"The Muppets" first preview screening

Hey guys, long time lurker, not much poster.

On August 18th through Neilson Movie View I had the great privilege to see a preview screening of Jason Segal's new "The Muppets" movie coming out in November.
This is what Neilson sent me.

Ask anything!

No spoilers please, but was it good? Was it the final, polished cut? How long was it? How does it rate with the other 6 motion pictures? And is Pepe in it very much?

Personally, I really liked it. There wasn't one person in the audience that didn't rate the movie as "Excellent" or "Very Good". A handfull of scenes felt nostalgic to the original Muppet Show while watching it.
"Getting the gang back together" happened a lot shorter than I had liked, however. The last scene involving what they shot in front of the El Capitan seemed rushed, but it was only the last couple minutes of the movie.

There was some minor temporary background music and some unfinished armwire bluescreening, but it was the whole movie. Afterwards they picked me and a handfull of other people to be in a recorded focus group, so the feedback given might translate into a bit of editing.

It felt like about an hour and 45 minutes.

I can say it was was much better than Muppets from Space. I liked it better than all the other Muppet movies except for The Muppet Movie.

He has his scene.

Oooh, well that sounds exciting and it seems that we have similar taste in Muppet films. I'm sorry to hear about Pepe, but it appears that Scooter and Rowlf are in it a whole bunch so that's a good trade-off.

How was Scooter in this? I know a lot of people will be asking that.

Scooter was great, David Rudman just did an amazing performance as him and I could barely tell the difference between him and Richard Hunt. He was in it a lot, the same 'ol Scooter as he was in The Muppet Show. Lots of screentime for the fans.

I'm glad. He's a personal fave of mine. I'm sure you'll get lots of questions!

Thanks for answering my questions and welcome to the forum!

I won't spoil myself too much either XD I know if I do then I'll never go to see the movie.

Were there really a lot of smaller characters that got some good lines? Or did they only appear in group shots?

And were the villians awesome?

Oh, and for the purposes of my fanfic, did the movie ever touch upon how the others left, and in what order?

Oh yes, lots of minor Muppet characters got their own lines.

..Meh. It's what you would expect Bobo and Deadly to be, but overall the "villains" seemed underplayed.

Thanks!

Is there much Rowlf?

I would say so. He has his own bit in "getting back together".

Did you sign anything limiting what you can and can't say about the film?

Are Pepe and Bobo the only post-TMS characters (not counting those created for the movie) to have lines or significant screen time?

Nope! The only limitation here is morale on spoilers.

Yes. And even in that, people who don't want much of Pepe won't be disappointed.

How was Walter? Was he a good enough character that we may see him again?

Walter was good for the part. When looking at it, as Muppet he seemed like more of "just a guy", a more calm personality than the Muppets crew being characters and celebrities.

WoW!!!

What about the cameos , who where in it ?

& how were the songs too ? i read an artical where kermit sings "Pictures in my head"

Is it good enough that we will get to see a another muppet movie in a few years time ?

If you've kept your eyes off the list of cameos, don't look here!

Of the cameos, the only I really noticed were Zach Galifianakis, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mickey Rooney. The prison scene with Wanda Sykes and Danny Trejo was apparently cut out.

The "Pictures in my Head" song I really enjoyed. Some of the human-only songs could be perceived as a bit cheesy, but it really set the mood for the rest of the movie.

Be prepared for some good Muppet Show style songs.

I think it was definitively enjoyable enough for another one. But you have to go see it in November for it to count!

How are the previously unheard recasts (like Wayne & Wanda, Uncle Deadly, Link, Strangepork) compared to the originals? Do any of them get enough to really be able to judge?

And my gf will be wondering if Robin gets any lines...?

They all seem to fall into place like they would regularly. While all those characters don't get too much (except for Uncle Deadly), they're all pretty much the same.

Unfortunately for your girlfriend.. While you see very little glimpses of Robin, I guess they decided to leave him alone for this one.

Random question, but from what you saw do you see the appeal of the Muppets transcend the fans and bring in new fans? I would love for this to ignight a whole new batch of fellow Muppet fans!

I think this was best said from a woman in the focus group. She was a mother of two boys, who have never seen much of The Muppets. After watching the movie, she told them about how she used to watch them when she was a kid. She got a yell of, "YOU used to watch THE MUPPETS?!?".