Can The Muppets Still Exist as Modern Movie Stars?

Aug 03, 2023

The Muppets haven't been in a new theatrical movie for nearly a decade, but they could totally still thrive in feature-length narratives.

A 2019 episode of Podcast: The Ride fixated on Muppet*Vision 3D led to the show's hosts (Scott Gairdner, Jason Sheridan, and Mike Carlson), plus guest Griffin Newman, all talking about their favorite Muppets and what makes these characters so special. There was also, however, a bleaker discussion regarding the troublesome place The Muppets find themselves in the modern world. Disney just seems more confused than anything else about what to do with these pop culture icons, as seen by how it's been nearly a decade since the last Muppet movie and that ill-advised 2015 Muppets TV show.

This discussion eventually led to Gairdner questioning whether The Muppets should even be headlining movies anymore. Perhaps the difficulties Disney is having in getting them to launch a new movie and the recurring success these characters have in internet viral videos indicates they just aren't cut out for long-form narratives anymore. It's an intriguing and reasonable conclusion that did get me wondering about whether there's still a place for The Muppets in the modern cinematic landscape.

Since 2014, we’ve had two (about to be three!) Saw movies, a trio of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles titles, and three different entries in the Despicable Me saga. So many franchises have released countless installments in the years since the last theatrical Muppets movie, Muppets Most Wanted. This prolonged absence is shocking for several reasons, including the fact that Disney is infamous for franchising things well beyond their sell-by date. Remember when they made Cars 3 after Cars 2 was despised even by the youngest of children? For some reason, Kermit and the gang are the only exceptions to that rule.

The lack of new Muppet movies is especially discouraging, though, because of the track record of quality this saga has produced over eight theatrical features. I would go on record saying there is no mainstream franchise with a better track record than the Muppet saga. Obviously, when one extends things to the world of arthouse cinema, long-term projects like the Before trilogy or the Apu Trilogy are better. But compare the Muppet films to the movies belonging to the James Bond, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe, or any other blockbuster franchise. In all those other cases, there's typically an all-time bad turkey, a Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald or Star Wars: Attack of the Clones that automatically sinks down the average quality of the entire saga.

By contrast, the worst Muppets movie is Muppets from Space, a feature that suffers from grating attempts to make the Muppets "hip" and the ill-advised notion to provide concrete answers to what Gonzo is. Yet, that feature still has Bobo the Bear ("baby steps, sir!"), an amusing celebrity cameo from Ray Liotta, and lots of chances for puppeteer Dave Goelz to shine in his performance as Gonzo. Over eight movies, this is the worst The Muppets could do in their big-screen exploits. The DC Extended Universe, the Pirates of the Caribbean films, or the Fast & Furious saga would’ve killed for that to be their absolute worst feature. If that's the basement-level of quality for Muppet motion pictures, why not make more of these films?

We’ve looked at the "nadir" of Muppet movie storytelling, but the real case for The Muppets still being viable modern big-screen attractions comes in their greatest cinematic exploits. For my money, The Muppets have anchored three stone-cold masterpieces over eight features: The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and the 2011 production The Muppets. Each project was released in a different decade, was handled by a different creative crew, and had wildly unique artistic aims. Despite these varying qualities, each managed to capture the hearts of Kermit and friends while also delivering silliness and pathos in equal measure.

In three different eras of cinematic history, The Muppets managed to knock it out of the ballpark in terms of quality. There's something about these characters that's truly timeless, while the way Christmas Carol and The Muppets tweaked things ever so slightly to ensure audiences weren't just getting the same thing again kept the franchise fresher than ever. The Muppets have come back to new pop culture landscapes and delivered great theatrical movies. They certainly can do it again.

Even though the Muppets have worked as big-screen stars in the past, it still seems unclear to even the most devoted Muppet fans what future theatrical movie exploits should even look like. There are some key facets from earlier Muppet features that the next generation of motion pictures should take cues from…but these fresh cinematic endeavors are going to need to blaze their own creative trails to live up to the Muppet legacy.

In terms of what elements to keep from classic Muppet movies, though, it's best to remember that titles like The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Christmas Carol thrive on not treating these characters like "kid's stuff." The artists making these movies are making material that youngsters can totally watch, but the jokes, songs, and characters can resonate with people of all ages in different ways. It's a beautiful quality that allows children to not feel like they’re being talked down to while older viewers (myself included!) can find themselves always being surprised by how much insight or comedic cleverness is nestled within these wacky characters.

This is a quality ingrained into The Muppets by the creative forces that have molded their greatest movies. Jim Henson, of course, had been a comedic genius long before he worked on the original Muppet Movie (which was directed by James Frawley). Just watch his old Wilkin's Coffee commercials to see how Henson had a gift for comic timing from the very start of his career. Speaking of the first Muppet feature, tunes in that film like "Rainbow Connection" were penned by Paul Williams, a mainstay of 1970s pop songs that isn't immediately associated with family-friendly fare. Meanwhile, part of why The Muppets worked so well in 2011 was that it let artists like comedian Jason Segel, director James Bobin, and songwriter Bret McKenzie (from Flight of the Conchords!) have free rein with these iconic characters. This was a trio of people who knew their way around witty jokes, period, not just selling toys for Disney.

If you’re going to make new Muppet movies, you have to take a cue from the past and let fresh creative voices who aren't just well-versed in making family movies handle these characters. Speaking of new creative talent, if the Muppets are still going to work as modern movie stars, they’re going to have to embrace all kinds of new material. Now, this doesn't mean having The Muppets cloyingly reference modern technology 24/7 or having them just rip-off recent popular movies. I’ve seen The Muppets Wizard of Oz, I know what happens when these characters are told to just channel the spirit of Shrek. But there are ways this saga can keep shaking things up creatively in a way that feels organic to the whole franchise.

Most notably, whoever's in charge of the next Muppets movies needs to take a cue from Griffin Newman's comments on that MuppetVision 3D episode of Podcast: The Ride and create new Muppet characters. Save for Walter in The Muppets, we haven't had a lot of notable new Muppets introduced since Muppets Tonight debuted figures like Clifford or Pepe the King Prawn. Giving today's kids some new puppets they can latch onto and call their own would be a great way to give new life to The Muppets as big-screen stars.

Also, new Muppet movies need to tackle movie genres that haven't been thoroughly explored in previous installments. One reason the Jason Segel era of Muppet features fizzled out was that 2014s Muppets Most Wanted, despite having some great musical numbers and amusing gags, was yet another pastiche of European caper films like The Great Muppet Caper. These characters had already done this kind of homage before, and it made the whole film feel too redundant. There are tons of different genres, both classical and modern, you could plop Miss Piggy and Fozzie into that, thanks to the juxtaposition of silly Muppets with familiar genre tropes, could instantly get laughs. Don't be afraid to explore new cinematic terrain.

Speaking of which, it’d also be interesting to see new Muppet movies take a cue from the excellent Netflix program The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and film puppet material in more "cinematic" ways. The photography of vintage Muppet movies, especially those first few (where they couldn't rely on CGI to help realize magic like Kermit riding a bike), is impressive in its own right. It's not that the cinematography and directing norms of this franchise are "broken," far from it. It would just be cool to see further Muppet features try their own thing rather than just mimic the visual aesthetic of their predecessors. Age of Resistance showed there's a lot of variety in how you can film puppetry material, it’d be amazing to see Kermit and friends build on that.

The fact that I had to restrain myself from going even deeper on all the creative opportunities of engaging in a new Muppet movie alone should be a vibrant indicator that these characters deserve another chance at headlining a theatrical film. As if that weren't enough, there's also the undeniable fact that the eight previous big-screen Muppet features have left an incredible cinematic legacy, one rife with some of the most beloved musical numbers and gags in the history of the medium. We’re all still spreading GIFs and memes of Kermit the Frog and his cohorts for reason: we love The Muppets.

Why shouldn't we? They’re an incredible crop of characters whose innate strangeness opens the door for truly absurd humor like characters just picking up and reading the script of the movie they inhabit. However, they can also turn right around and tug at your heartstrings so profoundly that you forget you’re watching puppets. That little moment in Muppets Christmas Carol where Kermit has buried Tiny Tim and gently walks over to a chair in a hushed state or that performance of "I’m Going To Go Back There Someday" from The Muppet Movie? I’m getting choked up just thinking about them!

The Muppets have proven so incredibly successful at making the leap from The Muppet Show to theatrical movies for decades now. Even better, various post-1990 creative teams have (largely, give or take a Muppets from Space) proven they’ve got the goods to channel the spirit of Jim Henson and friends without functioning as a rigid recreation of older Muppet movies. With all due respect to the good boys over at Podcast: The Ride, the notion that The Muppets can't headline modern motion pictures is as ridiculous as the idea that Jason Sheridan would miss out on exploiting a CVS coupon. These characters can still thrive in the modern cinematic landscape…Disney just needs to give The Muppets a chance to star in a theatrical movie again. C’mon Disney, if you’re burning money on a live-action update on The Artisocats, you can give the world the new Muppet film it desperately needs.

Lisa Laman is a life-long movie fan, writer, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her Features writing for Collider, her byline has been seen in outlets like Polygon, The Mary Sue, Fangoria, The Spool, and ScarleTeen. She has also presented original essays related to the world of cinema and pop culture at multiple academic conferences. Lisa's favorite kind of movies are anything that gets her soul stirred and her mind racing, though she does have a special fondness for musicals and anything anchored by lesbians. Residing both on the Autism spectrum and in Texas, Lisa is a lady who adores pugs, showtunes, the Wes Anderson movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, and any music by Carly Rae Jepsen.