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dwayne1115
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here we go another batch of goodies for you all, i hope you injoy
.
JIM LEWIS - More Things I Sort of Know…7.9.07
1. When you're writing a show, like Muppet Classic Theater or It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, how much collaboration do you have with the songwriters? Do you write the movie with an "insert song here" place? Do they come to you with the song and you place it in the
script? Or do you discuss with them the kind of song that's needed and then they go and write it
In the case of “Muppet Classic Theater,(MCT)” each of the retold stories was built around a song. Once I had the idea and angle for the stories (e.g. Piggy as a proto-feminist in the “Three Little Pigs” or the Elvis Elves), I would write an outline of the script. The songwriters would take this and figure out the best place for the song…and how it could creatively, inventively, comically and otherwise perfectly advance the story and the characters. I think all the songs worked wonderfully. That, by the way, is the usual process for putting songs in a script. Of course, when you’re doing a movie or longer form story (and not a series of small stories as in MCT, the songs need to fit together, to build upon each other; in essence, they need to tell the story all by themselves. This is something that Paul Williams (I bow in his general direction) especially brilliant. You can hear his songs and see the movie in your mind.
As for “It’s A Very….” Etc. That song was added after I’d done my part of the script, so I can’t say how that worked.
2. I have heard and read some things about a Script or story or something written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called "the Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made”. Have you seen or heard anything about it, if so can you talk about it?
Yes, I have seen it. Yes, I have read it. No, I can’t talk about it. (To paraphrase Kelly LeBrock: Don’t hate me because I’m dutiful”.---winner of A Dennis Miller Obscure Reference award)
3. You said that you co-wrote Muppet Classic Theater with Bill Prady. Were you involved with the writing of all of the story segments, or did you write some all by yourself while Bill wrote others by himself (perhaps you wrote three and Bill wrote three), or is it a little bit
of both (perhaps you and Bill both wrote two story segments by yourselves, and then collaborated on two togetehr, or something like that.
It’s been a few years, but my recollection is that I wrote “Three Little Pigs,” “Elvises & The Shoemaker” “Rumpelstitskin” and “Emperor’s New Clothes” and that Bill wrote the “Midas” and “Boy Who Cried Wolf”. Eventually, they all went through one typewriter (hey, I said it was a long time ago), but in this particular case, I don’t think Bill and I sat in room together and wrote.
4. Do you think the characters like Croaker, Goggles, and Blotch,from "Kermit's Swamp Years" will ever be seen in another production? Or are they pretty happy down there in the swamp?
Regrettably they’re probably not going to be seen soon. But as we all know, I’ve been spectacularly wrong before.
5. Where did the idea come from to have Clifford host Muppets Tonight, and where there any other candidates to host the show?
That’s one of those internal decisions I was not privy to, so I’d just be making up a story to answer the question. Of course, I could make up a story--but not at these prices.
PS: Just a thanks to everyone for these questions. As the great Rowlf once sang, it’s like “strolling down memory lane without a ding-dong thing on my mind”. A pleasure for me and, I hope, interesting to any who care about the Muppets as much as we do.
here we go another batch of goodies for you all, i hope you injoy
.
JIM LEWIS - More Things I Sort of Know…7.9.07
1. When you're writing a show, like Muppet Classic Theater or It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, how much collaboration do you have with the songwriters? Do you write the movie with an "insert song here" place? Do they come to you with the song and you place it in the
script? Or do you discuss with them the kind of song that's needed and then they go and write it
In the case of “Muppet Classic Theater,(MCT)” each of the retold stories was built around a song. Once I had the idea and angle for the stories (e.g. Piggy as a proto-feminist in the “Three Little Pigs” or the Elvis Elves), I would write an outline of the script. The songwriters would take this and figure out the best place for the song…and how it could creatively, inventively, comically and otherwise perfectly advance the story and the characters. I think all the songs worked wonderfully. That, by the way, is the usual process for putting songs in a script. Of course, when you’re doing a movie or longer form story (and not a series of small stories as in MCT, the songs need to fit together, to build upon each other; in essence, they need to tell the story all by themselves. This is something that Paul Williams (I bow in his general direction) especially brilliant. You can hear his songs and see the movie in your mind.
As for “It’s A Very….” Etc. That song was added after I’d done my part of the script, so I can’t say how that worked.
2. I have heard and read some things about a Script or story or something written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called "the Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made”. Have you seen or heard anything about it, if so can you talk about it?
Yes, I have seen it. Yes, I have read it. No, I can’t talk about it. (To paraphrase Kelly LeBrock: Don’t hate me because I’m dutiful”.---winner of A Dennis Miller Obscure Reference award)
3. You said that you co-wrote Muppet Classic Theater with Bill Prady. Were you involved with the writing of all of the story segments, or did you write some all by yourself while Bill wrote others by himself (perhaps you wrote three and Bill wrote three), or is it a little bit
of both (perhaps you and Bill both wrote two story segments by yourselves, and then collaborated on two togetehr, or something like that.
It’s been a few years, but my recollection is that I wrote “Three Little Pigs,” “Elvises & The Shoemaker” “Rumpelstitskin” and “Emperor’s New Clothes” and that Bill wrote the “Midas” and “Boy Who Cried Wolf”. Eventually, they all went through one typewriter (hey, I said it was a long time ago), but in this particular case, I don’t think Bill and I sat in room together and wrote.
4. Do you think the characters like Croaker, Goggles, and Blotch,from "Kermit's Swamp Years" will ever be seen in another production? Or are they pretty happy down there in the swamp?
Regrettably they’re probably not going to be seen soon. But as we all know, I’ve been spectacularly wrong before.
5. Where did the idea come from to have Clifford host Muppets Tonight, and where there any other candidates to host the show?
That’s one of those internal decisions I was not privy to, so I’d just be making up a story to answer the question. Of course, I could make up a story--but not at these prices.
PS: Just a thanks to everyone for these questions. As the great Rowlf once sang, it’s like “strolling down memory lane without a ding-dong thing on my mind”. A pleasure for me and, I hope, interesting to any who care about the Muppets as much as we do.
never sang“strolling down memory lane without a ding-dong thing on my mind”. It was 
. I would also like to know if Jim will be at Muppets music and magic in August.
