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Monday, April 7, 2014

On the Muppets

This weekend I saw the new Muppets movie with my niece. We loved it - it was really funny. I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais's comedy so I was looking forward to seeing him in it. There were lots of catchy songs and some truly funny scenes. My niece and I laughed a lot and enjoyed it.

But liking the Muppets hasn't always been easy for me. I may have mentioned this on here before but when I was a kid I was secretly scared of the Muppets. I didn't tell anyone because I knew they would just say the Muppets weren't real which I knew in my head but also wasn't totally convinced of. It just seemed like I wouldn't want to run into a Muppet in a dark alley. (Except Kermit of course.)

The thing about the Muppets is that they were always working in that old theater which kind of scared me as a kid. I felt like they were always one failure away from a life on the streets. And some of them seemed like they had already lived a rough life. Matted fur, a feeling of desperation, wild hair, language problems, I could go on and on.

I mean, look at Gonzo:


He looks like a bookie. Or a drunk. Or a junkie. Or a used car salesman. Or a con artist. He definitely looks shifty. That much I know for sure.


And then there's Fozzie Bear:


I like Fozzie. He has a real grandfather vibe to him. Which makes it even harder to stomach the fact that he looks like a toy that was on the bottom of your toy box for years and you just discovered. His fur is super matted, and the scarf? That belonged to your grandmother and you tied it around Fozzie when you were a kid. Fozzie looks like a down on his luck old man bear which is just so sad. His life should be better by now. It worries me.

And onto Rizzo:


I mean, he's a rat. And where did he get that pizza!? That was my pizza!


And this guy:

Sidenote: I never liked that the guy with glasses didn't have eyes.

I don't know his name but his head really freaks me out! It kind of reminds me of the worst part of Beetlejuice - the part with the shrunken heads. I mean, really. What IS this thing????

The rest of the Muppets, I guess I'm ok with. I'll never understand the relationship between Kermit and Ms. Piggy. It's confusing and physically impossible. But Kermit is great. Definitely the best Muppet.

Who is your favorite Muppet? Do you find any of them scary? Or do you think my childhood discomfort with them was totally unfounded?

6 comments:

Katherine said...

HA!!!! This post is so good. It's like those Muppets were in mug shots or something. Some of the Muppets are definitely a little off-putting. I think my favorite's also Kermit, though I do really like the Swedish Chef. I was going to say Grover was my favorite, but that's the wrong show... I think the Muppets are way scarier than the Sesame Street puppets in general. Probably because the ones from the Street are meant for preschool-age kids, so they were more diligent about making them less like the creepy blue Muppet with a beak. Why is he so angry? And what's with those eyebrows?

Kristen said...

I'm glad to hear you liked the new movie. I'm a life-long Muppet fan, and I wasn't as impressed with the last movie, so I'm hoping this one is better. I can totally understand being afraid of them as a kid. Were you also afraid of the Sesame Street Muppets? (They are also Muppets because Jim Henson created them as well.) I think that's why the ones on the Muppet Show weren't scary to me. (Ok, except this one: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Uncle_Deadly)

Side note: The creepy shrunken head Muppet is Pepe the King Prawn. Not only is he creepy-looking, but he's kind of dirty/salacious. Not my fave.

I don't think I could pick a favorite!

Brady said...

I love Pepe the King Prawn. He is represents all that is right with the Muppets. Also if you haven't seen his performance in Muppets in Space, you are missing out of a choice experience.

Melanie said...

I'm not well versed enough in Muppets to contribute anything to this discussion. There seem to be a lot of them that I've never heard of! My roommate had a book called Mrs. Piggy's Guide to Life, and it was hilarious. So I'll go with Mrs. Piggy is my favorite. Even though I don't really know why she was in love with Kermit.

violet50 said...

Kermit's my favorite, especially when he's singing "The Rainbow Connection" or "It's Not Easy Being Green".

Faerie Eye said...

Pepe the King Prawn is one if my favorites! He's so funny :) the sweetish chef has to be my next favorite.