# The Muppets Go To Hell **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 19, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935 "2004-02-19T03:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/1 "2004-02-19T03:01:49Z")
[In this news story](http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2004/021704.shtml), we learn how our beloved Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, et al, will be moving to their new home in the fiery bowels of a living hell. Woe is us. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/2 "2004-02-19T03:15:08Z")
Sheesh. This is like the fifth time I’ve seen this kind of reaction, and I still don’t understand it one bit. Disney and the Muppets are perfect fit. 1. The collaboration created the MuppetVision 3-D movies at the Disney theme parks, which are just excellent. 2. “Bear in the Big Blue House,” a great series for kids, airs on Playhouse Disney. 3. Disney doesn’t screw up existing characters; it fails when it tries to come up with _new_ characters and properties. This arrangement is going to be: Henson = creativity, Disney = money money money. 4. Disney takes characters and markets the hell out of them. The Muppets aren’t exactly obscure characters as it is, so no big changes there. If nothing else, this will make them more profitable so that they don’t _become_ obscure, which is where they’re headed now. 5. The current owners of the characters aren’t doing much, if anything, with it. Is it better to let them languish? I just don’t understand why people are wailing and gnashing their teeth as if this “news” were a) unexpected, or 2) bad. As I’ve said before, the worst thing that could come of it is that we get lots of TV ads with the Muppets telling us how much better life is since they got rid of their sattelite dish. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/3 "2004-02-19T03:29:18Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > Sheesh. This is like the fifth time I’ve seen this kind of reaction, and I still don’t understand it one bit. Disney and the Muppets are perfect fit. > [@](#): > > 1. The collaboration created the MuppetVision 3-D movies at the Disney theme parks, which are just excellent. Never been to Disneyland/World. You couldn’t pay me. Well, you COULD, but it’d have to be a lot of money AND I would have to get to punch Mickey Mouse in the head. > [@](#): > > 1. “Bear in the Big Blue House,” a great series for kids, airs on Playhouse Disney. Don’t know anything about Bear, so I can’t comment. > [@](#): > > 1. Disney doesn’t screw up existing characters; it fails when it tries to come up with _new_ characters and properties. This arrangement is going to be: Henson = creativity, Disney = money money money. Disney will dilute the franchise with unnecessary sequels. _The Muppets Take Manhattan…Again!_ > [@](#): > > 1. Disney takes characters and markets the hell out of them. The Muppets aren’t exactly obscure characters as it is, so no big changes there. If nothing else, this will make them more profitable so that they don’t _become_ obscure, which is where they’re headed now. Disney rapes and pillages its own characters and history. The Muppets will just be new fodder. > [@](#): > > 1. The current owners of the characters aren’t doing much, if anything, with it. Is it better to let them languish? Henson’s company failed to keep the Muppets fresh. Who’s to blame? I don’t know. > [@](#): > > I just don’t understand why people are wailing and gnashing their teeth as if this “news” were a) unexpected, or 2) bad. As I’ve said before, the worst thing that could come of it is that we get lots of TV ads with the Muppets telling us how much better life is since they got rid of their sattelite dish. I was only slightly surprised. I was hoping Brian Henson wouldn’t do this. With VERY little exception, I hate Disney with the fiery heat of a million supernovas. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/4 "2004-02-19T04:05:45Z")
Well, at least you’ve kept an open mind about it. (If I were the time to use smileys, one would go there.) It’s not uncommon for people to dismiss everything Disney does as evil, or insipid, or both. Back when I gave a damn about what other people thought, it embarrassed me to be such a big Disney fan. I grew up going to the parks every year, and even in my sullen teen years I couldn’t stop myself from giggling every time I heard the theme music for the Main St. Electrical Parade. Like any big corporation, they’ve done a lot that’s stupid (glutting the market with direct-to-video sequels, losing Pixar, over-expansion, etc.) and a lot that’s just plain evil (laying off all of the most talented animators in the business). But when they do something right, like the theme parks, and like _Lilo and Stitch_, they do it _so right_ that you just have to step back and think how cool it is that human beings can make something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/5 "2004-02-19T04:06:02Z")
Here’s [another opinion](http://www.toughpigs.com/journaldisneybuysit.htm). ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/6 "2004-02-19T04:06:09Z")
Wasnt this going to happen a few years ago before except for it hit some snag? So It’s not like this is new or anything ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/7 "2004-02-19T04:13:16Z")
I fear that the Evil Mouse will strip the edge off the Muppets. Go back and watch _The Muppet Show_. Lots of bizarre humor, most of which was aimed at adults. Just like a Looney Tunes cartoon. Adult humor and kid-friendly animation. I’ll take a bad Bugs Bunny toon over ANY Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck (I HATE him!) toon any microsecond of the millenuim. Now Kermit, Beaker, Fozzie, and the gang must suffer the sickly sweet nightmare that is the Disney Empire. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/8 "2004-02-19T06:23:41Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > Wasnt this going to happen a few years ago before except for it hit some snag? The snag was exacerbated (if not wholly due to) Jim Henson’s death. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/9 "2004-02-19T07:23:12Z")
Several arguments for why this is A Bad Thing: _Pocahontas II The Hunchback of Notre Dame II Lion King 1 1/2 Lion King II: Simba’s Pride Peter Pan: Return to Neverland The Little Mermaid II Stitch! The Movie Lilo and Stitch II Lady and the Tramp II Atlantis: Milo’s Return Mulan II_ About the only thing I can take pleasure in now is the realization that _The Emperor’s New Groove_ didn’t do enough box office for Disney to molest my enjoyment of that movie with Yet Another Crappy Direct-To-Video Sequel™. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/10 "2004-02-19T07:31:17Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Several arguments for why this is A Bad Thing: > > […] > > About the only thing I can take pleasure in now is the realization that _The Emperor’s New Groove_ didn’t do enough box office for Disney to molest my enjoyment of that movie with Yet Another Crappy Direct-To-Video Sequel™. Right, because whenever Disney releases a DTV sequel, they destroy the original movie and all its masters, and go to homes and repossess all existing copies of the original. The fiends! (And by the way, _Stitch: The Movie_ is cool. Not as good as the original, of course, but it’s a great intro to the TV series, which is very well-done.) If you’re looking for imagined reasons why this is a Bad Thing, you should be naming stuff like _Dinosaur_ and _Treasure Planet_. Stuff that was done from scratch as marketed product instead of real entertainment, and it shows. If Disney tries to make up for the loss of Pixar by trying to do an original CG movie using the Muppets characters, that could be a very bad thing indeed. I doubt it’s likely, though. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/11 "2004-02-19T12:53:25Z")
Disney’s attitude these days can be summed up with the following: _The Lion King 1 1/2_ They _will_ squeeze the Muppets for every last cent they can wring out of them. They _will_ flood the market with crappy direct-to-video movies that will eventually cause everyone to get sick and tired of the Muppets. And then they will toss the Muppets into a warehouse somewhere and forget about them. Twenty years after that, they’ll put out “special editions” of the aforementioned crappy movies, and then the Muppets will be officially dead and buried ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/12 "2004-02-19T14:34:50Z")
It makes me sad, so sad, that Disney was allowed to buy the rights to the Muppets. Jim Henson is probably rolling in his grave. I grew up with the Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and the wonderful movies featuring the Muppets. Now, I show them to my little daughter. I have so many good memories of Muppets and Fraggles, and anything Henson related. I can’t really say that about Disney. I shudder to think what Satan, I mean Disney, will do with my beloved Muppets. My stomach actually turned when I heard the news. Whah. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/13 "2004-02-19T16:29:50Z")
The first thing I thought when I heard the news was “Oh great, now they’re gonna get their Disney stink all over them.” Mr. Blue Sky said it best, “Disney will dilute the franchise…” There is a world of difference between “The Muppet Movie” and ANY Disney movie. I liked “Shrek” and “Monsters, Inc.”, but they’re nowhere near as hip and funny as “The Muppet Movie”, even “Muppets Take Manhattan”. I have a sick feeling that The Muppets will suffer the same fate as Looney Tunes has in recent years\*. They will lose their edge and hipness (I don’t think that’s a word, but work with me here people). - [sub]IMHO, Looney Tunes hasn’t been any good since the 60s.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/14 "2004-02-19T18:42:48Z")
I’m going to come down in the “good for the Muppets” camp. Point 1 - Not all those direct-to-video sequels are crap. A prime example is Lion King 1-1/2, which garnered much praise right here in this forum. Point 2 - Disney isn’t likely to do much worse to the Muppets that what was done in recent years - a dearth of fresh ideas leading to Muppets plugged into existing stories, such as A Christmas Carol and Treasure Island. Whatever they do will probably involve original stories, at least, and potentially good ones. Point 3 - Disney theme parks are already meccas for family vacations. Unless Universal Studios was planning to buy them, any attempt at marketing the Muppets in that format would end up competing for dollars with existing attractions, not to mention a very expensive proposition to start up. Adding the Muppets to Disney would make a theme-park Muppet Show (or whatever) much, much more likely to exist at all, and much more likely to be a profitable proposition. Point 4 - Disney’s been doing great in television. Anyone here dislike _Kim Possible_? Disdain their theatrical or direct-to-video releases if you wish, but Disney’s TV empire is strong and creatively fresh - and that is, after all, the Muppets’ original format. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/15 "2004-02-19T19:09:16Z")
Anything Disney does will be an improvement over the last Muppet Xmas movie. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/16 "2004-02-19T19:09:35Z")
It might very well be a good thing. To witness: [http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm](http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm) Under February 19th, there’s an article called “You Will Believe A Pig Can Fly (Frogs, Too!)” Read it and enjoy, and hope it will come to fruition finally! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/17 "2004-02-19T19:23:23Z")
[QUOTE=Indygrrl] It makes me sad, so sad, that Disney was allowed to buy the rights to the Muppets. Jim Henson is probably rolling in his grave./QUOTE] I’m pretty sure that, right around his death, Henson was entering into negotiations with Disney to license them to Disney, or at least to collaborate on some projects. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/18 "2004-02-19T19:23:47Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > They _will_ squeeze the Muppets for every last cent they can wring out of them. That is EXACTLY what a corporation is supposed to do? Paramout rings every penny out of Star Trek. MGM rings every penny out of James Bond. Lucas rings every penny out of Star Wars. TimeWarner rings every penny out of Potter. New Line rings every penny out of Lord of the Rings. Etc. Etc. Etc. In case you didn’t hear Comcast is trying a hostile take over of the Disney company. By adding the Muppets to their stable they increase the value of Disney and hopefully convice the shareholders (the owners of Disney) not to sell out to Comcast. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/19 "2004-02-19T19:30:20Z")
Bah, I can’t stand Jim Hill’s nonsensical ramblings. Anyways, as many have said, the Muppets can’t do any worse than those damn Denny’s commercials. And if Muppet Vision 3D is any indication, the combined forces of Disney and the Muppets could truly be something special. ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935/20 "2004-02-19T21:04:47Z")
And here I was hoping it was gonna be something like _Kermit’s Divine Comedy_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-muppets-go-to-hell/229935.md?page=2)