Your Thoughts: "The Muppets" Theatrical Film

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I'm working on a video review for later, but let me just say I absolutely loved it. I had a huge smile on my face the entire movie and was holding back tears of joy for a good portion.

I'll say one thing I have seen a lot of people didn't notice that was an awesome reference to a certain Pixar movie: at the very beginning of the movie, did anybody else notice on the map animation that it said Gary and Walter's Boy Scout camp was in Paradise Falls?

 

[Avilos]

Muppetfan44, in general I agree with you. Film novelazations are really no longer needed. In the days before home video it was the primary way for fans to relive a film whenever they wanted. So fewer are made in the days of DVD and the Internet for spoilers. To make it clear my point was not just about this , often films with novelazations are unfavorably compared to the more detailed books.

 

[Drtooth]

Film novelizations are general merchandise... no different from coloring books, or read alongs, or easy readers. No one really buys them anymore, but they still get made.

Though, if these things are done from the original script, they tend to reference the scenes deleted from the movie that you otherwise would have never seen or heard of. Though a lot of current DVD's have some of the deleted scenes back in, some cases things were alternate, unfilmed versions of what happened. At least when it came to certain comic novelizations (the original TMNT movie's Mirage published adaption was a good read).

 

[Beauregard]

So I just saw the clip of BEAUREGARD from the movie and my heart just totally went out to him! I know its meant to be played for laughs, but Beauregard has always connected with me as the loyal, loving, caring, silly creature that he is (not to be confused with Silly Creatures from FR). But for him to have stayed there at the theater, faithfully cleaning it and trying to keep it fresh against the odds all that time as is sort of suggested...wow...I love him more than ever.

That is all! Now I'm getting out of this spoilery thread before I read something I regret!

 

[Muppet fan 123]

i dont want to start trouble but this is where i disagree with you..me and my friends found this bit halirous and are at the moment joking with it, random text and facebook posts just saying Manical Laugh...none of us read the novel and im the muppet fan, the guy who was just interviewd by the Boston Herald and has his goofy face attached to the article,

so it came off as a random silly little quirk and work out so well in my mind instead of giving him an evil laugh
i didnt need the book to tell me why he said cause in my head i came up with my own reason sorta and took what i had a flew with it
i mean really would you ever expect the villian to just come out and say maniacal laugh...genius

Is it just me or is the manical laugh thing from Muppets From Space? I really don't feel like re-watching MFS just to find this out

 

[TripleG]

One thing I do have to comment on about this movie is how much it hit home with me personally.

Earlier this year, I lost my brother Andy. He was older than me, but had Downs Syndrome and some form of dwarfism. However, he was the nicest & most kind hearted person I've ever known and everyone that met him was a happier person for having known him. I couldn't help but notice that our bond as brothers was very similar to that of Gary & Walter's. Like Gary, I was very protective of little Andy and we were genuinely best of friends that bonded over common interests from our childhoods. So watching Walter's journey trying to find his way in a world where he's viewed as different really reminded me of my brother, and that touched me a little bit.

If the Gary/Walter relationship or the Walter character in general didn't work, then the whole movie would have just collapsed under the weight of it. Thankfully, Walter turned out to be a welcomed addition to the Muppet cast & in a lot of ways was the heart of the movie.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Is it just me or is the manical laugh thing from Muppets From Space? I really don't feel like re-watching MFS just to find this out

No, but MFS had that "don't laugh at me!" bit from Jeffrey Tambor a few times.

As for "The Muppets", I saw it yesterday and have to say it is definately the best "new" movie I've seen in a long time. Almost everything about it was perfect: the story, the music, the comedy, the drama, etc. Though I do agree parts of the plot were sort of confusing (as mentioned by others, outside of the novel, we don't really get a reason behind the Kermit-Piggy conflict, but I assumed it was sort of a parody of the typical romantic comedy relationships), and the ending seemed tacked on.

It wasn't a very big audience that day (not surprising, since it was Thanksgiving), but a full audience isn't needed to know that people still love the Muppets, and a new generation is going to love them. It was great to hear everybody in the room laughing at the jokes, saying "awww" during the scene where Walter says that he needs Gary, and I think I may have even heard a few people applauding towards the end of the movie.

Before buying my tickets, I was a little dissapointed to hear that most of the people in front of me preferred to see "Twighlight", but as Crazy Harry once said, "You can't win 'em all". Still, it was really cute hearing a little girl standing behind me ask her mother about getting her a Miss Piggy doll.

Some other thoughts: It was amazing seeing all of these obscure character in the movie. How many of us actually thought we'd ever see Behemoth (I refuse to ever call him "Gene") up on the big screen - and with dialogue? Or a scene with Wayne and Wanda? Or Uncle Deadly in a strong role?

I, too, would liked to have seen latter day characters in the movie, even if they were just in the background (okay, Big Mean Carl can be spotted in the background of one scene). It did seem rather odd that Pepe only had one scene (though arguably one of the film's funniest), and that Rizzo really had nothing to do, but as we all know, Segal, Stoller, and co. wanted this to mainly be about the classic Muppets.

I was also a little dissapointed that Gonzo didn't seem to have much to do here. And Fozzie's voice did sound a bit off in some scenes (it sounds like he's saying "Keermeet" a few times). Kermit seemed a bit too depressed, but Steve Whitmire's performance is arguably Oscar worthy.

Walter was perfect! Miss Poogy was hilarious! The 80's robot was very funny (but I'll admit, I'm glad he wasn't overused).

The celebrity bits were great, even if some were a bit random. I now have a new appreciation for Jack Black after seeing this movie. And I loved Neil Patrick Harris' line, "Yes, I don't understand why I'm not hosting".

And, of course, there's all of those callbacks to the old Muppet movies. One that really surprised me was the Mad Man Mooney reference. According to James Bobin, this bit was shot at the exact car dealership that was used (no pun intended) in The Muppet Movie. All it needed was a little repainting, a guy dressed like Milton Bearle, and Mad Man Mooney's was back. Bobin also mentioned that he had to make sure the new Bobby Benson puppet didn't have a cigarette in his mouth, because let's face it, as funny as that is, you just couldn't get away with it today.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

No, but MFS had that "don't laugh at me!" bit from Jeffrey Tambor a few times.

As for "The Muppets", I saw it yesterday and have to say it is definately the best "new" movie I've seen in a long time. Almost everything about it was perfect: the story, the music, the comedy, the drama, etc. Though I do agree parts of the plot were sort of confusing (as mentioned by others, outside of the novel, we don't really get a reason behind the Kermit-Piggy conflict, but I assumed it was sort of a parody of the typical romantic comedy relationships), and the ending seemed tacked on.

It wasn't a very big audience that day (not surprising, since it was Thanksgiving), but a full audience isn't needed to know that people still love the Muppets, and a new generation is going to love them. It was great to hear everybody in the room laughing at the jokes, saying "awww" during the scene where Walter says that he needs Gary, and I think I may have even heard a few people applauding towards the end of the movie.

Before buying my tickets, I was a little dissapointed to hear that most of the people in front of me preferred to see "Twighlight", but as Crazy Harry once said, "You can't win 'em all". Still, it was really cute hearing a little girl standing behind me ask her mother about getting her a Miss Piggy doll.

Some other thoughts: It was amazing seeing all of these obscure character in the movie. How many of us actually thought we'd ever see Behemoth (I refuse to ever call him "Gene") up on the big screen - and with dialogue? Or a scene with Wayne and Wanda? Or Uncle Deadly in a strong role?

I, too, would liked to have seen latter day characters in the movie, even if they were just in the background (okay, Big Mean Carl can be spotted in the background of one scene). It did seem rather odd that Pepe only had one scene (though arguably one of the film's funniest), and that Rizzo really had nothing to do, but as we all know, Segal, Stoller, and co. wanted this to mainly be about the classic Muppets.

I was also a little dissapointed that Gonzo didn't seem to have much to do here. And Fozzie's voice did sound a bit off in some scenes (it sounds like he's saying "Keermeet" a few times). Kermit seemed a bit too depressed, but Steve Whitmire's performance is arguably Oscar worthy.

Walter was perfect! Miss Poogy was hilarious! The 80's robot was very funny (but I'll admit, I'm glad he wasn't overused).

And, of course, there's all of those callbacks to the old Muppet movies. One that really surprised me was the Mad Man Mooney reference. According to James Bobin, this bit was shot at the exact car dealership that was used (no pun intended) in The Muppet Movie. Bobin also mentioned that he had to make sure the new Bobby Benson puppet didn't have a cigarette in his mouth, because let's face it, as funny as that is, you just couldn't get away with it today.

OMG!! I never realized it was Jeffrey Tambor who did that!! He's on Arrested Development I haven't seen MFS in a while and I didn't start watching AD when I saw it. I feel like watching MFS over just becuase he's in it now.
Also I agree with you, Steve Whitmire was great, but of course Kermit is diffrent then he was before, my mother got nervous each time Kermit spoke, becuase she grew up with Jim doing the voice of Kermit, she said it was good but it just wasn't the same.
Yes!! the part with Sweetums running after the car (again) it was in the same exact place as in The Muppet Movie. Loved that.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Incidentally, does anybody else think that Bobo and Uncle Deadly have potential as a new Muppet team?

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

Just got back from the theater. Letting it sink in. I'll review later.