We Have a Picture of Walter AND MORE NEWS!

I like the heavier Piggy, but does anyone know why they replaced the amazing 2008-2010 Gonzo as seen in Letters to Santa, youtube vrmup and Muppets.com stuff to...well this current shrimpy weird eyed Gonzo imposter?

Well, that's just great...Step aside Angelo, there's an even more dull Puppet-looking whatnot guy here to take your place as the least interesting Muppet design of the century.

Also, I wonder how Walter managed to not meet any of those frogs/bears/chickens and things that the Muppets met while travelling the world in MTM? Or do they all really just live in Leeland and Hollywood?

EDIT: That first rant aside...ohmygoshandgoodnessandthisisactuallyhappeningandmuppets!

Definitely excited to see this picture. Just the sense of fun in it is encouraging!

I like the idea of Walter being a human character's pal and roommate. I always wanted to see Muppets guest star on traditional sitcoms (like Friends) in the same way that humans guest starred on the Muppet Show. Now if only Jason Segel could get the rest of his current show's stars involved, we could have a movie called "How I Met Your Muppet."

Looks to me like they used the poser Fozzie from Season one of the Muppet Show. You can see the round thing that made him able to frown which was taken away later on.

I agree, i get that he is supposed to be "human" but all of these new puppets coming out of the "Heap" are just so bland looking. There's just no detail to them, Muppets are meant to be beautiful detailed classic characters, you put something very plain with them and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Obviously thats the point with this, but i'd like to see some actual Muppety new characters.

I'm excited this movie is happening, but i think people want to see the classic Muppets back at their best, and it seems like they are being made the background players in this film. People will just get bored with it. Already the media are looking at this as a Segal movie, not a Muppet one.

I don't agree with that at all.

Let's be honest;

Kermit is not detailed at all.

Neither is Dr. Honeydew, or Scooter, or Beaker

Most of the classic Muppets are NOT "detailed" at all. They are very simple, yet they DO have a charm.

It is NOT their appearances that are complex, but their personalities.

In fact, new Muppets didn't start to look more complex and detailed until the Jim Henson Hour.

I really wish that folks would stop trying so hard to find something wrong.

Well, I guess I'm probably the only one who was kinda hoping it'd be another Walter, a cranky old coot who'd be a great gag with S&W. LOL.

I get kind of a Princeton vibe from this Walter. Apparently meeting the Muppets is his "purpose".

I think the Muppets can be puppets and real at the same time in their universe. It's kind of like the finale of FR -- it's magic if you see it that way. They can be puppets who take on a reality if you believe in them.

Disclaimer:
We're fans, not publicists, so of course we're going to voice our critical perspective. That's what fan forums are all about so please let's remember that. So far everything here has been fairly constructive from people I know are very knowledgeable fans who loooove the Muppets.

That said, I like Walter. For some reason I thought he'd look less humanoid and more like a brown woodland creature. Did I read that somewhere or is that just jumbled in my head?

Unlike Angelo, Walter's face is open and inviting. Just looking at him makes me want to meet this little guy. He's colorful enough to grab your attention, but not too distinct as not to distract from the actual Muppets. He's supposed to be a rung lower than them so this fits. Sure, they could have done better, but this'll do IMHO. Let's just hope he doesn't take too much screen time away from Kermit and the gang.

No Pepe is kind of strange. There is no Rizzo either so maybe they're off on some sort of latte-fetching mission.

I sure hope they rebuilt the Miss Piggy puppet since the Muppets Kitchen version. She's had a blank, stale stare, stiff neck and mushy shaped head for over a decade now. If anyone deserves a star makeover it's the pig. I think the problem with her construction is that they're copying from a copy of a copy rather than going back to the iconic Caper Piggy as a starting point. I have high hopes.

This picture excites me about the Muppets!

I'd need to see the character being performed before i could really pass judgment on him. While he's not as cool looking as other muppet characters like Gonzo, Clifford, Floyd, Beau, etc. He certainly looks like he has personality.

my only 'criticism' of the character is that I think he looks an awful lot like Princeton from Avenue Q.

--Matt

This is exciting, some personal thoughts,

• I won't judge on Walter until I see him in action, with a voice, etc. But I love the idea, I really do, since he is a humanoid, he is sort of bland yes, but look at Nigel or Wayne, or George the Janitor, those designs are very simple.
• This spread makes my heart just simply explode
• I think that Pepe' could sit out on this, this is sort of a reintroduction to the 'Classic' muppets from what i've been reading, which is what we want, this is a new adaption on a franchise, and the fact that the movie is simply being called "The Muppets," i think works for what they are trying to achieve.

Aw, come on. Angelo is open, inviting, lovable and good-natured too. He even said that the Muppets are like a family...and anyone who ever says that is instantly listed as a kindred soul, in my book.

I doubt it. That's from Henson, not Disney, though it seems some of the puppets used there were in post-sale Muppet productions. Still, Henson likely won't be involved with this movie.

Looking at the puppet, I feel he looks like he would belong on Sid the Science Kid.

OK maybe detailed was the wrong choice of word, more the rest of the classic muppets have something about their look ... lets call it a trademark Henson look, that means they kinda fit in with the rest of the family.

It has to be said, these new Muppets do look distinctly different from that. I do agree about the personality thing, and I felt Angelo also lacking that big time so it made the character even less likeable. We haven't seen Walter "in action" yet so i'll reserve judgement.

I don't get people who are Muppet fans taking every tiny thing that isn't 100% positive said by another fan as them just trying to criticise for the heck of it. There are some very valid points here, and everybody's opinion is as important as the next. It's meant to be a discussion forum, even the people actually making this stuff sit around and critique it in an effort to make it better, sometimes even here. I'm super looking forward to the film, I just want it to really be the greatest Muppet Movie ever!

angelo and walter just don't have the same "look" as the rest of the muppets. for some reason they just don't fit. they don't look right to me.

i also agree that the pig needs a makeover. the head, the hair. it's all wrong for piggy. go back to classic caper piggy, that's what i say.

also, gonzo needs to be fixed. i'm sorry, but his eyes-rully? who decided to do that? i don't know what happened, but the muppets are starting to look all wrong.

yeah you did hear it. when the first script was posted, it said something about walter being a plain brown muppet and there would be a running gag about what he was

I’ve already spoken to you on this point. We all don't have to like everything you do! This is a discussion, not a contest to get people to agree with you. It's okay to like or dislike something and voice that, but you cannot continue to aggressively antagonize those who disagree with your opinion. Maybe forums aren’t for you.

I sincerely suggest you make an Angelo appreciation thread to voice your ideas on how wonderful he is rather than continuing to bug people. There you can create a space for only positive comments. But bullying other members into compliance on conversational threads is not okay.

I'll give you Piggy; she doesn't look so great in the photo (her snout looks really short and flat). Gonzo doesn't look so bad. His new design has grown on me. Nothing looks wrong with his eyes at all.

Luckily, I made a point NOT to read any early scripts. That way, I don't set myself up for disappointment if changes occur.

Because obviously, things can always change.

There is a difference between constructive criticism, and just plain saying "this is wrong, I don't like it!"

As far as I'm concerned, both Angelo and Walter have the Muppet look.

Could it be that some people are just jaded?


After all, most of us first saw Kermit and the rest of the gang when we were young kids. And kids tend to be much less discriminatory.

Could it be that some people now just expect more than when they were kids?

The bottom line is, if Angelo and Walter were smack-dab in the middle of the original Muppet Movie final, or in one of the famous group shots with Jim Henson, no one here would bat an eye.

Its only because they are new that they are being judged so much.

100% agreed. I'm enjoying these different opinions. I'm glad that MC has evolved from the kiddie pool where everything must be sugary sweet, but sometimes there are efforts to yank it back to dullsville. There's no need for censorship as long as the information being voiced isn't technically incorrect or intended to upset people.

Walter looks energized, but not necessarily Hensonesque or too terribly distinct. I think Muppets Tonight really spoiled us for top-notch puppet design. Even the less interesting characters had a beautiful look to them. But then there are always the Bubble Bills with the generic look. Both Walter and Angelo are missing that Henson-branded simplistic look. I still think Watler pulls it off better. There's just not much life to Angelo's face. There's no vivid contrast in color or personality to his simplistic design thus rendering him kind of mush. Again, he's not bad. Just no spark. It's actually a little too clean looking. Our favorite Swede has so much character to his face even though he lacks eyes. The wild bushy brows, mustache and facial contours make him interesting to look at. Still, a meh-muppet is still superior to most other puppet gangs IMHO.

Thanks for clearing that up. I suppose they went another way. I kind of wanted to see that ambiguous brown Walter, but this little guy seems fun too.

I wonder if the new dual eye mechanism has altered the exterior design of the Gonzo puppet. Disney does seem to be boosting the colors and cleaning up the designs. Janice looks fantastic these days. No more 80's pigtail! Scooter looks great too. Let's just hope these others received the same sort of polish before shooting.

Oooh! By the way. Something that most humans wouldn't care about, but fans will appreciate...Scooter's back in his shiny jacket! Did anyone notice that in the picture? They remade his jacket into a solid green cotton version a while back, but now it's back to TMS form!