The Muppets
The Muppet Christmas Carol Was Right to Cut Its Worst Song
Sometimes, on a film’s journey to completion, scenes are cut which add extra insight to a character’s backstory, or contribute to the world-building; cuts that later feel like mistakes, creating a whole ancillary market for extended editions and special features. But sometimes, there are scenes that really were cut fo the film’s benefit — such as the “When Love Is Gone” sequence from The Muppet Christmas Carol. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Brian Henson‘s timeless and charming adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, Disney+ recently presented subscribers with the option to watch either the original theatrical release or the “full-length version.” The primary difference between the two is the inclusion of one extra song, which Henson has said then-Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenbe...
Disney+ Announces New Series The Muppets Mayhem
The Electric Mayhem have long been The Muppets’ backing band, but Dr. Teeth and company are finally getting their own show. Disney+ has announced The Muppets Mayhem, a new series in which the veteran rock group set out to record their debut album. Lilly Singh stars alongside the musical Muppets as Nora, the junior A&R executive “tasked with managing and wrangling the mayhem that is The Electric Mayhem Band,” as a press release puts it. The plot centers around group — comprised of singer-keyboardist Dr. Teeth, drummer Animal, singer-bassist Floyd Pepper, singer-guitarist Janice, saxophonist Zoot, and trumpeter Lips — finally recording their first LP more than 45 years after debuting on Jim Henson’s 1975 Sesame Street spinoff The Muppet Show. With fresh-faced executive Nora in tow, fans ...
Disney+ Unveils First Trailer for Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween Special: Watch
Leave it to Disney+ to cover all your family-friendly Halloween entertainment needs. Today, the streaming platform has revealed the first trailer for Muppets Haunted Mansion, a forthcoming Halloween special that finds all your favorite Muppets at the mercy of a house with some very strange secrets. The special is set to premiere on October 8th. Amazingly, Muppets Haunted Mansion is the first Halloween Muppets special in the franchise’s storied history. They’ve rounded up a handful of high-profile humans to join them, including Will Arnett, Yvette Nicole Brown, Darren Criss, and Taraji P. Henson. It’s also set to include appearances from Chrissy Metz, Alfonso Ribeiro, Edward Asner, Jeannie Mai, Danny Trejo, Sasheer Zamata, Craig Robinson, Skai Jackson, Pat Sajak, Geoff Keighley, Justin...
Disney “Doesn’t Want” Frank Oz to Do The Muppets Anymore
It’s hard to imagine someone not falling in love with — or at least being charmed by — The Muppets in all of their tender, felted magic. But apparently, loving the puppet doesn’t always equate to loving the puppeteer. According to Frank Oz — the beloved puppeteer originally behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal, and iconic Sesame Street characters like Cookie Monster and Bert — Disney “doesn’t want” to work with him anymore. Oz hasn’t been involved with The Muppets or The Jim Henson Company since 2007. Fans long assumed that he retired in favor of more acting roles in films like Knives Out, but in a new interview with The Guardian, the actor revealed that he didn’t put the job on hold by choice. “I’d love to do The Muppets again, but Disney doesn’t want me, and Sesame Street...
US Republican senators confront Netflix over Chinese sci-fi show
Five Republican US senators have confronted Netflix over the streaming giant’s plan to adapt a Chinese sci-fi book trilogy, expressing concern over the original author’s comments about claims of forced labor in Xinjiang. Liu Cixin’s bestselling “The Three-Body Problem,” which tells the story of humanity’s first contact with aliens, is set to become a major Netflix series co-written by the creators of “Game of Thrones.” In a letter to content boss Ted Sarandos, the senators accused Liu of “parroting dangerous [Communist Party] propaganda” and suggested Netflix was “providing a platform to Mr Liu in producing this project.” They highlighted a New Yorker article from last year in which Liu is quoted defending mass internment in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where activists say more th...
Disney Plus’ Muppets Now Survives on the Strength of Classic Characters: Review
State of The Muppets: It’s been a minute. That might sound strange to those who have tuned in to the recent mini-Fraggle Rock revival on Apple TV+ or binged last year’s critically acclaimed Dark Crystal reboot on Netflix. While it’s been wonderful to see these properties get new treatments, it’s worth noting that those productions have flown under the banner of the Jim Henson Company, which controls certain archival content and owns rights to some of the more “cult” properties left over from the entertainment empire that Henson created. The Muppets that multiple generations around the world grew up on, including characters like Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo the Great, are currently owned by Disney. That distinction may not matter to most, especially with Henson produc...
