State of the Muppets - An Opinion

[Redsonga]

Well, it seems people were upset to know that Gonzo was an weird alien whatever that's part of an entire race of beings instead of being one-of-a-kind. The thing is...to fans, Gonzo still is one-of-a-kind, because he's the only alien whatever in his entire family to be a daredevil stuntman, and on top of that, The Muppet Movie--that started it all--alluded to Gonzo's spacey & out-there origin (see "I'm Going to Go Back There Sunday").

It only told me what I already thought..I always thought he was from outer space to began with, so it didn't upset me

 

[frogboy4]

*seems to be the only one in the world that didn't hate Muppets in Space or Swamp Years and thought they were ten times better than OZ*

From a technical standpoint Muppets from Space was the worst reviewed and poorest box office performing film of the franchise. It also cost twice as much as Muppet Christmas Carol, yet had no original music. The tug-of-war between the studio and the writers killed it. I actually cried in the theater because it was so dreadfully bad I believed it had the ability to kill the Muppet brand. It did harm it – a lot!

Fortunately many younger fans saw enough spark in it. That push helped the film gain some status on the home video market. It plays a lot better on the smaller screen. Portions of that film and the characters solidified with younger viewers and I recognize that film is responsible for some of today’s fans.

The puppets and musical numbers were pretty good in Swamp Years, but the human actors and writing never really transcend kid-vid quality. I don’t think Sesame Workshop would have run with such a rather juvenile script. Jim Henson himself cancelled the much more developed and witty Little Muppet Monsters program after only three episodes. I can’t see how he would have approved the outcome of KSY.

Oz didn’t quite get things right either, but there was enough layered humor to keep me interested. The Muppet projects used to have something in them for everyone. I missed that until recently. That's what makes me so froggin' excited.

 

[Beauregard]

Can I just say one thing, that hasn't been said for a while, but totally should be...

Well, I hardly need permission...I'm gunna do it anyway

"Go Muppets!"

 

[wwfpooh]

"Go Muppets" indeed.

 

[frogboy4]

Go...er...um...STAY Muppets! Oh, whatever. I likes my Muppets.

 

[Beauregard]

*laughs!* "Go Go Gadget-Muppets!"

 

[Redsonga]

From a technical standpoint Muppets from Space was the worst reviewed and poorest box office performing film of the franchise. It also cost twice as much as Muppet Christmas Carol, yet had no original music. The tug-of-war between the studio and the writers killed it. I actually cried in the theater because it was so dreadfully bad I believed it had the ability to kill the Muppet brand. It did harm it – a lot!

Fortunately many younger fans saw enough spark in it. That push helped the film gain some status on the home video market. It plays a lot better on the smaller screen. Portions of that film and the characters solidified with younger viewers and I recognize that film is responsible for some of today’s fans.

The puppets and musical numbers were pretty good in Swamp Years, but the human actors and writing never really transcend kid-vid quality. I don’t think Sesame Workshop would have run with such a rather juvenile script. Jim Henson himself cancelled the much more developed and witty Little Muppet Monsters program after only three episodes. I can’t see how he would have approved the outcome of KSY.

Oz didn’t quite get things right either, but there was enough layered humor to keep me interested. The Muppet projects used to have something in them for everyone. I missed that until recently. That's what makes me so froggin' excited.

I only saw it on video not at the movies and well..with movies I've always had a soft spot for origin movies. I can forgive just about anything as long as I feel the story shows something new about the characters past and adds to them in some way. I think this is because I have a writing mind and like to put these little details into the bigger picture, while not taking in any of the parts that are bad and making a richer overall picture about them in my mind.

With OZ there is really nothing I could take from it, as they were playing characters, not themselves. Treasure Island I like a bit, because while they were playing characters, they were themselves playing characters..I'm not sure how to put it into words . That's why of all the storybook movies Treasure Island, and Frog Prince are my favorites...

 

[Vic Romano]

*seems to be the only one in the world that didn't hate Muppets in Space or Swamp Years and thought they were ten times better than OZ*

Okay, well I'm definitely in the minority myself because I really liked MFS and really disliked MTI, MCC and MWoO and I really disliked IAVMMCM, and I like to think I'm a pretty fair guy. Many a time I've go into something with low expectations and been wonderfully surprised just as I've been very excited to experience something and been tremendously disappointed, so it's not like I always just go with the flow. I did not enjoy KSY, but I appreciated it for what it was and I was touched by the Jim tribute.

Bottom line, while I do take everyone's opinion here at MC to heart (and in some cases, even use it to help me decide), I know what I like and what I don't. For a while after Jim's death, I was really upset with the direction the Muppets were going, but it's hard to separate my feelings between actual dislike and disbelief that Jim was gone. However, I am now starting to get excited again with what the Muppets are doing, maybe even more accepting simply because it's what Jim would probably want, but while I may not be quite as enthusiastic as others on the board, I am optimistic.

Speaking about making up my mind and swaying opinion: how as fans do you feel about Iger vs. Eisner? I ask because I'm not sure how I feel. My thoughts are that, while Eisner was no saint, he was very involved with the Muppets and supportive as well. However, this was during a time where I wasn't fond of the Muppets performances. Then Iger comes in and does some serious cleaning with the Muppets staff and almost completely ignores them to devote his time to the Pixar acquisition. Of course now the Muppets are starting to make quite the comeback. Thoughts?

 

[Redsonga]

Argh, IAVMMCM was the one that scarred me inside. MWOO at least I could just forget about, but IAVMMCM took out my heart and stomped on it on a deeper level..I can't even say why...

I'm optimistic about new things, I just don't think the new things we seen so far are just right yet..they're okay, but they're missing..something

And I don't think the "you're for everything or against everything" feeling is exactly very fair with the old vs. new muppet movies and shows, we're all fans, it shouldn't mean one type of fan is better than another..We all love them, don't we?

 

[wwfpooh]

We all love them, don't we?

Yes we do.