The "Can Fraggle Rock make a comeback? What does the show mean to you ?" thread

We all know that there are FR DVDs, Taco Bell promotions, and reruns on the Hub. But now that a new company owns the movie rights, can FR make a comeback? Not as a new show, but an increased popularity of the old show and possibly a movie? I sure hope so. We need shows that remind us how dependant we are on each other and how important peace really is.

But what do you think?

I understand where all the love for FR comes from, it's an extremely cute show, and very funny.
I hope the movie that will eventually come out helps it comeback.
If it came back as a show do you think it'll be international again?

Maybe, maybe not. I hope so, though. There are plenty of places that need FR's message besides America.

Agreed. The whole point of making FR in the first place was to stop wars. If it makes a comeback I hope it goes international again.

I would really like the show to make a comeback, as I think the show's message of understanding others is really a timeless message. However, I don't exactly know if the Henson company, as has been discussed in a lot of other threads on here, is in position to put the Fraggles back on the map. It will be interesting to see if any news breaks on the movie in the coming months.

I know this might sound silly, but I think if the Fraggle movie is put in the right hands, it could have the potential to be in the department of critically-acclaimed all-ages appealing children's movies, like Tintin or something like that. If the script isn't "OMG teh fragglez are in teh real world" and just stuffed with cheap gags, but instead something reflecting the core of the show, it could really go well.

Corey was so passionate about all the meddling the script was getting. It very well could have been like that, and I'm sure Regency would skew the film that way. Part of me feels that the Smurfs movie came out of someone sitting at one of the story meetings and writing down every idea Corey complained about.

There is no way a Fraggle Movie WOULDN'T take the Fraggles out in the real world. And if it's truly the real world and not a cramped up studio set, it would at least be appealing on a visual level. Nothing, and I mean nothing gives the illusion that the Muppets are real quite like taking them outside and having them mingle with real people, getting filmed in natural light. That's why I love Murray on Sesame Street.

But it has to be done RIGHT with a heartfelt, intelligent script. If it degenerates into a "What's this? What's that?" type of movie, it would just be the same old crap over and over. Though I would hope a LARGE portion of the movie takes place in Fraggle Rock and the Gorg's garden... all rebuilt with a larger budget that gives it a nice depth of course. I LOOOOOVE how Sesame Street looks like a bustling, busy part of New York in Follow that Bird (and to a lesser extent, Elmo in Grouchland)... much more realistic than the stuffy studio sets. Very quiet there all the time.

Even without a movie, Henson basically has that, Dark Crystal and Labyrinth (not to mention older works) from the Jim era. They would want to pump that up as part of his legacy no matter what. I hate the catch 22 of them not getting great merchandise until they have a project coming, but they can't have enough hype for a movie until they have great merchandise.

Me? I'd be happy to just see a volume 3 of Fraggle Comics. Those things were brilliant!

That's my biggest problem with the idea of the Fraggles in the real world plotline. It's an easy trap for just a series of gags shadowing in the place of the plot. It may be a tougher sell for the movie if it's mostly restricted to the rock, but I think it would force the scriptwriters to have to actually write a solid plot. But I'll take anything if it can get some nice new merchandise, like stuffed animals that actually resemble the show's characters.

It needs that real world connection, but it is something that can go very wrong, very fast. There is a LOT of Fraggle Rock to explore in the movie, and that could be a huge springboard for any Outer Space adventure.

Still, I wish Henson got that Doozer Preschool show off the ground. That would have been an excellent way to get the Fraggles back out there AND take advantage of the fact they're just doing digital animation/puppetry now. At LEAST we would have got Doozer toys out of it.

HC doesn't seem to be able to do much lately, but they're trying. It must have been a huge blow to lose Jim Henson, the driving force behind the whole company. I miss him, even though I never knew him.
In the meantime, as many people as possible should show FR to people who don't know about it. That's one of the best ways we can help right now.

I really would like the show to return on a different channel besides the Hub because some people don't even get it and where I live I can't watch it because it's on at 7 am and I'm usually in class. Kids really need to watch the good shows,not the stuff they show today on TV. I was over my friend's house and her little sister was watching Fish Hooks and it's so stupid.

If only the company that owns Fraggle Rock would promote it more like Disney does with the Muppets. With Youtube videos,Facebook,Twitter,etc. I can understand if the company is busy working on other projects but if they just did a test video on Youtube and tons of people love it,I know they'll continue to do them.

I just hope that when they plan the movie,they don't change the characters' personalities or something like the Smurfs movie. If I were them,I'd watch reruns of the FR to get an idea of what the movie's plot line should be.

Good idea. I'm glad that someone besides me believes that the movie someday, somehow, will come out. Let's hope it isn't really terrible. I, for one, believe in being optimistic. It may take years, but Fraggle Rock will rise again.

As much as I love Fraggle Rock (believe me, I am incredibly passionate about it), I don't know if the market will ever allow it to thrive. First, there's the studio/distributer market, and then there is the general public.

The way I figure it, I think the execs involved have too many assumptions about old franchises - that they had their moments, or that they needs something to "spice them up". Look at Smurfs or The Chipmunks to see what old franchises "need" to have (I enjoyed the the poop joke in the first Chipmunks movie stands out).

Can Fraggle Rock successfully relaunched? I think so. But I don't think it can happen on its own terms; I think the Rock needs a blank slate, but otherwise I believe that it can return, it'll be new, but the core fundamentals will be the same.

I think Fraggle Rock could do good on a DVD movie release...but theatrical, not sure if it would do very good. Even a TV movie would be good. I mean it would great to ressurect ALL Jim Henson stuff, but it's just a different world today. Glad to have the Muppets around still, but Fraggles...Dark Crystal...etc... I don't know maybe it's me...it's a very hard market and very different today.

Some how, I'd rather no movie than a cheapo DTV release. DTV movies have such varying quality... animated ones look like 90's Saturday morning cartoons... live action ones tend to look like TV shows... unless they have a huge budget. An FR movie demands a theatrical budget. The puppet building alone would cost a fortune. The Muppets lucked out by only having to build so many of them. But Fraggle Rock, well... Red's built... that's it. We'd need Gorgs, Doozers, background Fraggles... not to mention we'd love the budget to make Fraggle Rock look like a realistic deep cave. Again, look at a typical Sesame Street episode, then look at Follow that Bird.

I don't think a DTV budget would hold all of that.

The problem is, Jim held a lot of sway with the company. And even back when he was a dynamo doing everything himself, he needed a business partner to go in for projects. Like the Henson/Columbia partnership ever since the 80's. I don't want to go through the explanation again, but they didn't have any good ones lately.

(Snicker) OH the stuff I could tell you about how the 1980's cartoon almost turned out. The only reason I'm more comfortable with the movie was reading up on how the Smurfs were going to be caricatures of celebrities and various different colors. I'm not making that up. Oh... and look up Smurfs Barbie Girl on Youtube... yeah... that's a LOT more hipster sell out than the movie would ever be.

Still, thechanges in personality bugged me... and I hope they need not invent another Fraggle for no reason. I don't like Gutsy Smurf at all... I wish they replaced him with Vanity in the final project.

Er... I... what person came up with an idea like that?! Ugh, I feel a little faint. Celebrity caricatures in varying colors?

I love the Fraggles very much, even though I did not grow up watching them and my only exposure to them was through the Muppet Family Christmas TV special when it aired, and I want them to do well. I just don't want them to be fart joked and diva-ified. I don't want a Chipmunks or a Smurfs. There is a bright side to the Smurfs movie, though. They are releasing the old comics in English, and I've bought every single volume

That was the show Hanna Barbera planned on doing. There's a Smurfs coffee table/art book that gives that little anecdote. Suffice to say, Peyo managed to have first refusal and final say and we got blue Smurfs that aren't Marx Brothers. Seriously, Jokey was ALMOST Harpo (or Groucho... I forget the specifics).

Yeah... the fact that they're actually popular again makes me pretty happy. I LOVE seeing the original comics (far better than the show ever was), and I'm starting to see more retro styled merchandise, even stuff for kids... I'd give the movie a solid C- and that's far generous. I don't want to see a generous C- for a Fraggle Movie. It should at least be as high quality a film as The Muppets was, only without such a frantic pace. I really wish Corey's original script would be purchased from Weinstine... they have NOTHING to gain from holding onto a script they're never going to produce... he once stated in his blog that everything that they forced into the Smurfs movie was everything he was trying to keep out of the Fraggle movie (including the completely pointless Guitar Hero sequence). We need someone with that integrity to write the film...someone who can stand up against forcible gimickiness that in the end impresses no one.

I really hope that Fraggle Rock makes a comeback. I can understand what everyone is saying, but if Disney buys Fraggle Rock, ( and I am assuming that they have not, but I have started a thread on that called Does Disney own Fraggle Rock?) then, as I like to say, Fraggle Rock will be in good hands.