The Muppets' Happy Song

"I feel like we should do a musical number right now."

"We haven't seen a happy movie in a looong time."

That was what you would have heard if you had heard us talking outside the theater after the screening of The Muppets, all of us mid-to late twenties or early thirties. We had been Muppet fans as kids of course, but none of us had the perfect-excuse-to-be-at-a-PG movie (a child). We did have the second best, though: "I got these tickets from work and this is a station screening so I am at work right now." While we were waiting for it to start, we chatted about the movies we'd recently seen. This involved a stilted discussion of Shame that had to be conducted completely in euphemisms, because we were surrounded by 8-year-olds. Although I suspect they know what johnson means. So basically, we had our world-weary cynicism jackets on, and zipped up to our necks. One of us even had a moment of: merciful god, this is a musical wtf. Brr.

We were worried for a second there: when the trailer came out with its jokes about fart shoes, we started to get worried.

But it's okay! The Muppets is great!


The thing that makes The Muppets work is that it's ABOUT nostalgia. Walter, Gary (Jason Segel), and Mary (Amy Adams), are the Muppets' biggest fans, and in order to save the Muppet studios from the hands of a greedy oil tycoon (Chris Cooper), they get the Muppets back together to put on one more show. You don't have to completely buy into it at first; it acknowledges that its world is a little sideways, and its brand of absurdity doesn't really fit into the current zeitgeist.

Did it ever though? The Muppets were always about being outsider-y. About being brave enough to be funny without being mean. And the movie does exactly that; which we wanted it to do while at the same time being afraid it wouldn't be able. It's why we were so worried--what if it wasn't our  Muppets? But, man, it's soooo funny--and I can't believe I''m saying this, but the fart-shoes joke worked. Twice...well, once-and-a half. I think it's funnier for adults than for kids, because, in true Muppet form, there's always a different, grown-up show going on at the same time. The kids in the audience seemed to like it, too, but I think I missed some of the in-jokes and references because there's just so much going on. Did it get a little cute and meta for it's own good once or twice? Yeah. But it's so interesting to be on the grown-up side, and finally get everything on all of the other levels. I think I like it better over here.



And I'm sorry but it's impossible to be snarky while always-adorably-earnest-faced Jason Segel, who cannot dance, is trying his very very hardest at musical numbers (this cuts off before it gets really awkward, but I do appreciate that there are some great high kicks going on):


I was having a crappy, crappy day and was probably in a bad mood right up until the opening credits rolled. A bad mood that popped like so many bubbles, and stayed away all night. Well, until I got home and had to park four miles away from my house, but world-weary cynicism is tough to shake on the first go-round. I don't remember smiling so much at a movie. I had to remind myself that I was in a theater with other people and not strangers, and not grab my friend's arm and yell, "omg look do you see who that is?" Because half the fun of the movie is the cameos. I'm not going to ruin them for you, except to say, youguysyouguysyouguysDaveGROHL!

Bottom line: It's The Muppets. Which, if you know what that means, know how much that means.