Best Muppet Film

[dpurves]

Twenty-six years later, and my favorite is still easily TMM. In fact, not only is it my favorite Muppet movie, but it's one of my favorite movies period. Beyond that it was the "origin" story of the Muppets (kind of, sort of), and even more than the great and incredibly catchy songs and multiple cameo guest stars (how often do you see films today in which so many big stars are willing to do a short cameo), but there was just something so magical about that movie. I've been trying to put it into words for so many years, but always fall short. And as much as I enjoyed some of the other movies, to me that magic was never duplicated, and probably never will. Plus it inspired me to buy my dream car, a 1951 Studebaker, and although mine isn't rainbow colored, getting it was still a dream come true, and well worth the 2 1/2 decade wait.

 

[yiieepyepyep]

actually not....

I dont know if there is anyone out there that agrees with me...but i actuallly didnt really like MCC...... at all.

i hope no one wants to throttle me now...

but then again, I only like muppet productions that were directly made by Jim Henson himself.
after he passed away...in my opinion...the muppets lost it.

so to get back to to the subject Id have to say my favorites are the muppet movie and MTM.
not the great muppet caper cause even though its got the great syncronized swimming scene...I CANT STAND charles groden. whos with me?

 

[TogetherAgain]

as for a favorite muppet movie... I won't allow myself to choose until I see TMM again. See, the only time I've seen it, well, lets just say I was the only one really paying attention, and a lot of people were talking through it. And it was almost a year ago anyway. So yeah, no comment.

but I do want to say, yiieepyepyep, you are certainly not alone in thinking the muppets lost "it" after jim henson died. I have seen the same opinion expressed countless times here at MC. In fact, I've seen it so much that I've started compiling a mental list of things that were in all the muppet movies from pre-1990 that are not in any muppet movies post-1990, besides the name "jim henson" in the credits.

And I just felt like sharing that.

 

[theprawncracker]

1. The Muppet Movie
2. The Great Muppet Caper
3. Muppet Treasure Island
4. It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Carol
5. The Muppets Take Manhatten
6. Muppets From Space
7. Muppet Christmas Carol

In that order. I love MCC but I like MFS better because of the audio commentary on the DVD it's hillarious.

 

[dpurves]

but I do want to say, yiieepyepyep, you are certainly not alone in thinking the muppets lost "it" after jim henson died. I have seen the same opinion expressed countless times here at MC. In fact, I've seen it so much that I've started compiling a mental list of things that were in all the muppet movies from pre-1990 that are not in any muppet movies post-1990, besides the name "jim henson" in the credits.

And I just felt like sharing that.

I was pretty surprised when I saw the beginning of this thread, and so many people were listing MCC and MTI as favorites. To me the problem with those movies is that it just seems like the human actors are the leads, and the Muppets, who were once the centerpieces of their movies, were more of supporting players. While I didn't like MTI at all, I thought MCC was an okay movie. But I saw it as a Michael Caine movie more than as a Muppet movie.

I'm also glad to not be alone in the opinion that the Muppets have really lost something since we lost Jim Henson. There was something in TMS and the early Muppet movies that has just been gone in the last 15 years. I guess there's a really good chance that that magic may be gone forever.

 

[DerekJ]

so to get back to to the subject Id have to say my favorites are the muppet movie and MTM.
not the great muppet caper cause even though its got the great syncronized swimming scene...I CANT STAND charles groden. whos with me?

Hear, hear on the "Caper" celebs:
Part of what worked about the first TMM was that every celebrity seemed to want to go along with the gag, from Bergen to Hope to Orson Welles--
While GMC, OTOH, distracts you with every star (except for John Cleese and the performer cameos) looking hideously embarrassed and making you feel squirmy about watching it...It's particularly painful for a Diana Rigg "Avengers" fan, to watch her camp it up and get outta there, but at least she hides her grudginess better than Robert Morley does.
And ten years after he retired, Grodin STILL gets kidded about his smirky phone-in "love scenes" with Piggy--You'd think he'd get a "Beethoven" joke once in a while, but nope...

Also, TMM had a "magical" hopefulness about it, while GMC just ran Muppet punchlines through mechanically, and Oz's TMTM just didn't get the idea that the Mups weren't supposed to live in the "real" New York--
Think we would've gotten anything remotely like Kermit's "Who are your friends, Doc?" speech in either of Jim and Frank's cold, sterile sitcom environments?...

...Which is why I repeat: "SS: Follow That Bird" is still the TRUE TMM sequel.

 

[yiieepyepyep]

right on derek!

Im with you all the way derek!

although as far as my personal taste goes....I kind of like the idea of the muppets actually living in NYC (even though it was actually in lockers in NYC).
and nothing (again i my opinion) beats the "peoples is peoples" lines. I guess thats a line that you either love or hate....I love it.

and also the part where the producers son says "but dad, I want to do something different!" and the dad answers "you want different, try putting jello in your pants!!!"

that gets me every time!!!

on another agreeing note derek....I do love TMM very very much and it is obviously the classic of the bunch...and if i may be allowed to change my decision ...it is also my favorite.

oh screw it i love them both.

p.s. glad you agree on the mcc issue------also you together again----and apparantly i owe you an email and i will write it soon....hope you can forgive me I really enjoyed your email.

 

[That Announcer]

TMM is a great film, but some of the jokes fall flat and it seems to be struggling for an identity. Is it a movie within a movie? Is it a parody of documentaries? Is it a metaphor for the Muppeteers? Is it a fairy tale? Is it a film that supports vegetarianism? It's all these things, and so it can get confusing.

For whatever reason, Brian Henson is the best director the Muppets have ever seen, or will ever see. MTI is hands down my favorite, but MCC is really good as well. I think I'll have to go with MTI, chiefly because of Clueless Morgan. However, the best Muppet cameo of all time was in MCC- Bobby Benson!

 

[DerekJ]

TMM is a great film, but some of the jokes fall flat and it seems to be struggling for an identity. Is it a movie within a movie? Is it a parody of documentaries? Is it a metaphor for the Muppeteers? Is it a fairy tale? Is it a film that supports vegetarianism? It's all these things, and so it can get confusing.

Once we get past Kermit's "sort of approximately" explanation, a few gags later we realize this isn't the Muppets in the human world, this's occasional humans in the Muppet's own alternate-universe world--
Where, if you happen to say "Drinks are on the house", everyone really does go up on the roof to look for them.

(Also, even back then I'd recognized director James Frawley from the better episodes of the old "Monkees" TV series, and pretty much knew what to expect.)

For whatever reason, Brian Henson is the best director the Muppets have ever seen, or will ever see. MTI is hands down my favorite, but MCC is really good as well.

Even if the writing wasn't up to the old days, at least Brian seemed to be serious enough to want to tell actual (if kiddied-down) My First versions of "Treasure Island" and "Christmas Carol", in between the Muppet gags--
Rather than reduce all the book characters to self-referencing character-cast gags, as Disney did with its CC.

Which, even by comparison, really made MFS (next, after MTI and MCC, of the "Yay, we bought the company, time to start making another comeback!" corporate new-owner produced contractual-obligation movies) look like They Just Didn't Care--
The Brian-era Mups may have thought they needed classic stories as a "crutch", but at least it was something, for ninety minutes...

 

[Harvey Towers]

I'd like to say a few words in defence of The Muppets Take Manhatten.

Firstly, it is the film that challenged the Muppets - took them out of their comfort zone and let them appear in a much more grown-up and sophisticated film.

The music ventured to emotional depths hither to unexplored by the Muppets and developed the characters of Kermit and Piggy as well as introducing Rizzo (proving that there is life before Gonzo.)

It also surely included some of the best human co-star performances from Jenny and Pete while the video postcards mantain the Muppet feeling of mayhem and spontaneous madness.

So, I have a soft spot for MTM. My main Muppet reference throughout my early years and containing some of the most poignant and magical Muppet moments ever.