When it comes to the Muppets, I have very fond memories. I was a “Sesame Street” kid. I had seen “The Great Muppet Caper” and “The Muppets take Manhattan” in the theater.
“Muppet Treasure Island” was still a Muppet movie and I did think it was funny, but it made me wonder if, maybe, I had finally outgrown the joy of watching Muppet movies. When “Muppets from Space” was released, I realized that not all Muppet movies are created equal. There’s still a part of me that hopes, someday, for the glimpse of that planet full of Gonzos, even for just five minutes. I bet it’s one of the most entertaining planets in the universe. It’s also probably the one place you would want to avoid eating chicken.
In 2011, “The Muppets” hit the big screen and a new generation of Muppet fans were born. Those of us that had been aware of the Muppets prior to the movie were relieved. They were back to the tried and true formula of a very simple plot filled with madcap sidetracks, sly over-the-kids’ heads humor, slapstick, puns, and tons of hilarious celebrity cameos that it’s hard to believe the actors agreed to do.
“The Muppets” also saw the return of Uncle Deadly, who served as the evil sidekick to Chris Cooper’s Tex Richman. Uncle Deadly is a blue-gray draconian character who looks kind of creepy and acts downright scary. He was one of the more obscure Muppets, having only made a couple of appearances in choice episodes of the original “Muppet Show” before going on to whatever kind of storage Muppets go into when they aren’t used. I hope it isn’t mothballs, since that seems both smelly and unfair.
This year, Disney released “Muppets Most Wanted”. The simple plot of this one is a case of mistaken identity. The Muppets go on a European tour with Ricky Gervais’s Dominic Badguy. While there, the world’s most dangerous frog, Constantine escapes from a Siberian prison. Constantine just happens to be a dead-ringer for our favorite banjo-playing frog and he manages to take over Kermit’s identity. Kermit, of course, ends up being thrown in a Siberian prison.
“Muppets Most Wanted” is much more like the original “Muppet Movie” than “The Muppets”. Maybe it was just because “Muppets Most Wanted” went back to having Kermit and Piggy as central characters. Walter is a cute addition to the new Muppet line-up, but he’s also more cute than anything else.
He’s definitely part of the Muppets but his place isn’t quite as well-defined as everyone else’s. After all, you’ve got Kermit as the still-reluctant leader, Miss Piggy as the Diva, Fozzie as the eternal optimist, Rolf as the go-to pro, Gonzo as the resident weirdo, and Bo as the well-meaning village idiot. Walter is the new kid. He can’t be the new kid forever. Even Pepe the King Prawn got to evolve into the bringer of the sass.
You wouldn’t think seeing Kermit being thrown into prison would make for good comedy, but that’s always been the genius of the Muppets. This is a movie franchise spawned by a show that featured an episode with Vincent Price and another with Alice Cooper. Neither of them were really considered good comedy material. Then, put them on a stage with Muppets and a very strange magic takes place.
Any Muppet movie has to have celebrity cameos. The original had surprising turns by Steve Martin, James Coburn, and Orson Welles. “Muppets Most Wanted” has Danny Trejo, Tom Hiddleston, and Usher. The biggest surprises of the celebrity spots in this movie for me were probably Ray Liotta and Stanley Tucci. There are some funny references to roles the actors have played or what they actually do for a living outside of the world of the Muppets. My favorite joke of the movie involved Danny Trejo’s character. I can’t help but think that Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson would probably love what happens to the “Great Escapo”, even if Super Nanny wasn’t included.
The humor works on some levels that most of the audience in the theater won’t appreciate until they’re at least ten to fifteen years older. Muppet movies are true family movies, though. For every joke that acknowledges the smallish people got to the theater because of bigger people, there are jokes squarely targeted for the littler set.
The Muppets have personalities that are entirely human. They make mistakes, they jump to conclusions, and they turn a fuzzy, distinctive look on our own foibles. Kermit’s indecisiveness, Animal’s rebellion, and even Miss Piggy’s hunger for fame and fortune are all entirely relatable. It’s easier to see when it takes the cuter, furrier form than when it is actual people.
For all the prison settings and international intrigue, “Muppets Most Wanted” is also very comforting. The bad guys are all bad guys who have been clearly labeled. Dominic’s last name is Badguy, which he insists is pronounced Badjee and is actually a French name. Everyone in the audience knows better and even Kermit thinks something is off, but he goes along with his friends. Even in real life, we’ve had a situation where everything felt off and we ignored that feeling only to find out that we were right.
As an audience, we all know that the Muppets are going to be okay. That’s part of the fun of Muppet movies. Despite the messes that the Muppets get into, often by their own hands, paws, or flippers, they always seem to find a way to get through them. They also always stay together. A Muppet movie is about the journey from “What did we just do?” to “We’re all right now!” There’s unexpected adventure and humor along the way.
Music has always been part of the Muppets. They burst into song at the drop of a hat and have a song for just about everything. I still get “Movin’ Right Along” stuck in my head more often than I’d like to admit. Musicals are not usually my thing. There are some exceptions and they are almost always something like “Chicago”, unless the Muppets are involved. If it’s a Muppet movie, then I’ve got no problem with frequent musical interludes, especially when those musical interludes have participants like Danny Trejo and Ray Liotta.
“Muppets Most Wanted” features mostly original music for the Muppets to perform. There are introductory numbers and songs to emphasize a character’s emotional state. Some of them have some carefully orchestrated visual elements that add to the humor of the situation and some of them just feel like the Muppets decided it was time to sing. This time around, I don’t think the songs will be quite so pervasive as songs from previous movies, but then again, it hasn’t been that long since I left the movie theater.
“Muppets Most Wanted” is just as much fun to watch as you’d think it would be. It’s the kind of movie that families can watch together and enjoy. It’s a comedy movie with prison breaks and, most importantly, Muppets.