Possible NEW Muppet Movie?

[unclematt]

It wasnt a comercial failure but it was not as much of a success as a Very Merry Muppet Christmas

 

[beaker]

I just don't buy into the doom and gloom, now or never talk. It's always around and serves little purpose. I am excited about the prospects of a new project, but we'll have to wait and see. The very fact that the Muppets are still out there and growing in the public's consciousness (albeit in ways I don't prefer) speaks to the fact that they have a place in our culture and aren't going anywhere.

A project will come along and get green-lit down the road. It will be a longer road than fans would like, but we'll keep waiting. The Muppets have plenty of songs to fill the musak!

Well this brings up a very key question;

at what point does one simply say "well, it was a good run, thank goodness we have such a rich half century of work to celebrate and look back on"
versus "Isnt it about time those who bought the Muppets show some good faith and make an attempt to bring the Muppets back?"

The Muppets were bought in a bargain basement fire sale as part of a
post Pixar last ditch hail mary political salvo, and right when Muppet fans thought it couldn't get any worse...the real axe came down *after* Eisner left the building.

Im glad Sesame is going strong as ever, Im excited that Jim Henson Company is able to focus on fantasy films again, commit to bring back Fraggle Rock and focus on a bunch of new older branded puppet shows.

But at the end of the day, one has to ask...how much longer is too long before it becomes apparent that nothing will be done?

At this point Muppet fans are excited if there's a calendar, a tv appearence and a dvd reissue. Oh how far we've come from broken promises, and the days when we were swimming in Muppet revival goodness.

9 years ago on this forum, we were all happily awaiting the glorious return of the Muppets...which kind of came, but not fully...yet by the end of 2002
things were looking mighty darn good. Then 2004 came. And you have to wonder, are the core Muppet performers and supporters happy about this massive stall?

Im hoping sometime in 2008 we'll flip on the computer, hit our bookmarks, and have our jaws on the floor from unbelievably exciting Muppet news and a clear new strategy.

Till then, one can only wait and hope for the best while realizing the Muppets continue to slip farther into obscurity.

 

[Luke]

It wasnt a comercial failure but it was not as much of a success as a Very Merry Muppet Christmas

Yup, VMX has certainly shifted a ton of DVD's over here in Europe and is on our TV schedules for christmas. Oz is just sitting on store shelves. I don't think financially it was that much of a failure for them since at some point early on they seemed to stop putting money into it, decide not to promote it and hide it away as much as possible. There were a few good moments but given all the problems i don't think they expected any triumphant Muppet return by that point, it was more a display to the shareholders and viewers that Disney now owned the Muppets.

 

[frogboy4]

Im hoping sometime in 2008 we'll flip on the computer, hit our bookmarks, and have our jaws on the floor from unbelievably exciting Muppet news and a clear new strategy.

Till then, one can only wait and hope for the best while realizing the Muppets continue to slip farther into obscurity.

The Muppets just aren't slipping into obscurity lately. They are very, very slowly inching forward, but it is a forward move. I'm not pleased with the pace. I'm not too worried either.

It's not just Disney moving tentatively with the Muppets. Henson has been moving far too slow with the new Fraggle movie. That should have come before Crystal. I don't think they understand what a goldmine they're sitting on with the Fraggles in the current marketplace. But they're doing all this stuff with Scrumps and indie work. Like Disney with the Muppet Show, they're giving the fans the seasons of Fraggle Rock, calendars and plushes too. When's the movie going to start production? Fans and non-fans alike express so much more interest in a Fraggle film because of the length of time it has been between projects for them.

Just saying that I know it's taking a while and some project seem to be stalled or fading, but not the characters. They remain strong. And the Muppets are making the rounds these days more than they have for years. Appearances are great. I want more too.

 

[Drtooth]

The Muppet Wizard of Oz was not a commercial failure. Not in the least. It didn't skyrocket anything, but I don't think that was expected by anyone? You may like it and many fans feel the same. Many don't. It wasn't perfect, but it had some great moments. I know many non-fans that really liked Oz and appreciated how it followed the book rather than the MGM production. Disney didn't launch any significant project afterward, but I don't think that was in the cards. I do think the special was rushed and that the director was upset about Disney's refusal to give it more money and a theatrical release.

Yeah, but that's the hook. It wasn't a real failure, but it wasn't an instant surefire mega ultrahit. And these days, if you don't have a sucess right off the Bat, it's not worth looking into a second time. And since almost everyone in the Muppet community (plus a few TV critics) didn't like it, they assumed it was a failure.

The Muppets just aren't slipping into obscurity lately. They are very, very slowly inching forward, but it is a forward move. I'm not pleased with the pace. I'm not too worried either.

I wouldn't doubt for a second they aren't fading into obscurity. People still know who they are, and there have been various mentions of them in different media projects. Look at Family Guy and American Dad. 1 out of 5 episodes has some reference to a muppet in it. Why, they had Jim Henson and Kermit trapped in a Superman 2 prison square on American Dad last week.

Problem is, they want to do something, but are waaaaay too reserved in doing it. They've pretty much pulled out of the last few projects just as they were completed. Unless it's Hanna Montanna or some dumb Playhouse Disney thing, Disney isn't really doing much of anything now.

The Muppets were bought in a bargain basement fire sale as part of a post Pixar last ditch hail mary political salvo, and right when Muppet fans thought it couldn't get any worse...the real axe came down *after* Eisner left the building.

I stated that a while ago. And now that Disney owns Pixar, they have no use for them. Or it at least seems that way. I mean, the best we got since OZ was having 1 out of three comics published before they randomly decided to pull out of Disney Adventures (while not even aknowledging the fact it was gone).

If they have a top secret project, they better see it through this time. As bad as next muppet was, they would have been on TV. And then we had the Mockumentary that they decinded not to finish. They could at least leak this stuff on Youtube.

 

[unclematt]

In the past two years French TV has ad more Muppet Coverage than the US has.

 

[Luke]

It's not just Disney moving tentatively with the Muppets. Henson has been moving far too slow with the new Fraggle movie. That should have come before Crystal. I don't think they understand what a goldmine they're sitting on with the Fraggles in the current marketplace.

I think they do understand now but they've just always had this bad sense of timing and judgement. As you say, the Fraggle movie is perfect for the current marketplace, we should really have been seeing it about now, or earlier. Except years back they never understood the Fraggle potential until HIT Entertainment went out there and agressively marketed it and multitudes of fans signed petitions for DVD's. When the people behind the Smurfs or Chipmunks were planning their return movies, Henson were buying up Fantasy books that never made it past development. We just have to hope now they are into Fraggle stuff it isn't too late or won't have the same reception it would have.

... and i cannot for the life of me work out why people think Next Muppet was a bad idea. Sure it isn't the format you want the Muppets to use permanently but surely, reality TV is hot, American Idol is very hot - anybody could see that the Muppets doing an American Idol spoof (as a special or mini series) would have got everybody talking about them and quite possibly have been the single project since Jim's death that actually brought the Muppets back to mainstream popularity, got mass press attention (especially if American Idol sued or something, lol) and THEN a new "Muppet Show" could have been a possibility. It was a no brainer surely, but the people at ABC and Disney hesitated, amid all the changes at Muppet Holding Company and again, chance lost!

I'm sure something will come along eventually and catch on, but so many past opportunitys lost. I agree that things are definitely (finally) beginning to move forward, slowly. It's not a case of them doing nothing with the Muppets, they are looking for opportunities to put them out there more and more in the public eye and some of the appearances (Deal or No Deal, Americas Got Talent) have been exactly right to gain the kind of momentum and attention they need. It's not time for a weekly show yet, give it a year at least and hopefully a TV Movie and many more appearances beforehand.

 

[frogboy4]

Next Muppet must have tested terribly. I mean they could always have stuck the episodes on Muppets.com. I mean, pre-writer's strike Disney wouldn't have had to pay jack for it! LOL!

 

[theprawncracker]

They have come out with a backpack, some cool T-Shirts, shot glasses and the daily calendar. That's a start.

They have Muppet shot glasses? !

But seriously, I'm with Luke and Jamie on this one. The Muppets are moving. Just at a snail-being-sat-on-by-a-turtle-like pace. Sure we get excited about T.V. appearances, a calendar, or an announcement, but that's because we see the potential for Disney to springboard our Muppets back into popularity.

But I also really see Luke's point about missed opportunities. America's Next Muppet would have been AWESOME! I think even MY friends would've watched it! I mean, who wouldn't want to see the Muppets-- the goofy, irreverant Muppets-- make fun of a reality show? I mean, those are the shows you love to hate, and hate to love at the same time, it's gold putting the Muppets there! I have NO idea why that didn't go through.

But anyway, I'm still keeping faith that SOMETHING is going to happen. It might not be HUGE, but it'll be big enough. We've had Jim Lewis say he's working on more character books like "Before You Leap" and the one and only Dave Goelz tell us that something is happening. I still believe his appearances and his saying that were a strategic move by Disney. To get us, the faith-losing fans pumped for something.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just full of way too much foolish optimism.

But ya know what?

So was Jim.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just full of way too much foolish optimism.

But ya know what?

So was Jim.

Wow, that part hit me like a flash of lightning.
Sir, you are inspirationally right!

Y'know, I was losing some hope myself and predicted that I'd be out of the forums in less than one month. But when you mentioned that small part--well, let's just say I had a change of heart.

I have faith as well.



Hear, hear!