It’s been a foul decade for the Muppets, and an particularly brutal 12 months. MuppetVision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios closed, and so they have been evicted by Monsters. The Jim Henson Studios Lot in actual Hollywood closed, and so they have been evicted by John Mayer. Their Broadway present closed after like every week, and so they’re being evicted by Cats. (Air quotes round a few of these “evictions” since John Mayer is the nice man in that story, and the actual factor that evicted them on Broadway was sluggish gross sales.)
Over the past decade-plus, the Muppets have obtained no scarcity of failed revival efforts from Disney. The newest of those was The Muppets Mayhem, which was cancelled after one season. Earlier than that was Muppets Haunted Mansion in 2021, a short-lived collection in 2020 referred to as Muppets Now, and an ABC collection in 2015-2016 that was additionally cancelled after a single season. We just lately discovered that plans for Muppets Massive Thunder Mountain have been (considerably fittingly) deserted.
The final Muppet characteristic movies have been Muppets Most Needed in 2014, which was a sequel to The Muppets from 2011. The Jason Segel car was the closest factor the Muppets have seen to success, at the least within the mainstream, within the 2000s. None of those have been unhealthy. Even the much-maligned ABC collection was watchable by the tip of its run. They simply didn’t fairly seize the lightning-in-a-bottle of the Muppets, or the essence of the unique The Muppet Present. Till now.
The Muppet Present is the most effective factor Disney has carried out with the Muppets in a long time. It’s higher than the Segel movie, any of the exhibits or shorts. When you haven’t seen it, cease studying now and go watch. (However come again, in fact, since we have now the necessary matter of Figment’s future to sort out!)
Essentially the most outstanding factor concerning the 2026 revival of The Muppet Present is that it may simply as simply be an episode from 1976 via 1981, throughout the authentic collection’ run. Save for the songs and celebrities, there aren’t any identifiers within the present that it’s a circa 2026 manufacturing.
No makes an attempt at relevance or trendiness. No cringey “how do you do, fellow children?” moments. No tortured references to TikTok, Fb, YouFace or WUPHF.com. Even Sabrina Carpenter appears like a throwback to Madonna; Seth Rogen is the brand new head of Continental Studios, which is quintessential outdated Hollywood.
Watching The Muppet Present in 2026 appears like assembly up with a childhood pal you haven’t seen in years, and instantly choosing up the dialog the place it left off with out lacking a beat. It’s a stroll down reminiscence lane, however on the identical time, it additionally doesn’t really feel like bare fan service or slew of figuring out nods to the unique manufacturing, leaving little room for newcomers.
The Muppet Present is a nostalgia journey in its purest kind, which is to say that anybody ought to be capable of clock its timelessness. That familiarity is an unequivocal asset, however the present is just not depending on being a love letter to the Muppets made by followers for followers. It’s approachable to all.
The nostalgia is an enormous a part of why all of it works so effectively. The Muppet Present comes at a time when the young and old alike are craving for less complicated occasions, romanticizing and reminiscing of when the financial system was stronger, political tensions have been decrease, and cultural temper was lighter.
The Muppets embody a hotter, harmless and purer time. The tactile high quality of the manufacturing harkens again earlier than the slopification of every little thing, and rise of rubbish “family-friendly” programming like Cocomelon.
As at all times, the Muppets’ vaudevillian components works by layering all-ages slapstick comedy with an grownup showbiz sensibility with wry humor and coronary heart. That is seen in self-referential nods to the Muppets’ comeback, backstage glimpses of the motion, and even Gonzo’s huge stunt involving him reciting of Oscar winners (for causes unknown). There’s multitudes to the Muppets.
Along with Gonzo’s stunt, the Muppet Labs sketch was likewise a basic one from the outdated present. And mockingly sufficient, it’s about rising consideration spans; the proper antidote to trendy programming.
Even sketches that didn’t revive recurring ones from the 1976 present felt like non secular successors. Specifically, the “Pigs in Wigs” ballroom sketch that includes Miss Piggy juggling romantic suitors seemed and felt like one thing of one other period, and the operating gags all through the present are quintessential Muppets.
Of the Muppets, Miss Piggy is the character who actually shines within the particular. Piggy performs the best counterpart to Carpenter, who delivers an ideal efficiency as host (no shock to us SNL viewers).
Carpenter brings trendy starpower, which is able to undoubtedly entice youthful audiences; she additionally delivers the correct quantity of camp and memorable musical numbers. Most significantly, she humanizes the Muppets in the best way she performs reverse them; among the finest to do it since Michael Caine.
In addition to all of this labored, it was the change-of-pace musical quantity carried out by Rizzo the Rat and his rodent homies that had me laughing hardest. (Full disclosure: Rizzo is my favourite Muppet.)
Why was there an all-rat rendition of The Weeknd’s hit track “Blinding Mild” in a darkish alleyway? No person is aware of. Don’t ask too many questions. Nevertheless it was a weirdly superb encapsulation of what makes the Muppets one thing particular.
Not all the jokes land, however that’s nothing new for the Muppets and it’s the character of the beast with a present like this. By and huge, the sketches are good to nice, Carpenter is ideal as host, the opposite celeb cameos work, and there’s sufficient payoff that you simply’re grinning ear to ear by the emotional finish.
That lasting impression is what issues, and why The Muppets Present, as a car, “works” higher than all different current ill-fated makes an attempt to revitalize the Muppets. This revival particular ought to be greater than enough to show an viewers exists for the Muppets to stage one other inconceivable comeback after a tough couple of a long time.
who has had an equally tough couple of a long time? Figment.
I’m cognizant of the truth that The Muppet Present revival featured zero references to Figment, which some would possibly argue was its largest fault. And that I sound just like the native information attempting to drive relevance the place it doesn’t exist. (Rising up, the information usually did the “Kalamazoo Connection” tales regardless of there being no discernible one.)
I’m going to tug from that playbook right here. Partially as a result of I’m coming to this evaluate a number of days after The Muppet Present debuted (and with 98% critics and viewers scores, it in all probability doesn’t want the DTB endorsement to succeed). But in addition partly as a result of there really is a Figment connection!
The Muppet Present revival was developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg of Level Gray Photos. Disney has been trying to work with Level Gray on quite a few tasks, with Rogen’s and Goldberg’s manufacturing firm having been beforehand hooked up to a Figment characteristic movie.
That was introduced again in 2022, however it appears to caught in growth purgatory. Extra just lately, Disney CEO Bob Iger promising a collection or short-form movies that includes Figment over the past annual shareholder assembly. Some say he’s leaving proper earlier than the 2026 assembly so he doesn’t should reply to indignant Figment fanatics.
Our hope is and has been that Rogen’s ongoing relationship with Disney ends in the Figment characteristic movie getting greenlit and transferring ahead. We’ve been cautiously optimistic about his involvement in each the Figment and Muppets tasks from the start, and the sensible actuality is that (similar to the Muppets), Figment wants one thing huge to show the character right into a critical model or franchise for Disney.
At any time when Seth Rogen comes up as being hooked up to a Disney undertaking, followers inevitably recoil in horror. “I’d quite this not be carried out in any respect than have him hooked up” was roughly the consensus in response to the Figment characteristic movie information. It was an identical story with the Muppets.
That is comprehensible. Seth Rogen has a sticky repute as a lazy stoner who makes juvenile humor. This picture made sense a decade in the past when he was producing shock worth movies and crude humor. However as we’ve been saying, that repute hasn’t matched actuality in over a decade. The Studio, which was essentially the most awarded present of the latest Emmy Awards, is the newest instance of this. It’s not the one one.
The output of Rogen and Level Gray in the previous few years has grown tremendously and expanded in vary. Rogen is without doubt one of the hardest working folks in Hollywood, able to making high quality exhibits for a spread of audiences. He’s just like Adam Sandler, who equally vacillates from one excessive to a different, making each the worst paycheck motion pictures you’ve ever seen to award winners.
With that mentioned, I may perceive the preliminary concern over Rogen’s involvement. Followers needed this to be the Muppets’ distinct model of humor, not the Muppets performing as, ahem, puppets for Rogen’s comedic sensibilities.
There’s additionally the fact that Disney has missed the mark in capturing that sure je ne sais quoi that makes up the Muppets magic. Their “voice” has been off, and I don’t simply imply Kermit. A number of the current exhibits have had flashes of this, however they haven’t fairly caught the touchdown; the tone and general persona by no means matched the Henson heyday.
We have been cautiously optimistic about Rogen’s involvement from the start. He had labored with the Muppets beforehand on a few smaller tasks and appears to be a real fan. The Muppet Present revival struck me as a ardour undertaking for him, simply because the 2011 film was for Jason Segel.
Rogen wrote as a lot on Instagram: “I’ve been working the higher a part of the final decade to attempt to deliver my favourite present again…and it seems to be like I’m getting shut.” (Right here’s hoping his favourite old-fashioned EPCOT Middle attraction was Journey into Creativeness.)
I really feel vindicated in that perspective after watching The Muppet Present. Rogen threaded the needle of crafting the proper love letter to the unique collection, rediscovering the Muppets’ voice as an alternative of projecting his personal, and utilizing the particular as a stealth pilot for launching one thing recent.
The factor is, the previous couple of paragraphs may simply as simply apply to Figment. He too has been mishandled by Disney. Figment’s figurative voice is off within the present incarnation of Journey into Creativeness. He additionally has a fervent fanbase that’s skeptical of diversifications turning Figment right into a ‘taste of the month’ versus restoring his timeless, all ages attraction.
If there have been any doubts about Seth Rogen’s involvement with the Figment characteristic movie, really watching The Muppet Present revival particular ought to quiet the criticism. If Rogen may do for Figment what he did for the Muppets, new CEO Josh D’Amaro would don’t have any alternative however to greenlight a $1 billion new Journey into Creativeness attraction. Possibly even a wholly redone pavilion that includes Figment!
In the end, I simply needed to take a while to circle again to the entire Figment characteristic movie, because it’s as soon as once more price spotlighting following Rogen’s loving dealing with of the Muppets and success of this particular.
I’ve taken a sacred oath to advocate for Journey into Creativeness 4.0 each time the chance presents itself as a result of, selfishly, I need to expertise the attraction and Figment along with his true “voice” throughout our daughter’s early life. Maybe this put up might be that one little spark of inspiration that somebody must ask a query on the upcoming shareholder assembly.
The extra logical and apparent conclusion to attract from the artistic and industrial success of The Muppet Present revival particular is that the longer term could possibly be brilliant for the Muppets. In any case, The Muppets Present averaged 3.07M viewers on ABC, was the most important present of the night time on community TV within the coveted 18-49 demo, and hit #1 on Disney+ in 59 international locations. It stays to be seen whether or not that’s adequate for a collection order, however it’s undoubtedly enough for us to see extra Muppets.
From a Walt Disney World fan perspective, we’re hoping this retains the door open for Muppets Courtyard 2.0 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Later this summer season, the reimagined Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring the Muppets will debut at DHS, because the Muppets flip the tables and evict Aerosmith. The success of that journey and The Muppet Present revival particular enhance the probability of Muppets Courtyard (revival) that includes a MuppetVision 3D (revival) as soon as Villains Unfairly Ever After ends.
Right here’s hoping that we’re standing on the precipice of a bona fide Muppet-aissance, and we glance again at this particular a long time from now when the Muppets are once more dominating popular culture because the second when Muppets’ fortunes modified. Thanks, Seth Rogen. Now run it again once more with Figment.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What did you consider The Muppet Present revival particular? Happy with the job carried out by Seth Rogen and Sabrina Carpenter & co? Do you now belief Rogen and his staff to show round Figment’s fortunes? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
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