fraggles in the background. I know that can't be the case because those are Henson properties, not Disney, but I can still dream.

Oh those are Frackles! Which there seems to be plenty of^_^

 

[minor muppetz]

It is good that Rizzo will be wearing his jacket (can't tell if he's wearing his backwards baseball cap). I wouldn't have been surprised if they had him appear naked, or wearing nothing but a yellow cap (or wearing that purple shirt he wore in a few early 1980s productions, like Rocky Mountain Holiday and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show).

 

[minor muppetz]

Although we have all spotted Rizzo in the trailer, I'd like to point out this interview with Nick Stoller: http://collider.com/nicholas-stoller-interview-the-muppets/97354

In it he mentions Rizzo as a character he really loves, and says they had to put in there. Considering that and the fact that Rizzo has been a main character for over two decades, it's a wonder we only see him for a few seconds in the trailer.

 

[beaker]

@minor: I think one can gleam a whole bunch of competing narratives from these teasers. We dont even really see Tex Richman and his hencmen or anything of that plot in the full trailer. Im sure theres a bunch of other arcs and stuff that wont be in the trailers. I just hope the tone/scene choices of the next full trailer are better