“The Muppets” won’t win any awards, and one could make a fair case that it isn’t even the best family-friendly film on the market right now (Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” is pretty terrific). Still, there’s something magical about “The Muppets,” a reboot that celebrates beloved characters rather than reinventing them with CGI or superficial 3D thrills.
Kudos to Disney for letting co-writer, star and all-around Muppets fanatic Jason Segel take the reins of the franchise. While the new film introduces Kermit, Gonzo and Miss Piggy to a whole new generation, “The Muppets” is a love letter to “The Muppet Show” and all the warm, fuzzy feelings the characters have given the previous generations.
I’m considered a part of the last real Muppets generation. The “Muppet Babies” cartoon was a regular fixture on Saturday mornings, and the old show or one of the first three movies would pop up on cable. We even had “The Muppet Christmas Carol” in theaters in 1992 (still the best movie version of “A Christmas Carol,” by the way).
The Muppets weren’t the only legendary children’s franchise to fall by the wayside following my childhood. I remember watching “Looney Tunes” all the time when I was a kid. Now it’s nearly impossible to find Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck anywhere outside of a Six Flags theme park.
Surely I’m not the only one who got teary eyed when, in the new movie, Kermit begins singing “Rainbow Connection.”. And I love the new musical numbers too, many written by Bret McKenzie, one half of New Zealand folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. “Muppets” director James Bobin was also an integral part of the “Flight of the Conchords” HBO series, and you can see his love of the lyrical absurd everywhere in the movie.
Then of course there’s Segel, proving he can be funny on any level within the parental ratings system (Rated R for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” PG-13 for his long-running sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” now rated G for “The Muppets”). Teamed with the consistently alluring Amy Adams, there are human stretches of “The Muppets” that work just as well as the puppet-centric moments.
Like this year’s “Winnie the Pooh” film, “The Muppets” doesn’t attempt any trickery in luring kids into the franchise. The Muppets still are what they were. No needless updates. No fancy CGI animation. It probably won’t make as much money as the upcoming “Alvin and the Chipmunks” sequel (where the Chipmunks are CGI), but it will endure.