Walt Disney Pictures announced development of a seventh Muppet film in March 2008, with Segel and Stoller as the screenwriters and Hoberman and Lieberman'sMandeville Films as co-producer.[2] Conceived to serve as a creativereboot for the franchise after years of being largely out of the public eye following Disney's acquisition of the Muppets in 2004, Segel and Stoller intently addressed the Muppets' recent real-world lack of public exposure and fame in mainstream culturewithin the context of the film's story. As a result,The Muppets became the first film in the series to directly acknowledgeThe Muppet Show and reference plot points from previous Muppet films. Bobin was hired to direct in January 2010, and the film's supporting cast was filled out in October of the same year with the casting of Adams, Cooper and Jones. Filming took place from September 2010 to February 2011. The film was the first theatrical Muppets production to not starFrank Oz andJerry Nelson performing their respective characters, although Nelson contributes an uncredited voice cameo.[9][10] Instead, their roles are performed by Jacobson and Vogel, respectively, marking their theatrical feature film debut as those characters.
Walter, born a Muppet and a resident of Smalltown, is a lifelong fan ofThe Muppet Show. His brother Gary intends to take his long-term girlfriend Mary on a vacation toLos Angeles. Mary wants Gary topropose to her, but feels his devotion to Walter distracts from their relationship.
The trio tour the rundown Muppet Studios, where Walter sneaks intoKermit the Frog's office. There, he overhears oil magnate Tex Richman and his henchmen,Uncle Deadly andBobo the Bear, intending to buy the Muppet Theatre fromStatler and Waldorf, who acknowledge that the Muppets could repurchase the theatre if they raised ten million dollars before theiroriginal contract expires. However, in private, Tex reveals his intent to drill for oil on the theatre's former site.
Walter informs Gary and Mary and they visit Kermit in his mansion, who realizes the Muppets would have to reunite and throw atelethon to raise the money. Though the Muppets have gone their separate ways, Kermit is convinced to reunite them. He convincesFozzie Bear to join in, having been performing inReno with the Moopets, atribute band of uncouth Muppet impersonators.Gonzo, working as aplumbing magnate, at first refuses to join, but changes his mind.Animal attends a celebrity anger management clinic sponsored byJack Black, who refuses to let him play the drums or even hear the mere mention of the instrument. The other various Muppets are recruited via "map montage".
The group travels toParis to recruitMiss Piggy, who is an editor forVogue Paris. She refuses to return, resulting her Moopet equivalent, Miss Poogy, being hired. The Muppets pitch their telethon to several networks and CDE network executive Veronica Martin agrees to air their show if they gain acelebrityhost and the Muppets rebuild the theatre; Piggy comes around afterwards and drives off Poogy. Needing enough acts to fill the telethon's two-hour timeslot, Kermit encourages Walter to find a talent. With Gary helping Walter, Mary goes sightseeing alone and eventually returns to Smalltown.
With time running out, a desperate Kermit tries to implore Tex to return the studio, but he refuses and then reveals that the Muppets'trademarks will be given to the Moopets. Kermit gives up, prompting Piggy to rally the other Muppets to kidnap Jack Black to be the host. Gary discovers Mary has left and returns to Smalltown.
The Muppets convince Kermit to participate in the telethon, which slowly gains both an audience and rising funds, thanks totelephone pledges from celebrity callers. Tex repeatedly attempts to sabotage the show, cutting the theatre's power, but the now-reconciled Gary and Mary arrive to restore it. A guilt-stricken Deadly betrays Tex and stops his second attempt at sabotage. Kermit and Piggy reconcile, leading the Muppets to perform a rendition of "Rainbow Connection". During this, Animal regains his love for drumming. Walter, with encouragement from Gary, performs a whistling act to pad the finale and earns astanding ovation.
Tex, refusing to accept defeat, deliberately crashes Kermit's car backwards into a telephone pole, cutting off the phone lines just a dollar short of the quota - soon revealed that it was actually a large amount of money off due to faulty displaying - and evicts the Muppets from the theatre. Kermit resolves to "work [their] way up again" even though they no longer have the Muppets trademark or the theater. However, the group are met by adoring fans outside onHollywood Boulevard, with Walter invited to join the Muppets as a regular, while Gary proposes to Mary. In apost-credits scene, Tex, after being inadvertently struck in the head by Gonzo, willingly returns the theatre and trademark to the Muppets.
Chris Cooper as Tex Richman, a greedy oil magnate who plots to demolish the Muppet Theater and drill for oil on its former site. He is unable to laugh until Gonzo gives him a head injury during the end credits.[13]
Rashida Jones as Veronica Martin, an executive at the CDE television network.[14][15] Jones also puppeteered Trumpet Girl, whom she named "Dolores."
Zach Galifianakis[16] as Hobo Joe, a homeless man who is the first audience member ofThe Muppet Telethon.Joanna Newsom did his brief singing voice.
Donald Glover as a junior CDE executive, who informs Veronica of the sudden production-stopping ofPunch Teacher due to a lawsuit from the Teachers' Society of America.
Archival recordings of Goelz,Jim Henson,Frank Oz,Jerry Nelson andRichard Hunt can be heard in the film throughThe Muppet Show segments in the opening flashbacks. Nelson also makes an uncredited cameo appearance as the telethon's announcer, reprising his role fromThe Muppet Show. This would be the final time Nelson and his likeness would be used in aMuppets production before his death the following year.
In 2008,Jason Segel andNicholas Stoller hadpitched a concept for a newMuppets film toWalt Disney Studios executive vice-president of production Karen Falk, and they were offered a deal to develop their script, withDavid Hoberman andTodd Lieberman ofMandeville Films producing.[2] The news became public in March 2008 whenVariety first reported that Disney had signed a deal with Segel and Stoller, with Segel and Stoller writing the script and Stoller directing.[29][30] In June 2008, Segel announced that he had turned in the first draft of his script and was hopeful that the film would live up to previous Muppets movies.[31][32][33] Later in 2008, Stoller noted that he and Segel had written an "old school Muppets movie, where the Muppets have to put on a show to save the studio". In this same interview, Stoller also confirmed that they would get as manycameo appearances and guest stars as possible, and that Segel would play a ventriloquist.[34]
Originally, the film was titledThe Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time!!!, and an early leak of the script suggested that it would feature celebrity cameos byAdam Sandler,Bill Hader,Vince Vaughn,Jon Favreau,Christian Bale,Ben Stiller,Steve Carell,George Clooney,Jack Black,Jean-Claude Van Damme,Mel Brooks,Matt Damon,Anne Hathaway,Emily Blunt,Rachael Ray,Bob Saget,Lisa Lampanelli,Jeff Ross, andCharles Grodin.[35] Another former title of the film wasThe Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made!, after an unused script written byJerry Juhl back in 1985.[36] Although early reports indicated that Stoller would direct the film,[29][37] in January 2010 it was announced thatJames Bobin would direct the movie.[38][39][40] In February 2010, additional details about the plot surfaced, indicating that the film would be about a villain that wanted to drill for oil underneath the old Muppet Theater, and that the only way to stop him would be to put on a show that draws ten million viewers.[41][42] Reports from the summer of 2010 revealed that the production team had met with the creative heads atPixar Animation Studios to fine tune the script.[43] During the summer of 2010, it was announced that the film would be released on Christmas 2011, but in December 2010, the release date was moved to Thanksgiving 2011.[11][44]
Disney'sEl Capitan Theatre (top) inHollywood was used as the exterior for the Muppet Theater. The backlot sets at theWarner Bros. Studios (bottom) served as the fictional setting of Smalltown during the "Life's a Happy Song" sequence.
Principal photography forThe Muppets began in September 2010, with the first set photos emerging in December 2010.[64] The November 12, 2010, issue ofEntertainment Weekly featured a spread aboutThe Muppets, including a summary of the film's concept, quotes from Segel and Bobin, the first images of Walter, and new photos of the Muppets with Segel.[65][66]
Hollywood Boulevard was closed for two nights in January 2011 to film a reprise of "Life's a Happy Song", the final musical number for the movie.[14][67][68] According to/Film, the shoot involved Amy Adams, Jason Segel, and hundreds of extras performing an elaborate musical number outside theEl Capitan Theatre.[68] TheLos Angeles Times also noted that other musical numbers would appear in the film, including Kermit singing his signature song, "Rainbow Connection",[69] which he played on the samebanjo that he used when he performed the song inThe Muppet Movie (1979).[14]
The film required extensiveblue-screen shots andmatte backgrounds. In the scene where Walter is running atop a dresser, the puppeteers performed Walter's choreography while wearing blue costumesagainst a blue screen.[73] The result had the puppeteers completely gone from the final shot. Look Effects were responsible for those visual effects shots, whereasLegacy Effects designed the mechanics for'80s Robot.[73] A majority of the Muppet characters were also completely rebuilt for the film.[74]
The majority of the songs forThe Muppets were written byBret McKenzie, who previously worked with Bobin on a television series based on McKenzie's bandFlight of the Conchords. One of the film's five songs, "Pictures in My Head", was produced by McKenzie and written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis, and Chen Neeman. At the Muppets performers' behest, McKenzie rewrote lyrics to remove moments where the characters directly referred to themselves as puppets.[75] McKenzie was also informed during recording sessions with the performers that certain Muppets (such as chickens and penguins) do not speak and instead vocalize inonomatopoeic sounds.[76] The film's score was composed byChristophe Beck.[77] Beck described his role as having to "help tell the story musically, providing a sort of emotional glue―I had to pay special attention to blending the many styles of music so that it felt cohesive." Beck employed instruments he considered underused, as well as ones rarely used in an orchestral setting, such as thebanjo.[78]
The film's original soundtrack was released byWalt Disney Records on November 22, 2011, followed by a Spanish version of the soundtrack released asLos Muppets: Banda Sonora Original de Walt Disney Records on December 6, 2011.[79][80]
The Muppets premiered at the 2011Savannah Film Festival,[81] and held its world premiere on November 12, 2011, at theEl Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.[82] The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 23, 2011, in Australia on January 12, 2012, and in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2012.[11][29][83][84][85] Originally, the film was scheduled to be released in the United States on Christmas 2011, but it was later moved up to Thanksgiving.[11][44] It was also the opening gala at the 2012 Glasgow Youth Film Festival. The film was accompanied byPixar'sToy Story Toons shortSmall Fry.[86] It was the first Walt Disney Pictures film to use a modified version of the studio's 2006production logo, where the name was truncated to simply as "Disney".[87]
Segel and Adams appeared atCinemaCon in March 2011, to promote the project, showcasing several clips from the film.[88][89] Clips from the film were also shown atSuffolk University in April 2011 during a Q&A with David Hoberman, Steve Whitmire andKermit the Frog.[90] Although there had been some speculation that the cast would appear atComic-Con,[91] no official announcement was made.
On August 23, 2011,Walt Disney Records releasedMuppets: The Green Album, a tribute album of popular Muppet songs performed by multiple contemporary artists, as part of the film's promotion.,[103] as well as reissuing the2006 Christmas album on November 1, 2011.[104] The Muppets also performed "Life's a Happy Song" on the November 15, 2011 episode of the American version ofDancing with the Stars.[105]
Segel hostedSaturday Night Live on November 19, 2011, with the Muppets as guests. Kermit appeared on theWeekend Update segment, doing a "Really!?!" segment.
The Muppets were guest stars on WWE Monday Night RAW and interacted with several WWE Superstars includingJack Swagger,Hornswoggle, andSheamus. They also joinedOlly Murs on stage during the UK version ofThe X Factor on November 27, 2011, to perform his new single "Dance With Me Tonight" and promote their new film.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment releasedThe Muppets onBlu-ray Disc,DVD, anddigital download on March 20, 2012, the same day the Muppets received a collective star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[106] The release was produced in four different physical packages: a three-disc combo pack (Blu-ray, DVD, anddigital copy) withsoundtrack download ("The Wocka Wocka Value Pack); a two-disc combo pack (Blu-ray and DVD); a one-disc DVD with soundtrack download; and a one-disc DVD without soundtrack download. The film was released digitally inhigh definition and standard definition. The two-disc edition's supplementary features include bloopers, deleted and alternate scenes, "Muppet Intermission", "Scratching the Surface: A Hasty Examination of the Making of Disney'sThe Muppets", the fully intact version of "Let's Talk About Me", "A Little Screen Test on the Way to the Read Through," and an audio commentary with Jason Segel, James Bobin, and Nicholas Stoller. The three-disc combo pack also includes the theatrical spoof trailers (including exclusive, unreleased parody trailers ofRise of the Planet of the Apes andFast Five) and a digital download of the soundtrack, while still including the same features as the two-disc combo pack.[107]
The Muppets debuted at No. 2 in Blu-ray and DVD sales in the United States according toNielsen's sales chart.[108] The film generated an additional $58.3 million in home media sales.[109]
The Muppets was a commercial success, accumulating a box office grossnearly quadruple its $45 million budget. It grossed $6.5 million on its opening day and debuted in second place, behindThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.[110] The following day,Thanksgiving Day, the film grossed $5.8 million for a two-day total of $12.5 million.[111] From Friday to Sunday,The Muppets grossed $29.2 million, while holding onto the No. 2 spot. Overall, the film grossed $41.5 million in five days; during which, it outgrossed every previous Muppet film, excludingThe Muppet Movie.[112][113] The film closed on April 5, 2012, having grossed $88,631,237 in North America, along with $83,171,761 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $171,802,998, becoming thehighest-grossing puppet film of all time.[6]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 95% based on 228 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Clever, charming, and heartfelt,The Muppets is a welcome big screen return for Jim Henson's lovable creations that will both win new fans and delight longtime devotees."[114][115] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[116] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gaveThe Muppets an "A" grade rating on an A+ to F scale.[117]
Film criticRoger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, praising the revitalized Muppets and their distinctive personalities.[118] Justin Chang ofVariety called it "an unexpected treat", noting that the film effortlessly blends "wised-up, self-reflective humor with old-fashioned let's-put-on-a-show pizzazz."[1]Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised the film as "A mostly winning return for childhood favorites from a prior century [that] looks to accomplish its goal of pleasing old fans and winning new ones."[119]Alonso Duralde ofThe Wrap agreed writing that, "The Muppets has the same brilliant absurdity, anarchic humor, subtle uplift and ensemble comedy that fans have come to expect over the years."[120] Both theLos Angeles Times andEntertainment Weekly praised the screenplay's self-referential humor, Segel and Adams' supporting roles, and the film's clever employment ofcameos.[121][122]
Michael Phillips gave the film three out of four stars, positively summarizing that "those of us who've had Muppets in our memory since childhood will find ourselves in a state of contentment."[123]Peter Travers, writing forRolling Stone, commended the film's musical segments, particularlyBret McKenzie's "Man or Muppet".[124]The Boston Globe also gave it three out of four stars and said, "The result is refreshing on every level, a piece of nostalgia so old it's new again, and a breather from Hollywood's 3-D digital onslaught in favor of fur and fuzz."[125] Christopher Kelly of theFort Worth Star-Telegram stated that the film was "much more than just an affectionate reimagining of familiar Muppets routines, [but it] is rooted in real emotions and characters," and that "they remain as committed as ever to doing what Muppets do best: putting on a grand show."[126]
Prior to the film's release, some veteran Muppet performers were reportedly critical about the film's portrayal of the characters.[127] Retired Muppet performerFrank Oz initially disapproved of the script and thought that the early version was disrespectful toward the characters.[128]
After the film's release, Oz clarified his earlier statements:
I thought the film was really sweet and fun, a little too safe, a little retro. I prefer more cutting edge in the Muppets. But the main thing is everybody got back to appreciating The Muppets...it brought people back to The Muppets. Although they never really left, it's always been a kind of subculture, it's always been there in our popular culture a little bit. So I'm happy that people are happy.[129]
Bret McKenzie won anAcademy Award for the song "Man or Muppet", beating out "Real in Rio" fromRio. "Life's a Happy Song" and "Pictures in my Head" were also included in the Academy's shortlist forBest Original Song.[130] Although it was the fourth Muppet film to receive an Oscar nomination, this was the first time a Muppet film had won an Academy Award. It was the first Muppet film nominated for Best Original Song since 1981'sThe Great Muppet Caper and the first time a Muppet film in general had been nominated for any kind of Academy Award since 1984'sThe Muppets Take Manhattan.
In March 2012, after the critical and commercial success of the film, Disney secured a deal with Bobin and Stoller to direct and write, respectively, a new installment.[2][142][143] Later that month, Segel stated that he would have no involvement in the sequel.[144] On April 24, Disney officially announced that the sequel was in development and thatRicky Gervais,[145]Ty Burrell,[146] andTina Fey[147] were cast in the film, with Hoberman and Lieberman returning as producers, as well as McKenzie returning to write the film's songs.[148]Muppets Most Wanted was released on March 21, 2014.[12][149]
^"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson".The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Season 8. Episode 116. March 9, 2009. CBS.
^"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson".The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Season 8. Episode 60. November 22, 2011. CBS.
^Belloni, Matthew (17 November 2013)."'The Muppets': Where's Elmo?".The Hollywood Reporter.Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved21 August 2013.
^Cavna, Michael (June 17, 2011)."The Muppets Take Coast City".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. RetrievedJune 21, 2011.
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