Muppets Haunted Mansion

Premiered October 8, 2021.

One hundred years ago, on All Hallows' Eve, the a magician known as the Great MacGuffin disappeared in a haunted mansion.  In the present day, on Halloween night, Gonzo The Great (Dave Goelz) and his friend Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta) are participating in a fear challenge in the very same mansion, which is believed to be the most haunted mansion in the world.  Gonzo is especially excited about this, since MacGuffin is his favorite magician.  Pepe is along for the ride because he believes the mansion will be filled with partying celebrities.

At the same time, their friends Kermit the frog (Matt Vogel) and Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson) are hosting the Muppets' annual costume party.  They're disappointed Gonzo and Pepe won't be attending. 

Upon arrival at the mansion, Pepe and Gonzo are greeted by the caretaker (Darren Criss) and several ghosts. 

Inside, they meet their "Ghost Host" (Will Arnett), who gives them a tour of the mansion and explains the terms of the challenge: Inside the mansion's walls, they must face all their fears bravely.  Pepe and Gonzo must stay in the mansion all night but if they fail to do so, they will be trapped inside forever!  The host says the house is filled with spirits that will respond to their "sympathetic vibrations."  

Throughout the evening, they will encounter lots of interesting characters, including:

Madam Pigota, the spirit of a psychic medium who speaks in rhymes.  She gives clues to Gonzo and Pepe that may help them find a way out of the mansion.

Gauzey the Hat Box Bear (Eric Jacobson), a comedian who performs at the mansion's vaudeville show.

Constance Hathaway (Taraji P. Henson), who tells Pepe she wants to marry him. 

And John Stamos! 

Unbeknownst to Pepe, Constance has killed all five of her previous husbands and their ghosts are now stuck in the mansion.  She plans to kill Pepe after marrying him.  Gonzo figures this out and tries to intervene.

However, Gonzo has his own problems.  The ghost host informs him that if he wants to survive the night, he must go to room 999.  Inside that room, Gonzo must face his greatest fear.

Will Gonzo and Pepe make it through the night?  Or will they be trapped in the Haunted Mansion forever?

J.A. Morris says: 

Since the Jim Henson's death, the Muppets haven't always been handled well.  Muppet movies and TV have been very inconsistent in recent decades.  What Henson and his collaborators understood was that Muppets programming needed a combination of child-like sentiment and a little bit of edgy humor.  I'm happy to report that Muppets Haunted Mansion reminds me a lot of the humor of The Muppet Show and the early Muppets films.  

Gonzo and Pepe get the spotlight here, instead of usual "leads" like Kermit or Miss Piggy.  Dave Goelz (of the the original Muppeteers) and Bill Barretta do a nice job carrying the special.  All the other Muppet performs are good as well, especially puppeteers who play the Electric Mayhem band.  Their performance of "Dancing In The Moonlight" is a nice moment.  

The human actors in Muppets Haunted Mansion are also entertaining.  Will Arnett brings just enough spookiness and mystery as the mansion's ghost host.  Taraji P. Henson is great as the murderous Constance Hathaway.  Most of Henson's scenes feature her interacting with Pepe.  It takes a lot of talent to believably interact with a king prawn.  

Lots of famous actors make cameo appearances as ghosts.  I don't have the time or space here to name of all of them, but it's worth noting that the late Ed Asner plays one of the ghosts.  It's one of his final roles and it was nice to see him here

The only problem I had with Muppets Haunted Mansion was the performance of the song "Grim, Grinning Ghosts," a song that originated at Disney's Haunted Mansion theme park attraction.  It's one of the best original songs written for their parks. 

I didn't have a problem with Darren Criss' performance of the song, I just thought "Grim, Grinning Ghosts" deserved a bigger number than what we get here.  The special's major production number is reserved for the original song "Life Hereafter," which I also enjoyed.  

I enjoyed Muppets Haunted Mansion more than any recent Muppet production and I hope it's the start of a new "golden age" of Muppets film and TV.  It's highly recommended to fans of Muppets fans of every age and it's something I figure I'll watch often around Halloween in the future.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 jack o'lanterns!

RigbyMel says:

Having a nostalgic affection for both the Muppets AND Disney's celebrated Haunted Mansion dark ride, I was quite intrigued when this Muppets special was announced for Disney+.   I was also a little bit nervous about it because, as J.A. Morris points out above, post-Henson Muppets output has been on the uneven side.  

It turns out that this new special contains enough Muppet mayhem and Haunted Mansion spookiness to make my nostalgic heart very happy indeed. 

Not only was the story fun, but there were all kinds of cool little Easter eggs (Halloween treats?) sprinkled throughout.   

For instance, we see Mah Na Mah Na candelabra in the stretching room near the beginning of Gonzo and Pepe's adventure. 

When Statler and Waldorf show up, they heckle the proceedings from a "Doom Buggy" - the mode of transit park guests take during the actual Haunted Mansion dark ride

There are also appearances by some pretty old school Muppets like Wayne and Wanda.   

Plus the "casting" of the Muppets in various ghostly Haunted Mansion roles was pretty darned inspired -- and we even get non-sequitur screaming goats thrown into the mix for good measure!

It is quite evident from all the clever meta-humor and an optimal balance of spooky and funny that the writers (Bill Barretta, Kirk R. Thatcher, and Kelly Younger) love the Muppets and the Haunted Mansion and they've done a great job of bringing the spirit of Jim Henson and his creations to the screen in this special. 

 

Muppets Haunted Mansion is the Muppets/Halloween/Haunted Mansion (monster?) mash-up we didn't know we needed and is recommended viewing for Muppet fans and Haunted Mansion fans of all ages. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 jack o'lanterns! 

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Holiday Film Reviews presents a special guest post from Victoria Willis,  a long time friend of mine and co-editor of  Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture.  You can follow her as @Technopoesis  on Twitter.   Thanks very much, Vickie for sharing your review of  The Muppet Christmas Carol!    -- RigbyMel 

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I have a confession to make. I had never seen The Muppets Christmas Carol prior to watching it for this blog post.


I’ve seen other versions of A Christmas Carol.  Scrooged is a particular favorite. And, of course,  I love Charles Dickens’ novella. I love that it’s one of THE Christmas tales, and I love how it is essentially a ghost story. I love that it almost single-handedly revived (and created) traditions for a holiday that was a lot less warmly loved prior to 1843 than it is today. I love that it embodies Christmas spirit. And I love how it defines Christmas spirit and  how it emphasizes giving and charity and joyousness and community and fellowship. It’s not just that Charles Dickens is the man (cause he is), but he’s the man that’s pretty clearly against The Man, and A Christmas Carol is a lovely introduction to  Dickens’ many works.

So, I clearly went into The Muppets Christmas Carol with great expectations (ha ha ha).  How does The Muppets Christmas Carol hold up to such a scrumptious piece of literature?

Brilliantly.

First, in a twist, Dickens narrates the tale, as played by Gonzo the Great, with the help of Rizzo the Rat. They are excellent narrators, occasionally breaking the fourth wall and engaging in hi-jinks to follow the story that they are also telling. These are playful narrators, delighting in storytelling and stories at the same time; a process, really, that just underscores how creativity, and storytelling, isn't always linear.

Michael Caine is a formidable Ebenezer Scrooge. I hesitate to say that I prefer his Scrooge to Bill Murray’s, but I think I do. It’s a difficult role to play, Scrooge; it’s difficult to portray the embodiment of callousness and penny pinching and heartlessness. It’s certainly much harder to be callous and penny pinching and heartless to a bunch of adorable Muppets.  Caine’s “Humbugs” sound like what I hear when I read Dickens.

For Kermit the Frog, it’s not easy being mean, and he’s a fantastic Bob Crachit, gentle and kind and courageous.  Miss Piggy plays his wife, and her indignation is classic Piggy. With Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim, it’s a dynamic foundation for the Cratchit family, and a heart-wrenching one as well. Tiny Tim always gets me, and it’s easy to see how Scrooge’s heart is melted by this family.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future are as weird, strange, and downright creepy as ghosts tend to be. 

The Ghost of Christmas Past is ethereal, young, and fleeting, and the effects actually hold up pretty well.

The Ghost of Christmas Present is stern in Dickens, but the jolly Muppets version infuses an almost Buddha (albeit a goofy Buddha) quality to the present.

And the Ghost of Christmas Future, who, while not a skeleton, is a cloaked figure so scary that Gonzo and Rizzo take a break from narrating to hide, and return later, after that ghost has departed. Each ghost does its duty, and shows Scrooge the things he needs to see.

There are a few things that make The Muppets Christmas Carol truly special. First, is how close it is to the original. For the most part, it’s unswerving. 

There are a couple of tweaks, such as the addition of Jacob Marley’s brother, Robert, to allow Statler and Waldorf to play the role(s). The Ghost of Christmas Present is upbeat and rather goofy, which is appropriate for the age of the intended audience. Second, surprisingly (to me, watching for the first time) is the music, which is genuinely sing-able and charming. It’s easy to forget just how endearing singing Muppets are, and how sing-able Muppets’ songs can be. And, third, of course, the Muppets themselves, whose shenanigans and comedy contribute to the story, and make it a wonderful introduction to this traditional Christmas tale for young audiences and less young audiences alike.

The Muppets Christmas Carol makes it easy to be a Scrooge. And by “Scrooge,” I mean, of course, a generous, grateful, joyous, merry, kind, attentive, compassionate kind of person. When all is said and done, what other kind of Scrooge is there?

A Grinch, on the other hand, well, that’s another matter entirely.

The Christmas Toy

Premiered December 6, 1986.

On Christmas Eve, a toy tiger named Rugby (Dave Goelz) remembers last Christmas.

He was the favorite toy of a little girl named Jamie (Marsha Moreau).  He recalls how excited she was when she opened a present to find Rugby inside.  He presumes that will happen again and tries to get from the playroom down to the living room, aided by Mew (Steve Whitmire) the catnip mouse, who belongs to the family cat.

Jamie meets Rugby for the first time the preceding Christmas

The other toys excitedly prepare to receive new members into their little community and want to make the incoming toys feel welcome.

Belmot the Rocking Horse (Richard Hunt),  Balthazar the Teddy Bear (Jerry Nelson) and Apple the Doll get ready to welcome new toys to the playroom. 

A doll named Apple (Kathryn Mullen) tries to explain to Rugby that he is confused about Christmas.  Jamie will open up a new toy on Christmas morning that will likely take Rugby's place as her favorite.  Rugby doesn't believe her and leaves the playroom, determined to take what he sees as his rightful place under the family Christmas tree.  Mew follows him to try to help.

When toys are caught out of place, they are "frozen forever".

The problem is, if toys are ever found out of position by humans, they will be "frozen" and no longer able to talk to other toys or move on their own volition.  Rugby and Mew have some close encounters with humans en route to the Christmas tree in the living room.

Rugby hides in some laundry so he isn't found out of place

Rugby finds a big box and prepares to get inside.  He opens the lid and finds that the box contains a doll --  Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids (Camille Bonora)!  She does not realize she is a toy and believes she's arrived on a new planet, seeing the other toys as aliens.

Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids!   Conqueror of the living room. 

She also seems unwilling to get back into her box!

Apple and a couple of the other toys from the playroom decide to mount a rescue mission for their missing comrades.

Did someone wake up and hear them? 

Will all the toys make it back to the playroom?   Will Meteora usurp Rugby as the new favorite Christmas toy?

RigbyMel says:

This under-appreciated special features cute, beautiful puppets from the Henson workshop and an entertaining storyline.   The plot bears a similarity to a certain Pixar movie that was made a few years later,  but  the two are not carbon copies and there is certainly room for both stories!

SO CUTE!

I first discovered The Christmas Toy on VHS in the late 1980s and it quickly became regular viewing for my family around the holidays.    I think that Rugby and Mew are utterly adorable without being cloying.   I particularly enjoy some of the small touches that the Muppeteers include in this special - such as Rugby's mild vanity and cat like grooming and the fact that Mew uses some tricks he learned from the family cat to help them out of a jam or two.   (Also, the fact that the mouse is named "Mew" makes perfect sense as he is a cat's toy!)

Rugby and Apple underneath the Christmas tree trying to figure out how to return Meteora to her gift box.

There's also a nice little lesson about tolerance (cat toy vs. people toys) and love embedded in this special without it clonking people over the head with The Message.

If there is anything to criticize, I think it is Meteora herself -- we are not really given much of a chance to get to know her, but then again, it isn't really her story.  There is also an element of darkness to the tale what with the impiled "death" of toys who are caught out of place, but without tension, we do not have much plot and there is a happy ending (of course) which keeps this from being too scary.

This is a charming special from the Henson workshop and is definitely well worth seeking out.   There is a version of it that is available on DVD, but be aware that it is a bit edited.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 and a half candy canes.

J.A. Morris says:

The Christmas Toy is another good holiday special from Henson's crew.

Baltazar tells the toys that more toys will joining them at Christmas.

Rugby is a very cute and likable protagonist (even when he's acting self-centered in the beginning) and his relationship with Mew is endearing.  The scene where Jamie opens the box containing Rugby brought back my own memories of one or two extra special toys I received as a child.

Dave Goelz (best known for performing Gonzo) does a nice job as the "lead" Muppet in this special.  Other regular Muppet performers like Nelson, Mullen, Whitmire and Hunt are good as usual.

RigbyMel mentioned the acceptance subplot.  We also get a good scene where Rugby mourns a friend who has been frozen.  Rugby regrets that he never told his friend how much he loved him.  This can serve as a lesson to viewers of all ages to make sure that we tell people how we feel about them.

Mew convincingly imitates the cat's meow!

The Christmas Toy features several new songs, written by Jeff Moss.  His name might not be familiar, but Moss wrote many songs featured on Sesame Street, including "Rubber Duckie", "I Love Trash" and "The People In Your Neighborhood."  Moss also served as the show's head writer and helped create Cookie Monster.  Moss' best song here is "Together At Christmas".   It's a touching Christmas song that expresses the joy of being with loved ones during the holiday season.  It's a shame it was never recorded by a famous singer, because it deserves to be better known.  The song pops up a year later in A Muppet Family Christmas, so I get the feeling Henson liked it.  

The DVD that's currently available is different than the version that aired on TV and VHS.  In its original form, The Christmas Toy was introduced by Kermit the frog (Henson) and Kermit made an appearance at the end where he joined the toys to sing "Together At Christmas."  Kermit is currently owned by Disney, while the rest of the characters in the special are still owned by the Henson company.

Kermit sings & dances with Rugby & friends.

The Christmas Toy isn't the best Muppets Christmas special, but it's touching, funny and features a memorable holiday song.  Maybe someday Kermit will be freed from the corporate tentacles and the special will once again be available intact as Henson intended.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 and a half candy canes.