Tell me if you've heard this one before. The Muppet theater is in trouble and the gang needs to raise money so they can save their arena. The group gets together and prepares a knockout show to raise funds and do the job. A seething villain watches on from the outside hoping the Muppets will fail so they can turn their theater into something for the villain's personal good. In the end everything works out okay and the Muppet Theater is saved. If you saw the recent Muppet film in theaters it is pretty much the plot of that film. However, it is also very close to the plot of this 2002 made for NBC movie starring The Muppets.
I know people love The Muppet Christmas Carol from 10 years earlier but to me this works a little better because it feels more like a Muppet production rather than them shoehorning themselves into the Dickens classic. (However, both pale in comparison to the 1987 television special "A Muppet Family Christmas"). The set-up here is very similar to the old Muppet Show with the gang engaging in screwball antics while guest stars pop up in and out of the film to move it along rather than take over the film. There are a few gags in here that are as good as anything they've done since Jim Henson's untimely passing in 1990.
The story opens with Joe Snow, a Rankin/Bass type snowman, narrating what has been happening in the town. The snowman is quickly dispatched and from there we move into the story. Kermit has been trying to keep the theater going and has the gang working hard on a new show. However, we meet Kermit after something bad has happened and he is dejectedly walking through the streets wondering how much better The Muppets would be if he had never been born.
It is then we are introduced to an angel named Daniel (David Arquette) and his "boss" (Whoopi Goldberg). He takes us back to the beginning of the story to find out what got Kermit into this depression. Kermit was approached by a real estate agent named Rachel Bitterman (Joan Cusack) who says she will foreclose the theater if she is not paid. In this series of events, Pepe the King Prawn deserts the Muppets to join with Bitterman because he thinks she is hot. After Kermit leaves we find out that Bitterman plans to turn the Muppet Theater into a new hot nightspot named Club Dot. Pepe tells Bitterman the deadline in the contract to pay is 12 am so Bitterman changes the contract to 6 pm giving the Muppets less time than they thought. Pepe then spies Bitterman with a new man and tries to warn Kermit about what is coming. He finally gets the message there but then Kermit sends Fozzie with the money and it gets lost forcing the Muppets into foreclosure. Kermit then begins walking the streets wishing he was never born and Daniel has to show him that course of life. From there it is a standard take on It's A Wonderful Life with Kermit seeing what would have happened without him.
This is where you get some of the funnier stuff and some nice in jokes for hardcore fans. Without Kermit the Muppet Theater does not exist so Club Dot is in its place. Kermit enters the building and is immediately accosted by Sam the Eagle as a raver holding glow sticks. The sheer vision of that was enough to make me laugh out loud. Kermit then backs into a cage and sees Scooter as a cage dancer wearing S&M gear. It's a pretty adult joke for the movie although it is not as out of place as you would think in the Muppet universe. The big in joke is that Doc Hopper's has become a big franchise around the country and he is getting rich on selling frog legs. Because you know the Life story you know how this will end but that does not mean the journey there is any less satisfying.
Before we get to the portion at the end there is a ton of classic Muppet antics sprinkled throughout. Fozzie is his normally groan inducing joke-telling self. This all becomes funnier when he gets mistaken for The Grinch in his trip to Bitterman's office. Miss Piggy is her normal diva self, and the rest of the Muppets are trying their hardest to work in their spotlight moments while being good soldiers for the greater good. Kermit is his usually steady center. The fibers of the gang are as strong as ever as they battle the outside forces against them.
Along the way we get cameos from the Scrubs gang, Matthew Lilliard, Joe Rogan, and even Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. they never stay for too long and they are only used to further how zany the Muppet world is. There is also a pretty nice Muppet take on Moulin Rouge entitled Moulin Scrooge.
The simple fact in the end is this. If you like that warm feeling you get inside around this time of year than the Muppets are always going to be right for you. They make a living in reminding you of why they are so eternal, and how the ideas of friendship, loyalty, and dedication are the keys to success and lasting relationships. This is a fun movie and is pretty easy to find around in stores right now.
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