Your Thoughts: Muppets Letters to Santa

[theprawncracker]

You're very welcome, Beth!

And this:

The Muppets are back. That is the best Christmas present in the entire world in my opinion!

...Yeah, I completely agree.

 

[hoopless]

You can use http://www.hotspotshield.com/ to access http://www.hulu.com/watch/49470/a-muppets-christmas-special-a-muppets-christmas-letters-to-santa

I just watched it and thought it was great. It was everything I expected and will be making my family sit and watch it again later.

I thought the songs were nice particularly the one that begins in the apartment block and if anything there weren't enough of them. I do wish it was a little longer, but it's just so nice to see all the Muppets back together. Christmas has officially begun as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Drtooth]

...Tell me again... what was wrong with this special?

Indeed. Somehow as much as everyone is disappointment in this special, I'm (and I'm not trying to be argumentative here) disappointed in Muppet fan dom acting like this was the worst project in Muppet history.

What I can't wrap my head around how the same exact people who called this "watered down" are the same people that complained about VMX and OZ being "Jaded." Sure, it was kiddy, but you know what? What the heck were you expecting with a plot line about giving Santa Claus letter? Fozzie getting into a drunken barroom brawl and Kermit having to single handedly stop 1980's style Russian terrorist?

I think I'm the only one that sees trace elements of the old films and projects then... no one started saying "Oh Boy! I'm going to go buy Pokemon with Paris Hilton before I watch Spongebob with Rickey Martin!" They kept the gags on a clearly muppety flowing level. No hard and fast hitting Simpsons/Family Guy style jokes like the last 2 specials. You have time to take them in, actually.

Don't get me wrong, I love VMX too, but don't forget the nightmarish, schizophrenic quality of OZ. I mean, that entire movie looked even bleaker and more frightening than the world without Kermit in VMX. And the Muppets actually starred in this one, and were seen throughout the special.

I also have to say, it's NOT a film... it's a special. It's too short to be a film... which is obviously the main problem with the film. Yes, it was like watching a movie that was overedited for broadcast. Scenes screamed "Truncated." When they got to the North Pole, the movie was over 75% over. There wasn't even room for a nice Santa's Workshop scene.
Though, there are a few things I would have done different.

• I would have cut the "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" flying letters opening and made the opening of the film the song they sang while standing in line. That's the only scene I hated.
• While I liked the airport scene, I would have changed it so instead of having to grab hold of the wing of the plane, Bunsen and Beaker somehow assisted them
• They shouldn't have just had those 5 characters going to find Santa. The North Pole scene, I will admit, was empty without the other characters.
• The other muppets should have found a way to get to the North Pole .

That said, I know where Herald is coming from. I liked that scene for one, but I felt it was totally unnecessary. And ethnic stereotype or not, the real problem with those two is that they're going to be type cast for the rest of their careers as mafiosos or wise guys. Plus, we can chalk it all up to the fact that the Russian Mafia and the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) aren't mainstream popular with the US.

 

[Nick22]

i liked it a lot. i wish it was longer. i loved to see janice, scooter, sweetums, crazy harry, robin, and rowlf with lines. i also liked seeing pops (though he had no lines) i think that all the muppets should have gone to the north pole.

 

[Randall Flagg]

[Kermit] paid Whoopi,

Actually, nobody paid Whoopie. That was kind of a cop-out scene. The muppets realized they didn't have money, and then it cuts to a shot of them in the airport. Presumably they just stiffed her, but we'll never know.

 

[theprawncracker]

Actually, nobody paid Whoopie. That was kind of a cop-out scene. The muppets realized they didn't have money, and then it cuts to a shot of them in the airport. Presumably they just stiffed her, but we'll never know.

I got the impression that they finally paid her... even if it was in cashews. I hope they paid her, anyway, don't wanna upset the Boss.

 

[Libba Yuki]

Indeed. Somehow as much as everyone is disappointment in this special, I'm (and I'm not trying to be argumentative here) disappointed in Muppet fan dom acting like this was the worst project in Muppet history.

What I can't wrap my head around how the same exact people who called this "watered down" are the same people that complained about VMX and OZ being "Jaded."

Well, to each their own.

I was disappointed that so many Muppet fans hated MFS and IAVMMCM and treated them like they were horrible, while I had the total opposite opinion.

I felt this movie was, despite some of the old classic stuff being thrown in, "watered down"...because it was.

It felt like a Sesame Street movie, not like any of the past Muppet movies and specials (with the exception of KSW...I haven't seen it yet though, so I don't really want to say anything about it).

I LOVED all the movies/specials/tv shows we've had, and not once did I feel they were too adult or jaded or un-Muppety. (For the record, I had no problems with VMX-Mas or MWOO...except the casting for Dorothy, I thought they were near perfect and a wonderful blast to watch!)

I grew up watching both the newer stuff as they came out, and the older stuff...so maybe that's why I'm in the minority and fail to see what the problem is with the things that have been done since Jim's death, I really have felt they were all great!

They were family films, but never were they just geared towards kids...which is how this project felt to me.

Now, don't get me wrong. While I felt this was the weakest Muppet Project due to the overly kiddy factor, that does NOT mean I feel it was horrible!

I did enjoy it, will gladly add it to my Muppet collection, and thought it was cute, I was just disappointed because it could have been so much better than it was.

 

[MrsPepper]

Okay, so due to crappy scheduling on my part, I only saw the first half hour of this special AND I didn't get a chance to tape it! Which is a shame because I was going to put my homemade tape of this on the shelf next to the one of MWoO.

Anyway, what I saw I loved! The last part I saw was them clinging onto the wing of the airplane. I am going to try my best to watch the rest really soon (but being Canadian, I have a feeling that alot of websites will block me out) and I will let you know what I thought!

 

[Drtooth]

I did enjoy it, will gladly add it to my Muppet collection, and thought it was cute, I was just disappointed because it could have been so much better than it was.

Once again, it could have been better had they not tried to do a 90 minute movie in 40 minutes. Personally, I did like MFS and VMX, and I thought they were best so far. This project, you have to admit, had the right direction and it didn't come off gimmicky like the last few projects. MFS suffered from the lack of new music (as well as Sony's meddling). VMX suffered from being written like a Simpsons episode. Oz was the weakest of them all, IMO... look at it. As much as I dislike the idea of the book movies, MTI pulled it off. But Oz was just trying to please too many people at once.

I think that's why this special is stronger than everyone's whining at it to be. They didn't pander to college students by shoving in jokes from Family Guy or Simpsons (Don't get me wrong... I love those shows... but if I want that kind of humor, I'll watch them).

I understand it could have been stronger, but it could have ALSO been (since Disney produced it) an excuse to shove as many Disney celebrities into it as possible, making the Muppets feel like guests in their own special.

And at least they did a semi-original story. They didn't set out to parody anything, they didn't do another book story... Honestly, not that I didn't like MCC, I'll never understood why it has such high regard while this seemed watered down... Other than Rizzo catching on fire, and the Fozziewig sequence, it was the least muppety project so far, to me.

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

My only real complaint is that it was too short. The story felt compressed otherwise I loved it. Robin singing was a huge surprise!

this was my only problem with it that AND TO MANY COMMERCIALS