The Muppets
Originally Published Date:
November 24, 2011
Everyone knows how big a fan I have always been of The Muppets. It goes back to my childhood and the fact that I grew up watching The Muppets. It was a connection I never lost. When I started playing drums, I identified with Animal the most. Not only because he is the drummer for Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, but because he is so wild and crazy. He represents the Muppet that I would want to be most.
Last year when I decided to get a tattoo, it was just an obvious choice to choose Animal to put on my arm. I have always had a stuffed Animal sitting on my drum set.
I was really excited last year when I heard that Jason Segel was working on a big screen comeback for The Muppets. In recent years, their movies have lacked that Jim Henson feel of the mixed child humor with just the dash of humor for adults.
Lately, I got into a Canadian radio talk show called Q. They recently interviewed Kermit and he said that this movie would hopefully allow adults to introduce The Muppets to THEIR kids and hopefully the adults are doing that. I can proudly say that my 17-month-old daughter can correctly identify all the main characters of The Muppets and goes to sleep each night watching The Muppet Movie. Also on this show, Q, he interviewed Jason Segel who explained the magic that The Muppets have. I think that he really hit the nail on the head. I don’t think that I could have explained it better myself.
“There is a reason The Muppets have endured for 40 years. I can’t think of anything else that’s done it. And I figured out why, I believe. It’s that The Muppets reminded us of who we wanted to be when we were kids. They remind us of our best selves. You know there’s something about this wide-eyed innocence, ‘I can achieve anything’, that the world sadly beats out of you as you get older, you know? And you come to terms with the reality that ‘no I can’t be anything’, I’ve got to pay the bills you know? Well, The Muppets have never lost that. They DO believe they can accomplish anything and they DO believe friendship is more important than money. You know all the things that when we were kids, we hoped that we held onto those things. And then down the road it just goes away. But not for The Muppets. So, for an hour and a half, you get to remember what you wanted to be.”
He is right. When I read “The Outsiders”, there is a Robert Frost poem they recite and it says that nothing gold can stay, meaning nothing beautiful can remain that way. We have to enjoy it while we can. I know I have enjoyed The Muppets for 33 years and I am so proud that I can pass them down to my kids to enjoy the same way. When Savanna sees Animal on the TV screen and she screams with excitement. I love it!
The Muppets are also clean and wholesome without being too corny. You watch Nickelodeon today and some of the content on there is downright disturbing. To know that a program director saw this and gave it the green light to be shown to kids is upsetting. The Muppets is something you can let everyone watch without a worry that they will do something inappropriate.
My hats off to the people who have given their lives to work with The Jim Henson company. They are so dedicated to keeping these characters so 3 dimensional that you forget that they are puppets with someone else controlling them. If you look on Muppet Wiki, there is extensive information about each and every Jim Henson creation that these puppeteers must remember in order to keep the character’s continuity perfect. I admire the hell out of them. When there are interviews surrounding a Muppet project, they always interview Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy, Gonzo, Animal etc. You never hear the names Steve Whitmire (Kermit), Frank Oz & Eric Jacobson (Miss Piggy, Fozzy & Animal) or Dave Goelz (Gonzo). These are the people who are dedicated to keeping these characters as real as possible.
Being such a fan of The Muppets for so long and knowing that Jason Segel co-wrote this new movie, I have faith that he will make The Muppets comeback the way they need to. I can’t wait to go and see the new movie and I hope everyone will remember their childhood for an hour and half and have fun watching it.
Until next time,
Thanks for reading!
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POST SCRIPT
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I wanted to add my admiration for HOW Jason Segel approached getting The Muppets comeback movie done. The Muppets have been owned by Disney since 2004 and sadly have not done anything substantial with the franchise. Being a life-long fan, Segel wanted to see them make a comeback. No one was doing anything to make it happen. So, he went to Disney and kept asking and asking them to do another feature film. After working on the script for four years and Disney kept putting it off, Segel decided to approach it a different way. Segel went on a talk show and announced that they were working on a new Muppets feature film. This put the pressure on Disney to deliver and that is how The Muppets were brought back to the spotlight. Thank You Jason Segel, because of YOU, The Muppets were brought to a whole new generation!
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