Ryan McNeil
The world needs more Muppets. For some of us, they were our first friends and teachers. They spoke to us through a flickering box, told some silly jokes and taught us to keep pressing forward. However, like so many good things in life, their star fell. We grew up, we became harder to entertain, and we ultimately moved on and relegated The Muppets to cute three minute internet spots.
Such a fate is not befitting of these wonderful characters. We needed more of them, we just didn’t realize we did. And what’s more, it turns out they needed us too.
THE MUPPETS introduces us to Walter, his big brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams). Mary and Gary are headed on vacation to Los Angeles, which just so happens to be the home of Muppet Studios. Given how the sun rises and sets for Walter on everything Muppet (it doesn’t hurt that he is one), leaving him at home just isn’t an option.
Sadly, when the trio arrives at Muppet Studios, a sad sight awaits. The place has seen much better days, and now stands condemned. It’s such an afterthought, which has actually been snatched up by Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), an oilman who hopes to raize the theatre and drill under it for oil.
When Walter overhears this dastardly plan, he knows it won’t stand. He convinces Mary and Gary to help him find Kermit the Frog, and hopefully get The Muppets back together in time to put on one last show and save their theatre.
The Muppets’ relationship with the silver screen has been a checkered one. After making the leap from TV show with 1979’s THE MUPPET MOVIE, the characters would come together two more times on screen – in THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER and THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN – to capture the magic that fans loved so much. After those three films, Jim Henson’s untimely death would cast a shadow over the property going forward. There would be three more feature films (THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, MUPPETS FROM SPACE, and MUPPETS’ TREASURE ISLAND). Sadly, in all of these films something always felt off.
I only bring up this history lesson to set up the influence of the film’s star and co-writer Jason Segel. Segel is very clearly influenced by that classic era of Muppet lore – the TV show and the first three films. Not only does this film embody the determination and optimism that those films exuded, but also the structure has returned. Those stories had the characters doing what they do best: Working to put on a big show and achieve a greater goal. It’s this formula that allows Kermit to articulate how much he believes in his friends. It allows Fozzie to come through time after time as the best sidekick a frog could ever want. And it allows Miss Piggy to walk the line between diva and warrior princess, and remind Kermit why he loves her so much.
Segel must have this era of The Muppets committed to memory, because it’s these elements that make up the bones of this new story, and ultimately what allows it to thrive. These sorts of inclusions are harder than they look, and that they work is a testament to Segel’s passion and the guidance he received by those trusted with The Muppets’ legacy. As hokey and starry-eyed as the world of The Muppets might seem, people like Segel truly believe in it. If there is any doubt, watch his performance. Not even Marlon Brando on his best day in his day could pull off that level of heart. Segel is a believer: He has worshipped at the altar of felt and now turns to us to testify.
The story that Segel and co-writer Nicholas Stoller have decided to tell is a bold one. It’s one that acknowledges how much has changed since The Muppets were last stars, and much of what has changed has left the gang with shaken confidence. The bittersweetness it gives the story is truly unexpected – after all Kermit the Frog is the one who usually reminds us to believe in ourselves. If Kermit, our lifelong cheerleader and conscience, has stopped believing in himself, then I hope you’ll pardon me if I want to huddle in the corner and cry.
As enchanted as I clearly am with this film, I am not here to suggest that it is without flaw. Some of the plot devices don’t pay off properly, and other feel familiar in a bad way. Likewise I’m sad to say that there’s a song or two that feel shortchanged.
However, what I will suggest, is that when the dust settles those flaws do not matter. A Muppet movie is never about perfect cinematic execution or pushing boundaries. It is about finding the time to play the music, the time to light the lights, and make us forget about our cares for an hour or two. They are about taking the silliest of ideas – like chickens clucking in tune, or manic moments of pyrotechnics – and playing them for cheap laughs. Ultimately, The Muppets are about making us believe in what’s possible, and that we are all worth so much more than our nerves and fears will have us believe. With that mission statement in mind, I dare anyone to call this film anything less than a rousing success.
Much like Walter, I grew up watching The Muppets. Inevitably, I outgrew them – but a few years later I would find them again, and be drawn back into their charm and corniness. After that they would come and go every few years, influenced by those around me reminding me how wonderful these characters were, and the occasional spot of new content catching my attention. My attention might have come and gone, but The Muppets were always there…always ready to cheer me up any time I turned to them.
That selflessness is what makes Jim Henson’s creations so special. The characters, and the artists who create them, aren’t in it for themselves. If they were, they would have packed it up years ago when the world got so cynical and people’s threshold for entertainment and amusement dropped. Instead, these entities of togetherness and hope are in it for us. They only want to put on their show and bring us some joy. What’s more, is that because they embody pure goodness, they are more than willing to wait for us to come to them – or come back as the case may be.
Super excited. Glad you’re happy with it. That is all.
Come back and let me know what you thought of it when you see it later this week.
I’ve been psyched for this since I heard Segel was tasked with writing the new film. Glad to hear you loved it. Between this and Hugo, Thanksgiving looks like a smash.
Looking forward to reading your thoughts. There are so many great releases coming out, I wish we got the holiday this week too!
Whoa! Seeing an advance of this in about two weeks time. Pretty excited…now! I’ll stop back and let you know what I thought.
Lookin’ forward to hearing your thoughts on it mate! Tomorrow I’ll be seeing it for a second time.
I had basically the same reaction as you. It’s not a perfect film by any means. There are definitely flaws. Then again even the early Muppet films have flaws. Flaws are okay so long as they don’t really bring down the film. And like you, I didn’t find that they brought down the film at all. The feeling the film gave me of happiness and joy was just so great and so amazingly consistent that I too would give it a 4/4 rating. What a great time at the movies.
To paraphrase an old saying, I might not be able to define Muppets – but I’ll know them when I see them. And on Saturday morning, I definitely *saw* them.
Any Muppet outing that can make me cry with its music is a bullseye…and this film did it twice.
Can’t wait to see the movie and go back to my childhood days. Did you get my email last week? I kept meaning to follow up – if not check your junk mail!
Rebecca
I got it and have been knocking around ideas to submit. Thanks again for thinking of me. When you have a chance to dig into THE MUPPETS, come on back here let me know what you thought.
I just got home from seeing this. And no, it’s not a perfect movie, but in a strange way, I think the flaws may even enhance the film. While I know intellectually that it has the weight of Disney behind it, it feels very much like a labor of love, like something honest made by people who love these characters.
It’s cute. More importantly, it isn’t cute in that “we’re marketing this to you” way. There’s something genuine in this film, even in its silly self-awareness.
I’m sold. I really enjoyed it.
Something I love about Muppets is that they are always aware that they are in a show or a film. They seem to take a devilish joy in breaking the fourth wall (“You could have just said that, instead of wasting two minutes of the audience’s time”).
I hear what you’re saying about the Disney-ness of it…but in a way, I think this might be the least Disney-like project they’ve done since Henson merged with The Mouse. CAROL, SPACE, and TREASURE all seemed to be playing right to the kiddie crowd that Disney always courts. This time out, the key players involved seemed to want to make a broader statement.
Yep. I agree with that completely, and that more than anything is what makes it work. It didn’t feel like a 98-minute toy commercial or a push for an upcoming attraction at a theme park. It was in many ways a nod to the old-school Muppet stuff that I grew up with and loved. It’s fun and sweet and heartwarming for the sake of those things rather than because I’m supposed to go buy something afterwards.
If only Disney would do this with everything.
Well said.
Of course the addendum to that entire statement is the wish that this is just the beginning of a Muppet rennaisance!
My fingers are to the point of revolt after writing so much about The Muppets already, but this won me over in the opening musical number. (Exact moment: “Life’s a fillet of fish, eh?” “…yes it is!”) Loved it. I loved it as a Muppet movie, I loved it just as a movie, and I loved it as a call for humor that doesn’t wade in the cynical or the flat-out mean. There’s always room for the CC Roasts and South Park and such, but let’s make some space for the absurd and the joyful. We need the Muppets.
Nothing made me laugh harder than the Tex Richman rap, save for maybe Rowlf’s “hey what about my montage bit” line. Awesome.
It was difficult for me to stay on-message myself when writing this. There was much temptation to just start flailing and hollering “Itssogooditssogooditssogood…”
And you’re right, biting wit is wonderful, but the world could use a higher dose of joyful laughter too.
For me, the biggest laugh came from Animal’s answer of “Act-ing. Nat-u-ral.”