The Muppets 2011 Script

[Drtooth]

I'd agree except for the multitude of horrific remakes of nostalgic TV shows and movies Hollywood keeps horrifying us with. They don't seem to care about a nostalgic fan base in those (many) cases.

They don't because they aren't. They claim nostalgia, but they only care about an imaginary audience of those who like things completely changed and altered to an annoying degree and kids who want to see movies about characters they've never heard of. Not this time, though. Like I said before, they were annoyed by all the Muppet movies we were annoyed by.

It's not the same situation that films like Green Hornet (like anyone under the age of 50 knows who the Green Hornet is) or Smurfs (made specifically for kids with ADHD) where they just buy a license and then scribble out a generic script. Kids of the 80's were the LAST people they had in mind when making the Inspector Gadget movie.

Anyone could have written a "who cares" sloppy script for a Muppet movie. This wasn't the case.

 

[terrimonster]

Thanks for the upload?

And gee... this feels like fan fiction. I'm glad the Muppeteers (and Pixar, if I remember correctly?) stepped in and showed them what was what.

Edit: Yeah. Sorry, but this script is pretty bad. Very unprofessional. Are you sure this is a real script and not a fan project? I know Segal's a fan, but the guy can write at least.

It's probably a "vomit draft," where you just get all of your ideas on the page with the intent of cleaning it up later. First drafts often look pretty bad and unprofessional. I have a vomit draft of Anchorman, and though it has some very funny stuff it looks like it was written by a Will Ferrell fanboy who inserted all of his fantasies into it.

 

[dwmckim]

This is either the same draft (or very close to it) that i had a copy of months before the movie debuted. It's NOT the first draft but it is an EARLY draft - from a good year and a half before shooting commenced.

As someone who used to (when i had any kind of disposable income...which now seems like a lifetime ago...) collect scripts, i offer some words of advice...

Movie scripts go through MANY drafts and changes from the first draft to final version (tv scripts also go through quite a few changes but usually not to such a dramatic degree due to shorter production windows) I've seen drafts of all but one of the thestrical Muppet movies and all of them went through major changes - which is why i was originally drawn to collecting them in the first place; they're great windows into the creative process - seeing what original ideas were and how/why they changed/evolved.

Scripts go through many hands - director, producer, studio heads...and in the case of an established franchise like the Muppets, the longtime creative members of the team who know and understand the brand best...this is especially true when the main author is a newbie/freelancer/outsider like Segel/Stoller were here - but even when the main writers were people like Jim, Frank, or Jerry Juhl, things aren't perfect in early drafts - things get adjusted/changed and the first/last drafts are inevitably VERY different. There was no way this movie would have been made without notes from Disney/notes from longtime Muppet writers or creative consultants to tweek anything that didn't jive with would would generally be considered true-to-form.

It's very easy to read an early draft like this in hindsight (and after hearing press reports - some very exagerated to generate " buzz" - about how various elements were obviously in need of change ... and got fixed accordingly) and see the weaknesses. But having had the opposite vantage point of seeing it BEFORE the completed film (and with a working knowledge of the typical processes of evolution scripts go through), i could tell that even though certain elements would undoubtedly get tweeked that the potential for this to be huge, a success, and "the one we've been waiting for" was always there underneath...the gem just needed its ample polishing.

One major recurring article i always wanted to explore with Muppet Freak was an indepth look at all the Muppet movie scripts and how they changed in contrast with final film. I don't yet know if i'll be doing that or not (the new site may end up being just a new site for the existing archives...more on that in the Muppet Freak thread and the site itself...) but i definately planned on tackling "The Muppets"...though now that a good number of the fans have now discovered it on their own...if i do start such a series, i may hold off on debuting it with "The Muppets" and kick it off with a look at an older film instead.

 

[goldenstate5]

I wouldn't read into this draft very much. The first scenes are the biggest tell, with no jokes and just big happy lines to move the plot along. It's not just a first draft, it's a dummy pitch draft. In other words, the writers take their structure that they mapped out, jot it down very quickly over a weekend imputing some funny joke ideas while just getting the story out there for Disney to review. Sort of "proof" that they have what it takes.

Obviously Disney signed them and they went to work polishing their draft.

I'm not sure this is the version Frank Oz turned down as no one would seriously take this as what the movie will actually be, but if you ever want to know how many revisions a Hollywood script goes through, here you go haha!

 

[Oscarfan]

I finally got to see this script (busy last month for me). I didn't make it through it all (like only the first 15 or so pages), but there's definitely a number of lines still retained in the final product. The one joke that made me laugh the most was the bus driver; I wish they found a way to keep that in.

 

[Mo Frackle]

According to the IMDB, Frank was originally set to direct the film. I know he didn't care for the treatment of the script he received, but I doubt he was ever going to direct it. I'm guessing somebody just misread Frank's story.

 

[jvcarroll]

Wow! How did I miss this? I read excerpts a while back but never the whole thing. There are a few fun moments, but that script was terrible! They mystery of why Frank Oz passed on the script is solved!

I know it's a first draft and those are usually rough so I won't be too harsh. It's basically a lot of name dropping with a few watered-down jokes and not a lot of insight into the Muppets' history like we saw in the actual film. I'm glad they somehow found the Muppet magic to fix it all.

I'll go take another shower, watch "The Muppets" Blu-ray again and forget this ever happened.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

According to the IMDB, Frank was originally set to direct the film. I know he didn't care for the treatment of the script he received, but I doubt he was ever going to direct it. I'm guessing somebody just misread Frank's story.

That's true, but usually IMDb is wrong. They said Jim Henson stars in this film!

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I feel Jim is always the start in the films.

 

[Mo Frackle]

That's true, but usually IMDb is wrong. They said Jim Henson stars in this film!

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. Yeah, the IMDB usually has false information. And I was never too fond of IMDB essentially listing the Muppet performers as voice actors. For instance, one of Jim Henson's credits might read: "Jim Henson - Kermit the Frog (voice)".