Who wants the future Muppet movies to be...

[Hubert]

For the Walter walking scene, I'm pretty sure they didn't use CGI. They used blue screen, taping the puppet's movements in front of a blank blue screen, then adding in the background. I would imagine the Swedish Chef also was like that.

The problem with using CGI for the Muppets is that it takes so much away from everything the Muppets are. The performers don't just pick up a Muppet and make his mouth move and read a script. That's not how it works. Part of the magic of the Muppets is that each performer feels a personal connection with their characters, and is able to understand and express any emotions the characters may be feeling in the script. If we would eliminate that, it would be the animators' jobs to do this, and because they may not totally understand the character, the characters may fall flat.

 

[Drtooth]

I say "no" but also, surprisingly "yes!" This is why:

95% of the Muppets should always be live puppets. That's their magic. Anything else and their appearance seems to be "phoned in" and stale. However, Jim Henson's passion for CGI was growing. He was looking for ways to incorporate more of the technology in his works. I support use of CGI in some shots - i.e. musical numbers and connective pieces in scenes. I have no problem seeing the Muppets' feet or seeing them in masterfully rendered in CG. The only stipulation is that it shouldn't be a gimmick. It should cleverly be woven into the story. I'm not a purist if it means stifling the creative future of the Muppets. Still, I can't support abandoning their charm either. The Muppets are special and should always stay that way.

I do feel that the Muppet team will likely incorporate some performance capture puppetry composite shots in the future.

I am completely for CGI aided puppetry. I think the member is talking more or less complete and utter CGI replacement. That I'm not a fan of.

If, for some reason the Fraggle Rock film gets made, and they have to have the Doozers CGI for various reasons, I'd be mixed... as long as the Fraggles, Gorgs, and Sprocket are their regular selves... and only if the CGI Doozers are WALDO system assisted.

That's hypothetically of course.

 

[DannyRWW]

CGI would not be the Muppets...Love Cgi...The Pizar films are amazing and I loved the Hulk in Avengers a great deal....and who could forget Gollum in Lord of the RIngs...and Jar Jar Binks performanc in Star Wars was Oscar Worthy...wait forget that last one...but the Muppets need to be Puppets... I agree that some shots could use digital enhancements but I think the atraction to them is the fact they are one of the last areas where puppetry is still used effectively and it brings a very particular life to the performances. Besides scooter warned us about this at the TED conference.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

My reaction to CG Muppets:

 

[Drtooth]

CGI would not be the Muppets...Love Cgi...The Pizar films are amazing and I loved the Hulk in Avengers a great deal....and who could forget Gollum in Lord of the RIngs...and Jar Jar Binks performanc in Star Wars was Oscar Worthy...wait forget that last one...but the Muppets need to be Puppets...

CGI isn't evil at all. It's a medium, and like all media, it's art when used properly. The only thing that made the overuse of CGI in Star Wars look weird was the wooden-ness of the directing of human actors (serious acting does not equal wooden acting) making the CGI characters look more cartoonish.

I wouldn't be opposed to, say, a CGI Muppet cartoon series, as that's the same thing basically as a 2-D animated Muppet project (that's why I'm comfortable with Abby's Flying School... also because they have claymation Ernie and Bert). But for a film and future Muppet regular TV projects, they need to be their old puppet selves.

 

[Puppet crazy]

Hello everyone.

I was wondering if the muppet fans wants their Muppets to be CGI like the teddy bear on the new Seth McFarlane's movie TED???

For me, I think that should be the future of the Muppets. It still looks like a stuffed animal and it doesn't look like CGI at all.

Muppets to me are like Living Stuffed Animals!! And that movie Ted made that stuffed animal come to life!!!

I take nothing away from the Muppet Performers. They are all great artists.

But with that CGI, all we need is a great voice to make those "Living Stuffed Animals" known as The Muppets come to life even more.

I feel if Jim Henson was still alive, he will appreciate the CGI of Ted and probably would turn his Muppets into this kind of media.

Anyone agrees?

ARGH! That would the day I would officially stop being a fan.

 

[Vincent L]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: nooooooooooooooo.

 

[galagr]

CGI would not be the Muppets...Love Cgi...The Pizar films are amazing and I loved the Hulk in Avengers a great deal....and who could forget Gollum in Lord of the RIngs...and Jar Jar Binks performanc in Star Wars was Oscar Worthy...wait forget that last one...but the Muppets need to be Puppets... I agree that some shots could use digital enhancements but I think the atraction to them is the fact they are one of the last areas where puppetry is still used effectively and it brings a very particular life to the performances. Besides scooter warned us about this at the TED conference.

Not to mention if the Muppets were CGI, Scooter wouldn't have made that appearance anyway. I like my Muppets with felt and not pixels.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Another reaction to CG Muppets:

 

[Reevz1977]

There was an ad done a couple of years ago, I think it was for Chrysler, and it was essentially digital puppets sat around a table discussing the product. It was such a superfluous exercise in wasting money. The CGI puppets were terrible and had none of the charm real puppets do. I can remember at the time cursing the thought of disney doing the same to the Muppets and if that ever happened I honestly think I'd perform a self-labotomy so I didn't have to process the idea! It would be wrong...wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!! Hopefully Disney are reading this and if that is the case I have one word for them..."WRONG!!!!!"