I adored the new Muppets movie but I was confused by its meta-narrative

[epershand]

So...

It was a movie about rescuing the Muppets IP from the evil corporation who bought it. Made by... the corporation who bought the Muppets IP so that it could have eternal licensing rights (didn't someone in the Henson family sue Disney at some point in the 90s or early aughts?) and has been widely criticized by the original muppeteers for what it's doing with the characters (Frank Oz refused to be in the movie). And it ends with Tex Richman holding the IP but the Muppets being triumphant because they still have each other, their souls, and the love of the world. The movie seems really friendly and earnest to be a passive-aggressive "fuck you" to Disney, but... it's a confusing story to be telling about this set of characters given the context.

And it's a movie about how the tv of today is crass and horrible, offering the solution of the Muppets and a return to a simpler, more hopeful and more thoughtful time. Featuring. Uh, the muppets, with their explosions, jumping off of buildings, kidnapping and torturing Jack Black, chicken-based sexual innuendo (OMG THE CHICKENS SINGING "FUCK YOU"! BEST!) And featuring cameo appearances by actors from one example after another of the most complex and engaging sitcoms currently on the air--the weirdest example of this was definitely casting Donald Glover and Ken Jeong as the tv exec and star of the crass TV show the Muppets replace with their telathon. But aside from the Community actors, the cast and cameos included: Rashida Jones (Parks and Rec), Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, along with some dude named Jason Siegel), Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family), etc.

But of couse, I didn't think of any of those things until I left the theatre. When I was actually watching the movie all I could see was the joy in Jason Siegel's eyes at getting to make the movie. And how deliciously evil Chris Cooper was (maniacal laugh). And Fozzie Bear! And GONZO <33333! AND ANIMAL. And BUNSON AND BEAKER. And Googler!Scooter running out of a very authentic Google lobby in the "finding the muppets" montage! And MULTIPLE MANAH MANAH SCENES! And the Jason Siegel/Amy Adams/Walter the Muppet love triangle, which just kept pushing all my buttons all movie long. The cameos mentioned above. The characters' tendency to burst into song, the tendency of crowds to form spontaneous dancing scenes, and the charming lampshading of all of the above. The way I kept thinking "This music sounds oddly like Flight of the Conchords" only to find out from the credits that Bret McKenzie composed it.

I loved this movie. I felt like it was made for me, which, as much as I love the Muppets, has never happened before. It was sweet without being trite, affectionate without being schmaltzy, snarky without being snide. I... yeah. I don't even know.

Also the evil "Moopets" Kermet looked enough like Frank Iero that I wanted to give him a hug every time he appeared onscreen, which I SUSPECT was not intended.


TL;DR Jason Siegel I adored your self-insert muppet fanfiction a lot but suspect you of being crafty.

Also: The last time I was in New York, brainwane and I saw the Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image, and it was really amazing. It's open through January and I strongly recommend going to see it. (I inadvertently wound up wearing a Museum of the Moving Image t-shirt to the movie today and only realized when I took off my sweater after getting home.)