The Muppets (2011)

“Wow, that was an expensive looking explosion! I can’t believe we had that in the budget. “- Fozzie Bear

Number of Times Seen – Twice (28 Dec 2011 and 8 Feb 2021)

Brief Synopsis – A fan of the Muppets joins forces with his brother and his fiancee in order to try and save the Muppets from a businessman who wants to take over the studio.

My Take on it – Really fun addition to the canon of this series.

The way that the story unfolds is great and they do a wonderful job reuniting so many of the lovable characters that have been estranged from one another for quite a long time.

They inject a lot of modern ideas in the story that helps make things feel even more modern and relatable.

The mix of music and drama works well in helping establish an emotional story that says so much.

The film’s main song Man or Muppet won an Oscar for Best Original Song and is not only a catchy tune but is also quite powerful and poignant in its message.

Listen to it here:

The familiar characters from the series return and are joined by some great new ones that enhance things even more as the story progresses.

Still love the way that they are able to still use lots of the normal Muppet gags (like traveling by map) into this story.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – During an interview with Terry Gross on her National Public Radio program “Fresh Air,” Jason Segel said that during filming, he observed the choreographer, Michael Rooney, giving instructions to the classic movie star Mickey Rooney (who had a cameo in the movie) and calling him “Dad.” Segel went up to Michael and reprimanded him, saying “you can’t just call any old man ‘Dad,'” and Michael told Segel, “no, he’s my actual Dad.” (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)