When the Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets in 2004, it was the realization of a deal that had been in the works fourteen years earlier and had fallen apart when Muppets creator Jim Henson suddenly and prematurely died. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the 2004 purchase was estimated to have been in the neighborhood of $100 million. The only reason to spend that kind of money on a franchise was to then use it to generate more profits. The Muppets had been out of play for some time; their last TV show ("Muppets Tonight") signed off in 1998, their last movie was 1999's Muppets from Space. That might not sound like a very long time, but it is a lifetime to the youth demographic that had always been a core component of the Muppets' target audience.Disney appeared to be in no rush to get the most out of their investment. They issued DVDs of the first three seasons of "The Muppet Show" and new editions for their now four-deep Muppet theatrical film library. As for new ventures, Disney proceeded with patience and caution. There was one of the gang's least favorably received enterprises in ABC's 2005 TV movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. There were a couple of TV specials that found the Muppets unfortunately fawning over since forgotten young Disney Channel stars. There was a new Christmas album, which won a Grammy but not much attention. There were a couple of music videos that went viral to over 20 million views. There was a better holiday TV special on NBC. But for at least a few years, all of this was leading to something bigger: a new movie.The raunchy Judd Apatow-produced 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall established Jason Segel (of TV's "How I Met Your Mother" and "Freaks and Geeks") as an acclaimed screenwriter, a viable leading man, and a puppet enthusiast. A month prior to that film's release, Segel and his Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller had already landed a dream job at Disney: to co-write a new Muppets movie. Children of the 1980s, Segel and Stoller were big Muppets fans and also soon to be hip and respected in the world of comedy. Theirs were fitting hands for Disney to entrust with the single best shot at relaunching the universe and introducing the likes of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, and Fozzie Bear to a new generation of kids who had grown up without seeing them up on the big screen or in regularly scheduled television.Stoller originally planned to direct the film as well, but he had to drop out to complete post-production work on the Sarah Marshall spin-off Get Him to the Greek. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo that helmed Sony's animated 3D hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, were next considered for the job, but they opted instead to tackle the action-comedy 21 Jump Street. Directing duties next passed to James Bobin, a Brit with ten years of TV experience, most notably as a writer/director on both incarnations of "Da Ali G Show" (the show that launched Sacha Baron Cohen and introduced Borat) and as a writer/director/creator of HBO's "Flight of the Conchords." For his feature directorial debut, Bobin chose the Muppets over Apatow's Bridesmaids and with him came "Conchords" star and fellow creator Bret McKenzie to serve as songwriter and musical supervisor. Not long after that, Amy Adams, star of the best live action musical comedy in a long time (Enchanted), signed on as Segel's love interest.I could not imagine a more fitting foundation and as a lifelong Muppets fan myself, my hopes for this revival were rising to the astronomical heights where disappointment becomes inevitable. And yet, the perhaps unimaginatively titled The Muppets would meet my tall expectations, winning me over as the most delightful film of 2011 and the franchise's most satisfying showing to date.Despite the title, the Muppets play somewhat of a supporting role in the film. In the foreground are a man named Gary (Segel) and his felt orange brother Walter (Peter Linz). The two best friends share many things, including a bedroom and an appreciation for the Muppets. Gary can't help but include Walter on his trip to Los Angeles with Mary (Adams), his girlfriend of ten years. What was to be a romantic anniversary rendezvous soon becomes primarily a pilgrimage to Muppet Studios. Reflecting but overstating the gang's diminished fame, the studio is pitifully rundown and its tour is hardly an attraction. Sneaking off to catch a glimpse of Kermit's office, Walter discovers that The Muppet Theater is being sold and that the new owner's museum plans are a ruse. In fact, greedy tycoon Tex Richman (an unexpectedly game Chris Cooper) intends to demolish the theater and drill for oil on the land.There is a loophole, however. If the Muppets can raise $10 million before their contract (The Standard Rich and Famous Contract prepared for them by Orson Welles' Lew Lord) expires, they can purchase the theater back. With a deadline looming, the only conceivable solution is to reunite the gang for a grand spectacular fundraiser show. Gary, Mary, and Walter are able to convince a sadly lonely Kermit (Steve Whitmire) to come out of retirement and reconnect with his colorful old friends. One by one, the old troupe is lured out of their new lifestyles (Fozzie Bear is part of a knock-off band in a Reno casino, Gonzo is a giant in plumbing) for reassembly.With a TV network executive (Rashida Jones) reluctantly agreeing to give them a live two-hour slot in primetime, the Muppets clean up their longtime home for a last-ditch chance to save the building and their legacy with the performance of their lives. Segel, Stoller, and Bobin operate from the Muppets' old playbook, serving up celebrity cameos, tasteful irreverence, and many breaks of the fourth wall. Their film is utterly aware and respectful of characters' legacies, at least through The Muppets Take Manhattan (the unspoken view seems to be to pretend that the Muppets have been out of circulation since Jim Henson passed away; most of the homage applies to the 1970s' "The Muppet Show" and original Muppet Movie). The vast roster of Muppets is put to impeccable use. Much like Toy Story 3 the year before, The Muppets uses nostalgia and the passage of time to its advantage, acknowledging that it has been a while since the gang conjured their magical blend of musical numbers, bold characters, corny jokes, and sly asides. Amazon.com Widgets And like Toy Story 3, this proves that you can go back to a sacred universe older, wiser, and more cynical and find yourself every bit as charmed and captivated as you remember being.The Muppets is wall-to-wall fun, chockfull of humor, variety, adventure, and even an appropriate amount of poignancy. While we often hear that story is king and no other element of cinema seems to carry as much importance, this film points to other ingredients like passion and personality. After all, The Muppets employs essentially the same basic story as It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. Where that 2002 NBC production was mildly agreeable at its best, this 2011 film is a cinematic triumph of the highest order. The jokes are much sharper, the history is infinitely more respected, and, rather than some generic holiday redemption tale, the plot feels like a natural reflection of the franchise's fatigue and makes an earnest and effective case for 21st century Muppet relevancy.Even the cameos are a lot better, largely not serving to promote some corporate interest (as in the NBC movies) but to serve the scenes written. Zach Galifianakis fares especially well, drawing multiple final act laughs as supportive and industrious crowd member Hobo Joe. Others registering nicely in shorter turns include Alan Arkin, Emily Blunt, Jim Parsons, Ken Jeong, and the immortal Mickey Rooney (whose son choreographed this). In the more central and substantial roles, Segel, Adams, and Cooper prove tremendously charismatic and appealing.I am so pleased for this film to have won an Oscar, as trivial as that Best Original Song honor looked with no live performance and just one other nominee at last month's ceremony. The first two Muppet movies received nominations in the same category, but lost to Norma Rae and Arthur, respectively. It seemed kind of criminal for Kermit and company to have no significant film awards to their name. That the Academy could correct that, while recognizing McKenzie's fine genre-varied tunes, was a definite highlight. It should not have been the movie's only recognition either. Setting aside the Golden Globes' idiotic exclusion of the undisputed musical comedy from their Best Picture - Musical or Comedy category, Disney dropped the ball by not even asking Academy members to consider one of the most-praised films of the year for an adapted screenplay nomination. This is the kind of movie we recognize as having little shot at industry accolades, but its many achievements deserved to be celebrated. A screenplay nod seemed more attainable than the kind of consideration the studio unrealistically sought for summer's Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. Restoring luster and prospects to fading characters while earning some of the most glowing reviews of the year, every goal of The Muppets seems to have been realized, save for one. The movie didn't do outstanding business at the box office. The underperformance was both surprising and frustrating. Here was a four-quadrant family film that displayed the utmost creativity and promise in its marketing campaign, was approved by virtually every critic and moviegoer around, and opened on the always formidable day before Thanksgiving. And yet it couldn't even cross the $100 million mark domestically that is barely considered special these days. With its reported $45 million production budget, The Muppets was almost as small a movie as you can find in Disney's current tentpole-driven game plan. But that figure does not include the film's obviously considerable advertising budget and all the other things riding on success. Disney almost always releases one of their biggest movies of the year on Thanksgiving week and most have done better business than the $88.5 M that Muppets mustered in its domestic-heavy run.The financials have been deemed favorable enough for a sequel to be developed before home video numbers even come in. It was recently announced that the sequel would amicably lose Segel but retain Stoller and Bobin as writer and director respectively. I'm happy the Muppets won't be sent back to warehouse shelves, although I do hope that Stoller, Bobin, and the studio do not proceed with a sequel out of obligation but out of ideas worthy of living up to this masterpiece.This masterpiece hits DVD and next week in no fewer than four arrangements. Gladly, Disney sent out the most complete of those editions; dubbed The Wocka Wocka Value Pack, this 3-disc combo pack includes the Blu-ray, the DVD, a digital copy DVD-ROM, and a code for downloading the film's complete soundtrack. Despite the moniker, this is anything but one of Fozzie's bad jokes.
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