Talk:The Muppets (2011)

Clifford

I've noticed that Clifford is listed in the cast of Muppets. Was it ever confirmed that he will indeed appear in the movie? If so, where was that reported? I'm just curious.--Gonzofan 21:43, June 17, 2011 (UTC)

Straight from the horse's mouth - Oscarfan 22:01, June 17, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks!--Gonzofan 22:07, June 17, 2011 (UTC)

Lady Gaga

Is this a reliable confirmation that Lady Gaga will be in the film?--Fred (talk) 16:37, May 31, 2011 (UTC)

That article came out when Paul Rudd was still supposedly scheduled. I'm not sure it can be trusted. TenCents 18:40, May 31, 2011 (UTC)

It also includes the disproved Jane Lynch rumor (when she wasn't even asked, as we now know). So no, not a reliable source (in fact, the Lady Gaga page right now has the best source, Segel saying in December 2010 [one month after the above link] that he'd scripted a cameo but she hadn't said yes yet and he had no idea if she would; a cameo was written for Charles Grodin after all, and that didn't work out). At this point, an official press release, clip or photo, or (in just a few months) the final screen credits are needed for this. Otherwise it's just an outdated rumor. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 19:03, May 31, 2011 (UTC)

Fake titles

Doesn't it make sense to just merge Green with Envy and The Fuzzy Pack into one page that can just be called "The Muppets (2011) Fake Title Teasers" or something like that? TenCents 18:38, May 29, 2011 (UTC)

That's an awkward suggested title. However, I understand the idea. Probably a page closer to The Muppets' Wizard of Oz commercials, only more detailed (and simply titled to encompass any noteworthy trailer info) could work, but with anchored redirects (since right now it seems those titles are generating a certain amount of traffic and also potential confusion, which the solo pages clarify). Maybe wait just a little bit to merge? -- Andrew Leal (talk) 17:26, May 30, 2011 (UTC)

I think they're each a big enough deal to keep as separate pages. —Scott (contact) 17:52, May 30, 2011 (UTC)

Closing song

This video, though not excellent quality(clearly filmed with a camcorder), reveals that the closing number is called "Life's a Happy Song".Should we put that in the article now?--Fred (talk) 18:03, May 14, 2011 (UTC)

I would wait until we get confirmation of the music from somebody at Disney, or the composers. Sometimes the title of a song isn't always the phrase that's repeated the most. -- Ken (talk) 18:29, May 14, 2011 (UTC)

Well, the video is called the "Life's a Happy Song Rehearsel", right?--Fred (talk) 16:26, May 16, 2011 (UTC)

The title was probably a general assumption by whoever filmed it. Parstin32 02:08, May 18, 2011 (UTC)

Cast and Crew items

Take a look: http://cgi.ebay.com/Muppets-New-Movie-2011-Cast-Crew-T-Moopets-/270738312408?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0942ccd8 -- Wozza (talk) 22:36, April 21, 2011 (UTC)

Someone should make a page for that. Would it go under "production gifts?" Parstin32 00:01, April 21, 2011 (UTC)

Don't forget about these! — Julian (talk) 01:22, April 21, 2011 (UTC)

Actual Movie Page

Shouldn't we make an official page for the movie at this point? I mean, it's obvious they're going through with this thing, and a lot of the details have come out already. We have the official logo, so why not make it official? An official page for the new movie! Whaddya say? - hairsprayman111 22:05, February 14, 2011 (UTC)

Good point. Unlike last year when it was unclear and bouncing back and forth between "The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time!!!," "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made," and everything in between....it now looks like they have settled on "The Muppets" (according to official press releases, statements, interviews, articles, logos, etc.)... So I wouldn't oppose moving this to The Muppets (film). Now of course it is possible that the title could end up changing before the actual release, but that could be said about any in development item. Are we going to wait until November to change this over? -- Brad D. (talk) 01:09, February 15, 2011 (UTC)

Well, if they already released the logo and press releases and things like that, the chances are VERY VERY slim that they will change the title again. They were advertising the movie on the Disney website, so I thik that's a sign that the movie is pretty rock-solid. I think it's a go for moving this page. -hairsprayman111 00:18, February 16, 2011 (UTC)

This has already been discussed at Talk:The Muppets (film), though it mostly concerned a duplicate there. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 02:39, February 16, 2011 (UTC)

The question there was if we needed two pages. The question now is should this page be renamed. -- Brad D. (talk) 06:05, February 18, 2011 (UTC)

I say rename it when the movie is out, because it's "Muppet movie news" now, and when it's out, it won't exactly be news anymore, right?--Fred (talk) 22:58, May 5, 2011 (UTC)

Just for fun

I'm probably way off on the ones with the question marks, but it's just too much fun! Any ideas about any of these, or any differing guesses from other folks? :D — Julian (talk) 19:50, January 18, 2011 (UTC)

Nice work Julian! although I think Lyle the dog is The Newsman with his arm extended and hand on someone infront of him? So excited about this! Wozza 22:43, January 18, 2011 (UTC)

Thog! That makes me happy. I kind of had to do a double take to make sure this wasn't the Rainbow Connection finale! -- Andrew Leal (talk) 23:13, January 18, 2011 (UTC)

I wonder who's playing Thog this time around. Probably not Jerry Nelson, but someone else. ChipmunkRaccoon 00:45, March 18, 2011 (UTC)

Scooter's jacket will be shiny

"It is confirmed, Scooter's jacket will be shiny."

What? Why's that under a picture of Miss Piggy in the photo gallery? Later pics of Scooter show a non-shiny suit. -- Zanimum 18:25, January 15, 2011 (UTC)

I'm not the one who put that there, but in that person's defense, Scooter's jacket is on the picture of Miss Piggy. — Julian (talk) 19:50, January 18, 2011 (UTC)

I took it out. While it may be true (at least for part of the film) that "Scooter's jacket will be shiny," it's not really that noteworthy. -- Brad D. (talk) 19:10, January 20, 2011 (UTC)

Plot on Muppet Central

Do we trust this? Other than 4chan, I can't find this exact wording anywhere. -- Zanimum 15:42, December 11, 2010 (UTC)

I don't see how, the theater's a landmark and can never be torn down. ;) Powers 16:52, December 11, 2010 (UTC)

Har har. No, I'm meaning can the specifics be trusted, like the character names, the telethon bit. Given how the mainstream media seems rabidly reporting every shred of detail, it's amazing Muppet Central would be the only one to post this. -- Zanimum 21:15, December 11, 2010 (UTC)

Well, in a roundabout way, I'm saying that it sounds a little fishy to me. That's awfully similar to the plot of the Christmas special from a few years back. While it's true that the Muppets have never been known for their continuity of plot, it still seems odd to recycle a plot in that way. Powers 18:23, December 12, 2010 (UTC)

I think the basic idea seems correct. --Edward Rankin 15:48, December 30, 2010 (UTC)

Title

It is looking more and more likely that the title of this film could very well end up being "The Muppets." Now the release of the film is well over a year away (things could change), and it may be a while before substantial promotional material (such as a trailer or poster) come out to confirm anything officially. Right now this page works well to chronicle the news and developments of the project, but eventually we'll rework it into an article on the film itself.

If the title does end up actually being "The Muppets" how are we as a wiki going to handle it? Will we reappropriate The Muppets (which is currently just a redirect to Category:The Muppets Characters) for the article on the 2011 film? Or will we disambiguate it using something such as The Muppets (film) as the page title? What about for related categories? Will, for example, Walter go into Category:The Muppets (2011) Characters and the soundtrack into Category:The Muppets (film) Merchandise? There's no need to move stuff around or create categories/pages right now, but we might want to discuss it preemptively before any conflicts arise when more information and excitement start to flood in. -- Brad D. (talk) 06:05, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

I think it's still too early to tell. The film is over a year away still. We should wait for promotional materials to surface before committing to anything. For now "Muppet Movie News" is best for SEO anyway. When the time comes, if the title is indeed The Muppets, then some form of disambiguation would be in order. But we should cross that bridge when we come to it. — scarecroe 06:08, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

I have access to Disney's presskit site (which right now is still calling it The Muppets, but their latest CG film was initially Rapunzel, then Tangled (Formerly Known as Rapunzel) for ages, and the name change was official less than six months ago), so I'll be able to upload the final film credits and any prior publicity as it surfaces (so far it's just the same "table read" picture that everyone has). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 07:48, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

I agree that we should wait before moving or renaming anything. There is no big rush to answer the question - but I think it's worth discussing. The title could end up changing from "The Muppets" and this whole issue would be moot. However when a title is confirmed, if it does end up being "The Muppets" it would nice to know how we're going to handle it here (not just for the main article, but sub-cats too). "The Muppets", "The Muppets (film)", "The Muppets (movie)", "The Muppets (2011)", "The Muppets (feature film)",...? Because the moment an official title hits the web and the information and editors start to flood in (like when the first trailer or poster is released), it would be nice to have an answer standing by and ready to go to prevent any conflicts or un-uniformity. I know it may be a long way off, but I think it would be good to work out what form of disambiguation we want to use while there isn't any presure on us, and to avoid the potential of any one person making an improper, impulsive or solitary decision. Then we'll have an answer already standing by just in case the title is indeed "The Muppets". -- Brad D. (talk) 14:51, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

Well, obviously we can't use "The Muppets" and I think "The Muppets (movie)" would be too confusing given the 1979 movie. "The Muppets (film)" is out because we don't use that identifier to disambiguate anything else here and "The Muppets (feature film)" is long and clumsy. The one that makes the most sense to me is "The Muppets (2011)" using the year of release to disambiguate as we do sometimes with books and albums. — scarecroe 17:27, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

Well usually we don't disambiguate films, and give priority to the film and disambiguate everything off it. However we have used (film) as an identifier - see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film), Where the Wild Things Are (film), Alice in Wonderland (film), Nashville (film), Gone with the Wind (film), Henson (film), Nashville (film), The Seven Deadly Sins (film)...

Usually we disambiguate based on medium (i.e. (soundtrack), (song), (book), (video), (character)...) and only use years if there are two articles within the same medium (such as two songs or two books with the same titles - although we've often use composers/authors; or two characters with the same name - although we often use production or character type there). Do you have some examples of where we've used years?

Also how would we disambiguate ancillary products like storybooks, soundtracks, and home videos of the film? Simply "The Muppets (video)", or "The Muppets (2011) (video)", or "The Muppets (2011 video)" (which would be confusing when the DVD actually comes out in 2012)? -- Brad D. (talk) 19:09, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

What about "Jason Segel's The Muppets"? --Edward Rankin 21:02, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

Oh yeah, we have used (film), haven't we? Okay, that would be consistent, then. — scarecroe 21:06, November 30, 2010 (UTC)

Judging by Segel's talk with MTV, it seems that the title is, officially, The Muppets. Still, it's a year away, so the title could change.--Edward Rankin 00:17, December 18, 2010 (UTC)

GQ

The July 2010 issue of GQ magazine (Taylor Lautner cover) features an interview with Jason Segel, during which he discusses puppetry, the importance of sad Muppets, and his driving-force-involvement in getting the new movie made. You guys might want to check it out and add whatever you deem relevant to the wiki. Ernie and Bert make an appearance in another article (with the catchy title "Is it okay to call your friend a Queerbot? How about a Gaywad? >Clearly you need our Handy Guide to Homophobia") that might be worthy of a mention over here. Just a heads up. — Julian (talk) 00:50, June 26, 2010 (UTC)

Here's the Muppet-relevant part of the interview:

How's the Muppet movie coming along? Nothing against any of your other projects, but this is the one I'm most excited about.

It's my dream come true, man.

How did you end up pitching yourself to relaunch the Muppets?

It was right after Sarah Marshall, and I had a little bit of juice all of a sudden. Writing juice. And I took this meeting at Disney, and they're pitching me different stuff to rewrite, and I stopped, and I said, "Thank you, this is all very flattering"—which it was, it's supercool to suddenly be in that position—"but listen. You guys own the Muppets, and you're just kind of sitting on 'em. I really love the Muppets, and I think I know how to bring the franchise back." And there was literally laughter in the room. Like, "Oh—R-rated Segel is making a weird joke." And I said, "No, I'm serious. And I'm not gonna make it the Judd Apatow version of the Muppets. It's not gonna be ironic."

So you pitch that, and then they laugh.…

They laughed, and then I got a call on the way home from my agent, going, "They bought it, if you're serious." What happened was, Henson Company created the puppets for Sarah Marshall. And I was there, and I said, "Hey, while I'm here, can I maybe see a Kermit and a Miss Piggy?" And they got this kinda sad look, and they said, "Um, we don't have Kermits or Piggys. We sold everything to Disney." [incredibly serious now] And it all sorta made sense, why the Muppets have disappeared. That's something that really has to come from an individual person's passion. There's CGI now, and there's all these things that are theoretically cooler, but you'll never be able to replace the actual, tactile thing. Like when Kermit scrunches his face? You can't repeat that with CGI. I think when you can sit and make it perfect to the degree you want, you lose some of the humanity of it.

Who's your favorite Muppet?

It's between Kermit and Fozzie. I cannot get over Fozzie's bad jokes and the confidence that he delivers them with. Fozzie Bear has so many bear puns in this script—like, "Traffic is grizzly!" "This is unbearable!" It's the greatest. But when you get to one of those really earnest Kermit speeches? That is fucking awesome. [perfect Kermit voice] "Guys, this is about friendship, not about money! If we're not together, then, heck, I don't want to be here at all." Kermit was the original Everyman to me. The original Tom Hanks, the original Jimmy Stewart.

Muppets Take Manhattan fucking destroyed me when I was a kid. The part where the Muppets break up is really emotionally affecting.

Yeah. When Kermit sends them off, and they sing "Saying Goodbye"? I had to cite that a lot in these pitch meetings, because I kept getting notes from, like, the Muppet brass, saying, "Muppets are never sad. Muppets never break up." And I had to be like, "No—they do. And that's the best part." That's sort of where they got away from the beauty of the Muppets. They became all happy-go-lucky. Even the opening of The Muppet Movie. "Rainbow Connection"—that's not a happy-go-lucky song. He's alone in a swamp, hoping for something more.

--Justin 02:45, June 26, 2010 (UTC)

title

I moved this back to "The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time!!!" as there's no real source that the title has changed. The Playlist got their information from The Film Stage and they don't cite a source. It's likely coming from Box Office Mojo which is only using "The Muppets" as a placeholder title. —Scott (talk) 17:05, June 13, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I deleted "The Muppets" earlier today but time and PC problems prevented me from doing anything else. So to reiterate the rule which we'd discussed before (when it was unclear which title would be given to the actual movie), given how convoluted the history of this project has been (and likely will be until it actually opens), should be that any potential retitling be discussed *first* on this talk page, since it otherwise just messes with links and so on and adds more work. Sources should be cited clearly on the talk page and the subject open to discussion before any actual move takes place (plus, unless we actually get Segel saying "Oh yeah, now the movie is just called 'The Muppets'," it's not surprising for the press or even those involved to use a shorthand title over a seven word title with three exclamation marks). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 19:34, June 13, 2010 (UTC)

tracking progress

So, in light of our discussion about how to handle the movie news between the two different scripts (one by Segel and an original treatment by Jerry Juhl), it looks like they're going with the Segel script, or at least a version of it. The latest AP article quotes a Disney exec talking about the original character created for his story. —Scott (talk) 18:20, April 23, 2010 (UTC)

More News?

I've been seeing tons of articles popping up stating pretty much the same thing:

““[It's] about Gary, Mary, and Walter (a man, his girlfriend, and the man’s life-long nondescript, brown puppet best friend) getting the old Muppet gang — now retired entertainers known for the same Muppet show we know them from — together to save the TV studio that the original show was shot in. A villain, Tex Richman, bent on drilling for oil underneath the studio, is due to take over the studio in weeks and the only way to stop him? Putting on a show that draws ten million viewers.””

Thought I'd put up the link if someone wants to work with it. -- Nate (talk) 17:50, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

New robot character?

I take it that robot we saw in the new trailer is a new Muppet character? ChipmunkRaccoon 20:55, June 18, 2011 (UTC)