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The Muppets (2011)

I'm looking forward to watching this movie and hoping that it will be good, but I'm wary. With the exception of A Muppet Christmas Carol, there hasn't been a good Muppet movie since Jim Henson died. Not only that, but the additional loss of Richard Hunt has also hurt the Muppets, particularly Statler and Waldorf. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the not so good.
 
I hope it's good. The Muppets are due for a comeback.

Also, I always thought that Muppet Treasure Island was very underrated.

(And this doesn't go under scifi & fantasy? They have pigs that can talk!! They can TALK!?!?!?!)
 
We've seen full-length Muppets many times over the years, occasionally in The Muppet Show and considerably more so in The Muppet Movie and its sequels. So it's nothing new. Henson's goal with the Muppets from the start was to break free of the "proscenium arch" conventions of puppetry and create the illusion that Muppets were full-length creatures interacting in the real world with human beings, using only the television frame to conceal the performers, and often switching to marionette techniques to show the characters full-length. Sometimes he would experiment with other techniques like Japanese-style puppetry with black-suited performers invisible against a black background, or the more high-tech equivalent with bluescreens (this is how the birdlike creatures in Labyrinth that could split apart their bodies were done). And Henson pioneered the use of CGI for character and set creation as well in The Jim Henson Hour. He wasn't a purist about technique. He was willing to experiment with any technology that could help him create fantastic images, and loved to push the envelope and break free of conventional limits.

So if the Muppet characters in this movie are a mix of puppetry in standard setups and CGI for full-length or "stunt" shots, I think that would be entirely in the spirit of Henson's work.


Emh said:
I'm looking forward to watching this movie and hoping that it will be good, but I'm wary. With the exception of A Muppet Christmas Carol, there hasn't been a good Muppet movie since Jim Henson died. Not only that, but the additional loss of Richard Hunt has also hurt the Muppets, particularly Statler and Waldorf. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the not so good.
Click to expand...

Not to mention that Frank Oz rarely participates in the Muppets anymore; Eric Jacobson has taken over his characters. Jacobson does very good impressions of most of Oz's characters, much closer than Steve Whitmire's Kermit, but it's still not quite the same.

As far as the Muppet movies go, I'm actually pretty lukewarm about The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan, while I think the later films from Christmas Carol through Muppets from Space, and the 2002 Christmas TV movie, are actually fairly effective. It's their more recent stuff that I'm less sanguine about. The loss of the Muppets' head writer Jerry Juhl in 2005 was the greatest blow to the quality of the Muppet franchise. He was the head writer for most of the Muppet productions from Sam and Friends all the way through Muppets from Space (though he wasn't involved with ...Take Manhattan, or with the mediocre Muppets Tonight TV revival). Aside from the 2002 Christmas movie (which was okay but not great), I've been rather unimpressed by the post-Juhl Muppet productions I've seen.
 
Christopher said:
We've seen full-length Muppets many times over the years, occasionally in The Muppet Show and considerably more so in The Muppet Movie and its sequels. So it's nothing new. Henson's goal with the Muppets from the start was to break free of the "proscenium arch" conventions of puppetry and create the illusion that Muppets were full-length creatures interacting in the real world with human beings, using only the television frame to conceal the performers, and often switching to marionette techniques to show the characters full-length. Sometimes he would experiment with other techniques like Japanese-style puppetry with black-suited performers invisible against a black background, or the more high-tech equivalent with bluescreens (this is how the birdlike creatures in Labyrinth that could split apart their bodies were done). And Henson pioneered the use of CGI for character and set creation as well in The Jim Henson Hour. He wasn't a purist about technique. He was willing to experiment with any technology that could help him create fantastic images, and loved to push the envelope and break free of conventional limits.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you're aware of how Hollywood and movie studios have behaved over the last few years, right? Do you really think this movie will be as "true" to Henson's principals and beliefs on puppeteering, characters, and story-telling. Or do you think it'll be Hollywood saying, "Hey, The Muppets were once popular, it's been a while since they've done anything, and lots of people these days are filled with nostalgia from their childhood! So make something with CGI and throw it out there!"

And what are the odds this will be in 3D?
 
Trekker4747 said:
Christopher said:
We've seen full-length Muppets many times over the years, occasionally in The Muppet Show and considerably more so in The Muppet Movie and its sequels. So it's nothing new. Henson's goal with the Muppets from the start was to break free of the "proscenium arch" conventions of puppetry and create the illusion that Muppets were full-length creatures interacting in the real world with human beings, using only the television frame to conceal the performers, and often switching to marionette techniques to show the characters full-length. Sometimes he would experiment with other techniques like Japanese-style puppetry with black-suited performers invisible against a black background, or the more high-tech equivalent with bluescreens (this is how the birdlike creatures in Labyrinth that could split apart their bodies were done). And Henson pioneered the use of CGI for character and set creation as well in The Jim Henson Hour. He wasn't a purist about technique. He was willing to experiment with any technology that could help him create fantastic images, and loved to push the envelope and break free of conventional limits.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you're aware of how Hollywood and movie studios have behaved over the last few years, right? Do you really think this movie will be as "true" to Henson's principals and beliefs on puppeteering, characters, and story-telling. Or do you think it'll be Hollywood saying, "Hey, The Muppets were once popular, it's been a while since they've done anything, and lots of people these days are filled with nostalgia from their childhood! So make something with CGI and throw it out there!"

And what are the odds this will be in 3D?
Click to expand...

for what it's worth, this movie is starring and written by Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother, et al), who has been very public about his love for the Muppets. He also wrote the script with his partner some time ago, and they had to push very hard for several years to get Disney/Henson Studios to agree to do the film. So, while it might turn out poorly, I do think it's safe to say this movie is a labor of love more than a cash grab.

The one thing I can't find thru a google search is whether or not Paul Williams is involved. His music would go a long way (for me) to legitimizing this movie... IMHO
 
Not to mention that I think this will be the first Muppet movie since Disney acquired the brand. It probably doesn't mean much, but It does seem like a good fit for the brand. From what I've been hearing, this is supposed to be a return to form, like the classic Muppet movies that were on the big screen. Nobody will ever replace Jim Henson. He was the Muppets. But it at least seems like they're trying, and I hope Disney doesn't screw it up. I do know people have been clamoring for a new Muppets movie and they're giving people what they want.
 
As long as the people responsible for the various YouTube clips are at all attached to it, I have little doubt that it'll be hilarious.

I just don't want to see full body shots of them very often, if at all. It's always awkward and uncomfortable when they do that.
 
Saw the teaser before PotC4. It was... not what I expected. :lol:

Still can't wait for the flick.
 
Damn. Even when the article said it was a surprise reveal, I kept thinking "Will it be now? Will it be now? How about now?" And then it was the announcer. :lol:
 
What a terrific trailer! The bait-and-switch was wonderfully played. I bet this worked well in theaters with people having no idea what was coming. It is a bit of a shame we live in an age were "trailer surprises" are nearly impossible.

I wonder how much, if any, of the footage will be in the actual film.
 
That was an incredible fun trailer. It hit me the same way the trailer for the new Winnie the Pooh movie got me too.
 
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