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Can “The Muppets” really ever come back? Or more to the point, can they ever be really what they were without Jim Henson? Although I enjoyed “Muppet Treasure Island” and to a lesser extent “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” these movies came out when I was a kid and thus I loved them automatically. I agree with many that The Muppets’ heyday was when Jim Henson was still alive.
Sure, The Muppets have been carving out their own space in current popular culture with their YouTube shorts. Perhaps that’s the best way to be relevant in the modern era, but short covers of pre-existing songs, despite being a part of Muppets tradition, don’t even equal up to a full episode of “The Muppet Show.”
Now we have “The Muppet Movie,” not the original from 1979, but the new one that came out this past Thanksgiving weekend. At first it might seem like the new film is trying to steal from the old, even reusing the same title. But I’ve seen the film now, and I can attest that it’s an homage to The Muppets of years past, while it still paves the way for the puppet troupe to stand on their own legs in the future.
In one of its most controversial moves the one of the main characters in the movie is a brand new Muppet named Walter. The filmmakers don’t try to insinuate Walter into The Muppets right away, however. He’s their biggest fan, a young man who grew up with his more normal brother Gary, and who finally found a place he feels he might fit in through “The Muppet Show.” In many ways Walter’s journey is reminiscent of Gonzo’s; someone who is different from everyone else in the real world but who finds a family in The Muppets’ ragtag group.
“The Muppet Movie” doesn’t do a lot in terms of plot that needs dissecting or discussing. It’s fairly predictable, but that’s not the point. What it works hard to do, and what I’d argue it at least achieves in part, is to bridge the gap between The Muppets of the Henson era and the role they might have for future generations.
What Jason Segel, who co-wrote and starred in the movie, tries to do is to acknowledge where The Muppets have been and reintroduce them to the younger generation, in hopes that The Muppets will become as beloved to them as they are to us. The movie is, essentially, a love-letter to The Muppets, something that’s obvious in the film’s painstaking recreation of “The Muppet Show” theme song and the whole gang’s version of “Rainbow Connection.”
The movie uses its cameos from everyone from Jack Black to Selena Gomez to try to hook the younger audience, and then reels them in using its trademark honest, sunny humor. Still present are also occasional breaks of the fourth wall, slapstick scenes, and sly jabs at pop culture.
For the moment, at least, The Muppets are definitely back. But are they here to stay? “The Muppet Movie” is certainly successful at pleasing both its diehard audience and young kids first being introduced (as the applause it garnered at its conclusion from the many children in the theater with me attested). Only time will tell if the new team behind The Muppets can continue to hold their popularity outside of web shorts and movies that owe a lot to nostalgia for what went before, preserving Henson’s spirit but keeping The Muppets relevant for a new generation.
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*(This image by Yogma is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
