Your Thoughts: Muppets Haunted Mansion on Disney+

[The Count]

That makes me wonder. Which HM characters would Clifford, Bill, Seymour, and Spamela best be suited as?
Also, if anyone knows when and what ghost Mulch and Nigel were supposed to be, please post here.

 

[Princeton]

Yeah, they'll have to make a sequel including them and now that Kevin is no longer with the Muppets, I could see someone performing Cliff without the shades. We'll see.

I thought he was still working for Henson, just not Sesame Workshop.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I thought he was still working for Henson, just not Sesame Workshop.

You know I've been confused about that myself for quite some time, I have seen a photo of Whatshisname doing something with Henson workshop awhile back but I don't know if he's really done any puppeteering of late.

 

[MWoO]

Kevin Clash did work on Happy Time Murders and Dark Crystal. No work with Sesame Workshop. He moved away from The Muppets around the time of the Disney sale, before any controversy hit.

 

[datman24]

Well, I finally just watched the special. I thought it was fine. Nothing truly outstanding (though, the effects look like something out of a PS2 cutscene), but it’s a step in the right direction. I am really trying to get used to Matt Vogel’s Kermit, but it’s just not doing it for me.

 

[GuySmileyfan]

I'm so happy that Muppets Haunted Mansion has been trending very well on Disney+. Maybe there's hope for a comeback of the Muppets after all. Maybe they can make another series or make a new movie on Disney+. And i suppose maybe another special too.

 

[MrMuppet93]

I haven't seen the special, due to a new Haunted Mansion movie coming out soon. What's the point of making a shoe-horned Muppet version of Haunted Mansion, when a new one is coming soon?

The only exception is Muppet Treasure Island because that was a completely original take on a public domain story that Disney themselves coincidentally used decades back. MTI completely adapted the story from scratch with a new plot, songs, and jokes, even if Disney distributed the movie (it was co-produced with Jim Henson Productions).

 

[Princeton]

I haven't seen the special, due to a new Haunted Mansion movie coming out soon. What's the point of making a shoe-horned Muppet version of Haunted Mansion, when a new one is coming soon?

The only exception is Muppet Treasure Island because that was a completely original take on a public domain story that Disney themselves coincidentally used decades back. MTI completely adapted the story from scratch with a new plot, songs, and jokes, even if Disney distributed the movie (it was co-produced with Jim Henson Productions).

You bring up a really good point. Historically (and completely unintentionally) I think MHM's legacy is to make MTI look like a masterpiece by comparison. Meaning the Henson company felt that on a humor level MCC really stifled them and they were determined not to let that happen again. So with MTI they pulled out all the stops and it shows...what they were *trying* to do. They were so committed to make MTI wackier than MCC and failed because they tried so hard (to quote Stephen Sondheim, it reeks of effort). And as a result MCC remains the funnier of the two films because the humor was organic, not shoehorned in by corporate like MTI.

 

[Xerus]

I really liked this special a lot. I think it was because original Muppet writer and director, Kirk Thatcher, was onboard. Kirk really knows how to write good Muppet stuff.
And I liked how Gonzo was the main character, mainly because they didn't use him much lately in the past.
It was great hearing Brian Henson as Sal again.
I liked how the owner of the mansion said there were 999 ghosts. I can just picture 999 familiar looking characters in that mansion. Minus Gonzo and Pepe, since they were just visitors.
The only problem was that they broke tradition and instead of airing it on basic TV, like all of their other Muppet stuff, it was on streaming. I guess that's the new thing for Muppets?

 

[GMan28]

I loved the special, and agree that Pepe had to be in that spot for Constane to get to him, I was wondering if the generic rat was Montague from Muppet Classic Theater because it sounded like him.