As a child I remember watching episodes of The Muppet Show on YTV. I remember watching over and over all the Muppet films on VHS, seeing Muppet Treasure Island in the theatre, loving Muppets Tonight and enjoying other Jim Henson works like Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
Sadly, I also remember terrible Muppet work like, well this:
Now I won’t deny, that terrible example of what The Muppets can be, did have one redeeming quality… when Fozzie asked the Wizard of Oz if he was related to Frank Oz.
When I found out that Jason Segel was writing it, I was excited. He proved himself a capable comedy writer with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and has made us laugh with How I Met Your Mother and Freaks and Geeks. I was also excited when I discovered that my favourite character, Rowlf, would be in the film.
Oh, that’s not enough…
Now let’s talk about the film… SPOILERS AHOY!
Overall a fantastic film. I absolutely adored it. Through Walter, a puppet grows up with his human brother Gary. When Walter first learns of The Muppets, he becomes enthralled, and then obsessive. When Gary and his girlfriend Mary go to Los Angeles, they bring along Walter, and go to the Muppet Studio tour.
Shit happens, and along with Kermit, Walter must get the band back together. Once together again, the gang put on The Muppet Telethon, a variety program which holds true to The Muppet Show. That’s the most important part of this film, that it is true to the original. One of my favourite moments was the closing scene of the film where The Muppets exit the theatre to be greeted by a crowd of fans welcoming them back, telling them that they missed The Muppets. Honestly this is how I felt as an audience member.
It’s good to have The Muppets back.