Your Thoughts: Muppets Letters to Santa

[JJandJanice]

Hey Gonzo14, I don't know if you saw it, but you asked who did Lew Zealand and I mention it was Bill.

Also I think Dr. Teeth sounds and looks totally the same as he did in Oz, maybe if I give it another look

 

[Gonzo14]

I thought that Doctor Teeth looked and sounded fantastic. Better than MWoO

i agree he sounded great, but i thought the look was a little off

by the way JJ, thanks for the info about Lew, i guess i forgot that Bill performs him now; the only one's i'm not sure of now are Sweetums and Crazy Harry (at first I thought John Henson for sweetums, but he's not listed in the credits)

 

[JJandJanice]

i agree he sounded great, but i thought the look was a little off

by the way JJ, thanks for the info about Lew, i guess i forgot that Bill performs him now; the only one's i'm not sure of now are Sweetums and Crazy Harry (at first I thought John Henson for sweetums, but he's not listed in the credits)

Well for Crazy Harry, I'm thinking maybe either Bill or John Kenndy, just because they took most of the roles of Jerry Nelson, but again not totally sure.

As for Sweetums, maybe it is John Henson, but since that role was so small they didn't brother to list him. I don't know just a guess

 

[Redsonga]

Well for Crazy Harry, I'm thinking maybe either Bill or John Kenndy, just because they took most of the roles of Jerry Nelson, but again not totally sure.

As for Sweetums, maybe it is John Henson, but since that role was so small they didn't brother to list him. I don't know just a guess

It's hard to think of Sweetums having a small part *lol*
I was just happy he was there

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

I guess I'm the only one who was a bit dissappointed then.
I did enjoy allot of things don't get me wrong but something still felt like it was missing.
Did anyone else feel like that while watching this?
I would just like to say though after this my opinion of Steve Witmire has changed, he's filled in the Kermit shoes very nicely as well as many other characters.
I think this entire thing came off as a little to kiddy for me at times and thats what killed it for me.
That and Paul Williams really didn't seem to have his heart in it and or seemed drunk or something. :\
I also didn't really care for the songs, and let me tell you I'm a huge Paul Williams fan from the music he did for the Muppets all the way to the Phantom of the Paradise, but this stuff doesn't even come close.
Bobo honestly stole the show for me his bit with nathen lane was simply the best part.
There where a few bits in the movie I actully did roll my eyes at, but oh well i find myself doing that allot these days.
There where also quite a few times I did have a big smile on my face though so don't think I'm all hating on this.
Maybe I need to see it a few more times but over all it felt like some show that any character could have been in and they just crammed a bunch of Muppets into it to try and make us uber fans happy.
They did look and sound great though especially Fozzie & Kermit.
The only one I really didn't like was Robin but it was nice to see him again.
I do agree with everyone though that this seemed as if it could have been with the Sesame Street characters instead of the Muppet Show Muppets.
Maybe the fact that Elmo's last special had those seprano guys didn't help with the kiddish feeling either.

 

[frogboy4]

Okay, upon 2nd viewing I give this a solid B. If a DVD comes out with extended scenes that could improve my score to a B+, but I didn't quite think the writing hit A territory. And that's okay with me. It takes a long time to write for the Muppets. The special was better than the average episode of Muppets Tonight or Oz and much more cheerful than VMX (that I also liked).
___

As for the recasts-
Eric's Fozzie (and especially the bear's singing voice) is spot-on. I almost felt Frank Oz popped in to loop some bits! (By the way, did anyone hear them page Francis Oznowicz at the airport? I could have skipped a post mention of that.) Sam was also spot-on perfect!

Eric's Piggy is nice. I do think she comes off a little whiny at times when she should sound more demanding. That was mostly resolved this time out.

I believe in Steve's Kermit. His demeanor was quite close to what I feel it should be. I feel that Rudman's Scooter will advance in time. The spirit is there and the voice will improve over time. Janice was pretty good too. I wanted her to have more lines.

Bill's Teeth was great. His Rowlf was okay. What I believe to be his Swedish Chef was good too. Lew is perfect!

Floyd sounded fine. I had to rewind a couple of times to make sure it wasn't Jerry. Robin, well he's okay and will grow in time. Jerry's voice is just so irreplaceable, but they made due alright.
_____

As for the stereo-types, that's always been a thing with the Muppets. I feel it's done with kindness, but Sweeds might disagree. The gangster image is more of a nod to the entertainment perception than the Italian Americans. I didn't hear many complaints about Howard the pig in VMX. I think that sort of thing is okay in moderation.

By the way, who knew Zoot was Jewish?

 

[Redsonga]

The special was better than the average episode of Muppets Tonight or Oz and much more cheerful than VMX (that I also liked).

VMX is my least favorite so I was really happy to see something more cheerful, most of all when it was so short..It will be nice to see this soul put into a new muppet movie

 

[Libba Yuki]

I guess I'm the only one who was a bit dissappointed then.
I did enjoy allot of things don't get me wrong but something still felt like it was missing.
Did anyone else feel like that while watching this?
I would just like to say though after this my opinion of Steve Witmire has changed, he's filled in the Kermit shoes very nicely as well as many other characters.
I think this entire thing came off as a little to kiddy for me at times and thats what killed it for me.
That and Paul Williams really didn't seem to have his heart in it and or seemed drunk or something. :\
I also didn't really care for the songs, and let me tell you I'm a huge Paul Williams fan from the music he did for the Muppets all the way to the Phantom of the Paradise, but this stuff doesn't even come close.
Bobo honestly stole the show for me his bit with nathen lane was simply the best part.
There where a few bits in the movie I actully did roll my eyes at, but oh well i find myself doing that allot these days.
There where also quite a few times I did have a big smile on my face though so don't think I'm all hating on this.
Maybe I need to see it a few more times but over all it felt like some show that any character could have been in and they just crammed a bunch of Muppets into it to try and make us uber fans happy.
They did look and sound great though especially Fozzie & Kermit.
The only one I really didn't like was Robin but it was nice to see him again.
I do agree with everyone though that this seemed as if it could have been with the Sesame Street characters instead of the Muppet Show Muppets.
Maybe the fact that Elmo's last special had those seprano guys didn't help with the kiddish feeling either.

I agree with you on this, it really did feel like there was something missing with this special.

The mom and kid were just kinda thrown in there, the Santa bits were IMO poorly done (I didn't mind that he was in it, I'm sure he's showed up on Sesame Street before, I just thought the childish acting adults and Santa himself were out-of-place and silly).

And while I liked the new songs, I didn't feel they were up to par with the songs of the past.

I think if the movie was more fleshed out, less childish and had more stuff appealing to adults to even it out, and the Santa bit was handled better...then I may have loved the special after all. However, after all the hype and excitement over it...I thought it was disappointing, even though I was still able to enjoy it and the message it gave us and was happy to see the Muppets back on the screen (even though they felt watered down to SS level to me).

I give it a C.

 

[pattywack]

Anyone know where I can download it?

 

[rtgentry]

I really dont like posting on a review thread and I really dont like reading them but I did and I am.

Just remember the muppets are a business, they always have been. For disney to keep them going they need to build a fan base. True we are a fan base but most of us are in our 30's on average.

They rightfully want the young upcoming generations to become the new fan base. SO while they try to please us with recasts and old favs, that shouldnt be priority. It should be to make the muppets visible and re-intoduce them to this young generation who 75% has not ever seen The Frog, ThePig, and Grover, I mean Gonzo.

Just my thoughts

But Yes I Loved it and would watch it every year with my kids. I tend to prefer family christmas because that was a memory from my youth. But trying to get my kids hooked I have to use the new stuff.