My first formal introduction with the Muppets was last year at Christmas, when my mom got the first two seasons of “The Muppet Show” on DVD as a gift. I had watched “Sesame Street”, of course, and knew that the Muppets existed, but I had never actually watched the show before. Well, I went through those DVDs during winter break, and now I’m an avid Muppet fan. I’m going to make those discs skip one day, especially the ones that contain my two favorite episodes (the ones hosted by Elton John and Rudolf Nureyev, if you’re curious).
So when I heard that a new Muppet movie would be coming to theaters, I was understandably excited. I hoped, though, that with all of this effort to revive the Muppets, that the movie would be as good as all of the hype made it out to be. I lucked out, since this movie was terrific. It isn’t just a kid’s movie — in fact, when I went to see it, there were more adults in the theater than kids. Not only that, but there’s quite a bit of adult humor in the movie, too.
“The Muppets” follows two brothers, Gary (Jason Segel from “How I Met Your Mother” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, who co-wrote the script) and Walter (operated and voiced by Muppeteer Peter Linz). Gary is a human, Walter is a muppet. They live in Smalltown, America, which looks like a town from those cheesy ’50s movies. The movie itself is purposely cheesy, which only makes it cuter.
Walter and Gary have loved The Muppets since childhood. Walter, especially, is obsessed with them, for they are the only other muppets that he knows. Walter has posters, stuffed animals, watches the show constantly, and even has a Kermit the Frog wristwatch.
Ten years later, Gary plans on going on a ten year anniversary trip to Los Angeles with his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams). Mary is a teacher, and is slightly put off by how Gary always has Walter tag along with them for everything. She’s expecting to eventually marry Gary, but the movie constantly hints at how he’s been dragging his feet. Right before they leave for Los Angeles, Gary invites Walter along so they can go on a tour of the Muppet Studio. Mary, who feels pushed to the side, finally agrees when Gary promises to take her out to dinner on their anniversary night.
When the trio arrives in Los Angeles, they find the Muppet Theater completely broken down. Walter, who sneaks into Kermit’s office, overhears a plan to totally end the Muppets. Oil tycoon Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, who many will recognize as being the dad from “October Sky”), buys the Muppet Theater and name so he can drill for oil beneath the studio. There’s a loophole in the contract, and it says that if the Muppets can raise $10 million, they can buy back the theater and their name from Richman.
Walter, after a massive (and hilarious) freak out, decides to bring the Muppets back together. They broke up a while ago, and each went their separate ways. Walter, Gary, and Mary find Kermit at his mansion, who agrees to help them find the other Muppets and reunite. Fozzie Bear is in Reno, singing with a Muppet cover band called The Moopets, which is made up of gritty and disgusting puppets. Gonzo is a plumbing magnate, Animal is in an anger managament course, and Miss Piggy works as the editor of Vogue magazine in Paris.
The gang finally comes back together, and they decide to put on a telethon in order to raise the $10 million. The problem is, the Muppets are considered has-beens. Nobody cares about them anymore, and the new generation doesn’t even know who they are. They must try to go back into the spotlight, lest they lose their theater and name forever.
Since this movie’s also a musical, there were obviously many song and dance sequences throughout, all of which were delightful and catchy. My favorite was Tex Richman’s rap. The song itself was okay, but the fact that it started so randomly — and that it’s Chris Cooper of all people rapping — is what made it great.
I think the fact that the movie was cheesy on purpose only made it better. Even though it obviously takes place now, it has a ’50s feel to it, judging by how Amy was dressed and how Smalltown acted. The cheesiness also made the movie appropriate for kids. Gary and Mary (I love how their names rhyme) would kiss each other on the cheek, and each had their own bed in their hotel room.
Since this was a big movie, of course there were many celebrity cameos. Some were delightful, like Neil Patrick Harris, Alan Arkin, Zach Galifianakis (as a hobo, no less), and Jack Black. There was a nice balance of young and old celebrities, with Selena Gomez and Rico Rodriguez (Manny from “Modern Family”) representing our generation not knowing who the Muppets might be. There were also obscure cameos that adults would be the most likely to get, like James Carville and Mickey Rooney.
Though this was a star-studded movie, what’s sad is that Alan Arkin was the only person in the movie who had been a guest star on the original “Muppet Show”. True, in Kermit’s office, there had a wall filled with pictures of the guest hosts from the show. It’s a shame, though, that they couldn’t get any other of the original guest stars back. What was terrific, though, were the references to Jim Henson, who created “Sesame Street” and “the Muppets.” He died suddenly in 1990, so the movie honored him by having a picture of him and Kermit on Kermit’s office wall, and had a banner with his photo on it outside of the Muppet Theater.
Overall, “The Muppets” was absolutely fantastic. Though I would’ve loved to have seen some of the old guest hosts in a cameo, it doesn’t matter too much since the celebrities who were in the movie were great. This movie is hilarious and had me smiling the whole time, and you can tell that it brought back many memories for those who watched “The Muppet Show” when it first premiered. You don’t need to be a Muppet fan in order to enjoy this movie, since it offers something for everyone. It is definitely one of the best family movies of the year.
