One of the highlights of my Thanksgiving weekend was going to see The Muppets with my sister. I loved it. Jason Segal (and Disney) did an amazing job. I think Jim Henson would have been happy with how The Muppets turned out.
Many of the articles and reviews of The Muppets characterized the movie as a last-ditch effort to save a dying franchise. This surprised me a little, because I truthfully had no idea that the Muppets were dying out.
They have always been a part of my life, and I still consider them to be highly important to me. As a kid, I loved everything that had to do with the Muppets, including the obviously sub-par Muppet Babies and Muppets Tonight. I can’t remember how old I was when I first saw Muppets Take Manhattan, but my earliest memory of profound, desperate sadness is when Kermit wakes up in the hospital and has amnesia. And I watched The Muppet Movie countless, countless times.
Someone expressed surprise to my mom that my sister and I were so excited to see a kids movie. My mom correctly explained that it may look on the surface like a kids movie, but it was actually directed at large part exactly at me and my peers, given that we are the Muppet generation.
Furthermore, there were too many things in the movie that felt like it was made especially for me! They include:
- My girlfriend, Rashida Jones
- My boyfriend, John Krasinski
- The dreamy Donald Glover
- Music by Bret of Flight of the Conchords
- The truly marvelous song, “Me Party,” which may become my new personal theme song
In the end, I think what truly impressed me the most was the general faithfulness to the original humor and spirit of the muppets. They managed to update it without ruining it. I know now that this movie was intended to reboot the franchise. It’s going to be very, very interesting to see what Disney does next with it, and whether they can maintain that same spirit moving forward. I feel skeptical that they can, but then, nothing about the Muppets is cynical.
