The following report was written by ToughPigs’ British correspondents Jamie B and Wozza! Thanks for your help, chaps! The event in question took place on August 13, 2011.
As lifelong UK Muppet fans, having to wait until February 2012 for ‘The Muppets’ to hit our overseas screens seemed like a very daunting proposition. However, finding ourselves stood in a queue this afternoon at the ‘Empire Big Screen’ event in London, knowing we were about to be amongst the first public audience in the world to see footage from the new movie, was suddenly even more nerve-racking than we could have imagined! Years of speculation and hopeful optimism for the future of the Muppets were about to turn into a very real sense of whether their big comeback was actually going to work or not…
As we took our seats, we heard the excited chatter of some parents behind us get interrupted by their 5 year old child asking who Kermit was. It was a timely reminder that this film will need to serve as a first introduction to the characters for a large portion of its younger audience. This weighty responsibility was countered by the excited love coming from dozens of Muppet t-shirted fans dotted around the packed auditorium and an atmosphere that had slowly built to electric proportions by the time the trailer had finished playing and Kermit and director James Bobin and joined us on a giant screen via Satellite from New York.
Bobin’s love for the Muppets was apparent and warmly recounted how his sense of humour had been shaped by the Muppets whilst growing up. Kermit then sagely acknowledged how much the cinema landscape had changed since their last big screen outing with the increase in big budget superhero movies (without missing the chance to claim he had been in the running to play The Incredible Hulk). In answer to the ultimate burning question of why their new movie was simply called ‘The Muppets’, Kermit said “We had this nifty new logo made, so we thought we should use it,” with Bobin adding it was because “The Smurfs was already taken”.
Steve Whitmire wasn’t the only Muppeteer performing for us, and whenever any of Eric Jacobson’s characters stumbled into frame they were met with an incredible roar. Fozzie’s adlibbing was note-perfect this afternoon and when his bad joke (Why did the Chicken cross the web? – To get to the other site!) was met with a mock-groan from Bobin, his insecure pleas not to be cut from the movie because of his failure were delightful. Animal chasing rabbits around, recalling his Muppets.com skits, also prompted squeals from every big kid in the room.
We had reached the moment of reckoning as Kermit introduced a 5 minute sequence from the movie. With genuine pride, he revealed that we were about to see his big solo singing moment and I think in the excitement of the experience we’d both failed to even consider that we might get to see a full song from the movie! We’d both count musical moments as our favourite Muppet memories and are absolutely delighted to report that the song sequence we got to see was nothing short of wonderful!
The clip started with Walter, Jason Segel and Amy Adams trying to find Kermit’s mansion, fleshing out the electric fence sequence we’ve already seen in the trailer. Peter Linz has instilled a great spirit in the heart of Walter and his adlibbed-feeling response to being electrocuted was classically Muppetational. Once rescued by Kermit, we learn that the magazined-walls spotted in the trailer are from inside Kermit’s mansion, where he’s clearly been living by himself for many years (with only an 80s Robot servant to keep him company). The Kermit we see at this point is quite shockingly really rather downtrodden and jaded, missing his friends and feeling like the world outside isn’t interested in the Muppets any more. Walter delivers his news that Tex Richman plans to tear down the Muppet Theater and, combined with his enthusiasm for what the Muppets once were, this challenges Kermit to consider for the first time in years whether getting the crew back together to help save their legacy would work. It’s a surprisingly subdued and different Kermit than we’re used to, but the true complexity of his feelings are about to be explored…
Up until this point the equal screen time that Muppets and humans have received has been fine and dandy, but we now get our biggest reassurance that this film will ultimately belong to the characters in its title. Kermit leaves his guests for a moment to wander and ponder Walter’s arrival alone in hallways filled with painted portraits of his former co-stars and friends. Though the pace has been lightning fast until this point, the subtly in Kermit’s performance makes this the perfect moment for a well-placed, emotionally charged song to give us more clues about the group’s break up. “Is there more I could have said, Now they’re only pictures in my head” are opening lyrics that caused both these ToughPigs to get a rush of adrenalin and goosebumps that only the best Muppet material can give. It is such a thrill to share the news with you that this movie contains at least one moment that hits the absolute bull’s-eye in terms of being able to genuinely warm your heart. The melody is instantly delightful on first hearing and, whilst Kermit continues singing from the soul, the other characters in the portraits, posed to match our quintessential Muppet Show memories, come to life one-by-one and help our frog make his decision. The core cast you’d expect to have lines are all present, whilst sounding and looking exactly as you’d want them to. We’re watching the gang literally come back to life in front of our eyes and, with the honest acknowledgment that these characters were in great, great danger of being forgotten, the whole sequence strikes a very loud but celebratory chord.
Allowing us to see Kermit at his lowest point (akin to moments in the desert in The Muppet Movie) is a very clever way to let new audiences into his heart and find very human emotions to identify with. It should guarantee that, when the inevitable emotional highs hit later in the film as we watch the team get back together, they will be all the more effective and resonating. The closing moments of the clip gave us a more ‘Kermity’ Kermit with drive and resolve, capped with a direct reference to the first Muppet Movie which really gets the show on the road.
This five minute sequence was understated, but did all the convincing we needed to believe that a new generation will fall in love with 2011’s Kermit the Frog and that lifelong fans will feel more at home with the characters than they have in the last 20 years. Most encouragingly, choosing to show us a quieter moment over a loud one speaks volumes for Disney’s confidence in this picture!
After being wowed by the extended clip, we heard from Kermit how Walter’s personality is partly inspired the love and loyalty shown by the Muppets’ internet fans during the many quieter times – it’s a pleasure to be able to report that Frog knows we’ve all been waiting for him! We also learnt that Jason Segel’s character Gary is meant to be Walter’s younger brother in the movie, which will no doubt add a suitably surreal touch to their relationship.
The only person that could upstage the movie sequence was Miss Piggy who turned up on cue, decked out in her best royal attire, having confused our ‘Empire’ Movie Magazine (the organisers of the event) with a very different type of British Empire… After enquiring after the romantic availability of Prince Harry, the magazine awarded her the title of ‘Dame Commander of the Empire’ which she graciously accepted.
We couldn’t think of anything negative to spoil our review with, so we’ll just reiterate that all signs point to a creative team firing on all cylinders and that there are some terrific hallmark Muppet laughs throughout that it’s not our place to spoil! Our desire to grab the soundtrack album so we can listen to ‘Pictures In My Head’ on a loop couldn’t be stronger, but the best thing about today is knowing that, even if we have to wait a little longer to see the movie than the rest of the world, it seems like our patience will be richly rewarded!
Huge thanks to Disney, the whole Empire team and to Joe for arranging our day! 
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by Jamie B and Wozza
