The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

For the finale of “The Muppets Month,” I will be looking at the 2005 TV movie, “The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.”

Kevin Carr started his review out by saying, “It’s kind of a shame what’s happened to the Muppet movies. I remember the days when they were the event films of the summer. The first “Muppet Movie” broke new ground and was a rousing success at the box office. However, when Jim Henson died in 1990, some of the magic died with him. “Fraggle Rock” and “The Bear in the Big Blue House” didn”t quite continue the magic of Kermit and friends. (And don’t get me started on that hideous “Muppet Babies” cartoon!)”

After a while, the Muppet movies were downsized to made-for-TV status. Even the Sesame Street movies like “Follow That Bird” and “Elmo in Grouchland” were better done than the Muppets. Maybe the reason was because of the Disney purchase years ago. The Muppets were no longer a property of someone. They are now another part in the corporate kids programming business. Besides, who needs a frog in love with a pig when you’ve got talking mice and ducks?

However, when you look deeper and actually find (and watch) the new Muppet stuff, some of the creativity is still there.

Carr said, ‘The latest Muppet movie is “The Muppets' Wizard of Oz,” which follows in the great steps of Jim Henson by turning a story on its ear. In a strange way, the Muppets have gone full circle, considering their earliest film were TV movies of classic stories like The Frog Prince. (I happen to be a big fan of the old Frog Prince movie that introduced us to little Robin the Frog years before “The Muppet Show” hit the airwaves.)”

In “The Muppets' Wizard of Oz,” the Muppets are now supporting characters in their version of “The Wizard of Oz.” Famous singer Ashanti is the main actress as Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas who is trying to get out of her small town and become famous. She misses an audition with the Muppets and gets stuck in a tornado on her way home. Her trailer is picked up by the twister and sent to Oz.

This is where the Muppets arrive. Dorothy’s prawn shrimp Pepe (Bill Barretta) comes to life as a Muppet (which mimics Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots from “Shrek 2”). Every Muppet stand-ins play characters from the land of Oz. The Munchkins are rats, led by Rizzo (Steve Whitmire), Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson) plays all four witches, Kermit (Whitmire) is the Scarecrow, Fozzie (Jacobson) is the Cowardly Lion and Gonzo (Dave Goelz) is the Tin Thing.

There’s a nice amount of Muppet humor, which outdoes the type of simple kids shows. For instance, when Scarecrow is introduced, Kermit says to a crow that it reminds him of the film “The Passion.” The crow angrily replies by telling him to not spoil the ending of the movie. That joke will go over the heads of most children, which is fine. It’s those things in the film that make it fun for adults to watch.

The movie is smart enough, and there aren’t too many songs to slow down the pace. Ashanti does a fine job working off of the Muppets. It’s sad that Queen Latifah and David Alan Grier as Aunt Em and Uncle Henry never get to enjoy with the Muppets but Jeffrey Tambor does as the Wizard.

Carr noted, “The DVD is a little weak on special features. However, the little that we’re given is a lot of fun. There’s a hilarious outtake reel, which is always a treat with Muppets. Watching them flub their lines and stay in Muppet character reinforces the feeling that they are real. There’s also a behind-the-scenes tour with Pepe the shrimp. Finally, there’s an extended Quentin Tarantino interview with Pepe that is pretty funny. Of course the kids aren’t going to know who Tarantino is considering he has yet to direct something that isn’t rated R, but it’s fun to watch for the parents.”

When I saw this with my sister, we both agreed that this movie did not look like it was meant for children. However, if children see this film, I don’t think they will be harmed by it. Then again, if parents want to check it out first before showing it to their children, that would be a smart idea. As a TV movie, I don’t think it’s that bad, but I would also say that it wouldn’t hurt to watch it, so definitely see it when you can.

Alright everyone, that concludes “The Muppet Month.” I know that there were a few really famous ones that I left out, but have no fear, I will be looking at those soon enough. Look out for what I have in store for every one next month.

Muppets from Space

Out of every Muppet movie since the first 1979 one, “Muppets From Space,” released in 1999, is probably the least best in the franchise. That’s not an easy choice, since the movie has a number of hilarious one-liners and a basic Muppet anarchy that’s enjoyable. It’s a nice movie, but when looking at the Jim Henson-style amazement and overall intelligence, “Muppets From Space” lacks that. It’s entertaining enough, but doesn’t have the formula the Muppets are masters at doing.

Gonzo, played by Dave Goelz, sees he’s having a difficult time with who he is, taking time to think about where he came from, scared that he’ll always be a “whatever.” Brian Orndorf said in his review, “When an alien civilization attempts to communicate with the depressed blue daredevil, Gonzo is puzzled, driven to comprehend this mysterious development.” Also looking interested is K. Edgar Singer, played by Jeffrey Tambor, a member of a secret government team looking to investigate alien incidents. With every sign saying to communicate, Gonzo goes to meets his own people, while Kermit, played by Steve Whitmire, and the Muppet gang go to support their friend, called in to rescue him when Singer brings him in for severe interrogation.

Orndorf said, “There’s an absence of inspiration floating around “Muppet from Space” that director Tim Hill (“Alvin and the Chipmunks”) can’t seem to suppress. It’s a flat Muppet feature with an exciting premise, handing Gonzo a rare opportunity to hog the spotlight, giving him a poignant story of belonging that seems ripe for a meticulous investigation. Instead, the picture is a mishmash of dark and light moods (with a dash of hallucinatory imagery) struggling to squeeze humor out of pedestrian situations, supported by a soundtrack of funk hits from the 1970s that’s just completely wrong on all levels. The tunes fit as comfortably as a cable knit sweater in July, creating a crater in the picture where a thoughtful run of musical numbers should rightfully be.”

Orndorf continues, “There’s a gloominess to ‘Muppets from Space’ that’s disconcerting. While Gonzo’s story is remote enough, dealing with existential concern and violent outbursts from Singer (Tambor is miscast here as a frustrated threat), the script heads in a few puzzling directions,” mainly Rizzo, also played by Whitmire, and his story as a tortured lab rat trapped in a cage. The Muppet tricks are wonderfully crazy and hilarious, yet a few twists add a little meanness that loses interest. Nothing’s really violent, but the typical Muppet insanity is a little unkind for this movie, which doesn’t go well with climatic moments for an emotional relating.

Orndorf noted, “Making beautiful music together are the Muppet performers, with this 1999 film merging the classic line-up with personalities from the short-lived ABC program “Muppets Tonight.”” Rising from the once in a while strange onslaught unharmed are Pepe the Prawn (Bill Baretta), a moving addition to the Muppet ranks fine, and Bobo the Bear (Baretta), who plays Singer’s bumbling assistant (“The goat?”). While familiar faces are put in the back for this movie (Kermit and Fozzie Bear just cameo), the new generation of Muppets give nicely hilarious moments to the weak movie, giving an unusual feel to the proceedings.

Also there are placements of late ‘90s pop culture influences, including a running joke with Rizzo and him being a fan for the girl group “Mice Girls,” “Independence Day” and “Shawshank Redemption” parodies, and many cameos from actors of the decade, including the worst insult comic Kathy Griffin, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes, here reprising their “Dawson’s Creek” roles, Ray Liotta, Andie MacDowell and David Arquette. Orndorf is right when he said, “Nostalgia fanatics will have a blast with many of these cameos.”

Orndorf mentioned, “After an hour of amusing, occasionally uproarious shenanigans with Gonzo and his frantic friends, ‘Muppets from Space’ dies an unnecessary death once the moment that pays off all the alien suggestion arrives. Subduing the comedy to stage some vibrant extraterrestrial pageantry, the movie loses focus, reaching for awe with a lackluster conclusion. A shame, really, but the climax is a harsh miscalculation that ends the film on an unsatisfying note.” Even though the laughs it gets right and the memorable characters it shows around, “Muppets from Space” is only a little note in the franchise proving once again just how badly Jim Henson’s careful direction is missed.

Despite all of this, “Muppets from Space” isn’t really all that bad as some people say it is. I personally thought this was a nice addition in the franchise, and entertaining enough that it will keep your kids attention. Especially with Kool and the Gang’s classic song Celebration playing in here. If you have children who love the Muppets, or if you are a Muppets fan yourself and want to see all of their movies, don’t miss the chance to see this one. Don’t listen to all the negative reviews this movie got. See it for yourself and decide on your own.

Alright everyone, look out next week for the exciting conclusion to “The Muppets Month.”

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Jim Henson’s Muppets are back for their third film, “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” released in 1984, an enjoyable time which continues the tried-and-true method used in “The Muppet Movie” and “The Great Muppet Caper.” Kermit, played by Jim Henson, and the gang are seniors at Danhurst College, where they perform a highly successful musical called “Manhattan Melodies.” The students at the college are so passionate about the show that the Muppet friends convince Kermit that they should perform it on Broadway. This is really striking to Miss Piggy, played by Frank Oz, because Kermit promised to marry her once he made some money. Sadly, once they come to the Big Apple they’re met with disappointment and rejection, and are forced to sleep in storage lockers at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. By September, the team is tired and lost all hope. Seeing that Kermit is blaming himself for failing them, they choose to look for work somewhere else and leave Kermit to go on alone.

Kermit becomes friends with Jenny (Juliana Donald), an aspiring fashion designer whose father, Pete (Louis Zorich), owns a diner which is busy despite that the waiters are talking rats (Richard Gallagher said in his review, “the lead rat is named Rizzo (Steve Whitmire), an inside joke which will be lost on younger viewers”). Jenny tries to help Kermit find a producer who will take on his musical, but what he doesn’t know is the Miss Piggy stayed in New York because she thinks that Jenny is trying to steal Kermit from her. Gallagher noted, “The story’s arc is fairly predictable, but there are enough amusing bits and bright musical numbers to satisfy both children and adults.” Adult audiences will enjoy the cameo appearances by Linda Lavin, Liza Minnelli (daughter of Judy Garland), Gregory Hines, the late Art Carney, James Coco, the beautiful Brooke Shields, Elliott Gould, John Landis and particularly the late comedian Joan Rivers teaching Miss Piggy cosmetic sales and Dabney Coleman as a creepy Broadway producer.

Gallagher stated, “’The Muppets Take Manhattan’ benefits greatly from a surprising number of effective exterior scenes which were shot on location on New York City streets and in Central Park.” The film even has appearances by New York locals such as Mayor Ed Koch and Vincent Sardi, Jr. (the owner of Sardi’s Restaurant, where a famous scene happens). Fans of the Muppets are really going to enjoy the film. On the converse, if Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, the Swedish Chef and crew are not your interest, well, then you shouldn’t even bother reading this review or watching the film.

“The Muppets Take Manhattan” is in some ways a usual “Let’s put on a show” musical, but it is filled with Muppets charm and humor and is increased with so much fun and energetic songs. There are enough smart moments to keep adults interested and entertained, and children are sure to be satisfied from beginning to end.

Now in all honesty, this is actually a really nice movie, especially with the saddest song in Muppet history Saying Goodbye, which is probably going to make kids and, maybe, adults cry when listening to it. Besides that, I think it actually is a good movie for the whole family to watch, so if you saw the first two Muppet movies, or are a fan of the Muppets overall, then never miss out the chance to see this movie.

Alright everyone, now with that one done, check in next week where I skip ahead to what people have considered to be the one that was the nail in the coffin that ended the Muppet movies out with, but in actuality, is not that bad, in “The Muppets Month.”

The Great Muppet Caper

If you don’t bring realism in this to think a frog and a bear could be identical twins, that a pig could be a fashion model, and that an assortment of unusual animals could bring themselves to be regular citizens of a big city, then this is the movie for you.

In this movie, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie the Bear and Gonzo the great (put together by Muppet performers Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Dave Goelz), play newspaper journalists trying to help their jobs after making a headline story. Specifically, they need to know who stole Lady Holiday’s, played by Diana Rigg, jewels while they were distracted by taking pictures of a chicken on the other side of the road.

To make sure they interview the successful fashion designer, the three need to go to their main office in London. Trying not to spend a whole lot, the Muppets travel in an airplane’s baggage compartment and book a room at the rundown Happiness Hotel. Donna Gustafson said it best in her review, “Best known as a place where they can “park their carcasses for free,” the money-strapped reporters fit right in with the establishment’s local residents (composed of the other Muppet characters we’ve all grown to know and love.”

However, the investigation starts really bad when Kermit mistakes Miss Piggy, voiced by Frank Oz, an aspiring model who is working as a receptionist, for her really famous employer. Gustafson said, “Smitten by his amphibian charm, the pretty pork-chop doesn’t correct the identity mix-up until the real Lady Holiday falls victim to another robbery.”

When everyone starts to blame Miss Piggy as the one to blame for the crime, Miss Piggy goes to Kermit and the Muppets to clear her name by solving “The Great Muppet Caper” and capturing the real thieves.

Gustafson noted, “Like all other Muppet movies, this one relies on the popularity of the zany personalities, crazy antics and running gags.” Parts where the Muppets ride bicycles and motorcycles, drive taxis and buses, along with swim and dance, also show the amazing skills of their creator Jim Henson and his team. Insert for hilarity are cameo appearances by Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov, Jack Warden, Peter Falk, John Cleese and Oscar the Grouch, voiced by Carroll Spinney.

Despite the story having portrayals of robbery, property damage, telling lies and gunplay, nothing are more believable than Kermit and Fozzie’s striking resemblance. Neither are the small moments of supermodels in small clothing, some water ballet performers, or a comment about betrayal any more interesting than Miss Piggy in a swimsuit.

Silly from the start, “The Great Muppet Caper,” released in 1981, is not really about heroes and villains. Instead, it’s about having fun and bad puns. The only mystery the movie ever shows is “The Muppets.”

As a Muppet movie, this one is just perfect. The fourth wall jokes in this movie really hit the right mark, and I think everyone who loved the original movie will really get into this one. Definitely do not miss the opportunity to see this movie because you will absolutely love it.

I’m really sorry for posting this late, as I had a long day. Check in next week for the next installment in “The Muppets Month.”

The Muppet Movie

This month is going to be a very special month because I will be dedicating it to the Muppets. I think I might have mentioned them briefly, but now I will talk about some of the films they have done. Let’s start this month with the 1979 classic, “The Muppet Movie.”

There was a time where doubters thought a Muppet film couldn’t work and only humans could be in successful films. Jim Henson and his team proved them wrong. “The Muppet Movie” was really successful when it was released and had several sequels in the coming years.

“The Muppet Movie” is basically a road movie. After meeting a Hollywood agent and hearing a big film studio has auditions, Kermit the Frog, played by Jim Henson, gets in his car, picking up all his friends on his way. First he meets Fozzie Bear, played by Frank Oz, telling jokes in a bad café. Then they meet Dr. Teeth (Henson) and the Electric Mayhem (Oz, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz and Jerry Nelson), then Gonzo (Goelz) and his chicken friend Camilla (Hunt), then the unique Miss Piggy (Oz), and finally Rowlf the Dog (Henson). All of these Muppets decide to drive to Tinseltown to make it big. However, there is a problem with the shady Southern businessman Doc Hopper. He wants to open a chain of frog-leg restaurants and wants Kermit to be his spokesman. Doc won’t take no for an answer and tries about everything he can think of to get what he wants.

The Muppets themselves are great, Charles Durning as Doc Hopper is, as Tom Stockman says, “a suitably hissable bad guy,” and the celebrity guest actors who cameo are all great, mainly Mel Brooks as a mad scientist and Steven Martin as an incredibly ironic waiter. The best part of the movie is hands down the songs, the main ones being the Oscar-nominated Rainbow Connection and Gonzo’s song I’m Going To Go Back There Someday (which gave the plot for “Muppets From Space”). “The Muppet Movie” is great for the whole family and Jim Henson smartly had jokes that both adults and kids would enjoy. Stockman admitted, “For instance the joke, “Turn left at the fork in the road” cracks me up every time.” The sad part about watching “The Muppet Movie” 39 years later is seeing how many of the cameo actors (not to mention Henson himself) have passed away. In fact, most of them have: Orson Wells, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Richard Pryor, James Coburn, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Dom DeLuise and Madeline Kahn have all passed. Fortunately Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, Elliot Gould, Cloris Leachman and Carol Kane are still alive. Also Rainbow Connection should have won the Oscar for “Best Original Song” in 1979. Stockman asked, “I mean does anyone remember the winning song from NORMA RAE?!”

If you are a fan of the Muppets and have not seen this movie, why are you reading this review? What were you watching in your childhood instead of this classic with the whole family sitting together? You have to see this movie, especially if you grew up with the Muppets. Then again, who hasn’t seen the Muppets in their childhood? Everyone that I know of grew up watching the Muppets and Sesame Street, as they were the ones who introduced everyone to the Muppets. This one is a family classic that everyone will adore, I promise.

Now that we have talked about this classic film, check in next week when I look at the first sequel to The Muppets franchise in “The Muppets Month.”