Muppets

[Disneyafternoonfan]

In honour of the new muppet film I was wonding Disney park brough out muppet meet and greets more often and intresting if they added walter to the meet and greets

 

[mesaboy2]

Nope, no Muppet M&Gs.

 

[Babbletrish]

The last time I saw the Muppet costumed characters was W-A-A-A-A-A-A-Y back when MuppetVision opened in the Studios. Yeah.

 

[WDSearcher]

Wow, Babbletrish. You're REALLY old.

 

[djm99]

I have been lucky enough to get many of them in Disney Studios (near the muppet show). Well, I did get Kermit and Miss Piggy. It was a silly full circle moment for me too. As a kid, I wasn't a Disney fan at ALL. I was all Muppets. I cried a little too. - My DH laughed.

 

[Steph2527]

I wish they'd bring back Kermit and Miss Piggy meet n greets

 

[WDSearcher]

I wish they'd bring back Kermit and Miss Piggy meet n greets

Talk to the Henson kids. It's my understanding that they nixed the "oversized" character meet & greets because the whole point of the Muppets -- or at least Miss Piggy, Kermit and the other originals -- is that they are puppets. They're not supposed to be costumes with people inside ... they're puppets operated by people. So ... those costumes were pretty much taken off the line, and when Kermit and Piggy appeared for GADGADD parades, they were "normal" sized.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

No Muppet meet and greets, and in the Muppet store and show there is no sign of Walter at all.

 

[Reddog1134]

No Muppet meet and greets, and in the Muppet store and show there is no sign of Walter at all.

Maybe they should stop looking for Bean and start looking for Walter.

 

[Midnyghtchilde]

After reading about the Muppet Land that never was in DHS in the All Ears Newsletter a few weeks ago, I have been quietly hoping and hoping that they will bring back some of the stuff they had originally planned. I love the muppets

DHS needs some new attractions and has a lot of "wasted" space since it isn't actually a *studio* anymore. I'd love to see Muppets expanded. They're timeless and wonderful and so beloved, and I sincerely hope their movie scuces, Oscar win for "Man or a muppet", and social-media prowess help make this happen.

I also wish that Sweetums came out for pictures, that would be awesome.

 

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

I agree. With a Sweetums walk-around character in use every day it would be extremely simple for this character to meet with guests outside of the attraction building.

Talk to the Henson kids. It's my understanding that they nixed the "oversized" character meet & greets because the whole point of the Muppets -- or at least Miss Piggy, Kermit and the other originals -- is that they are puppets. They're not supposed to be costumes with people inside ... they're puppets operated by people. So ... those costumes were pretty much taken off the line, and when Kermit and Piggy appeared for GADGADD parades, they were "normal" sized.

The last time I saw the Kermit and Miss Piggy character meet-and-greet was in 2004, around the same time Disney purchased The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company. So, I'd say if anyone was responsible for getting rid of the over-sized Muppets it was Disney itself.

Disney simply doesn't care about The Muppets. Don't get me wrong - I love Disney and I love The Muppets. I just wish The Muppets belonged to a company that cared about them. The filmmakers of "The Muppets" delivered one of the best reviewed movies of the year, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Does Disney care? If they do it's hard to tell.

But, then again, that's just my opinion.

-Andy

 

[tofubeast]

I so wish there was a larger Muppet presence. They used to do the Muppet Mobile Lab with Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydrew in EPCOT, but I always missed it.

 

[doconeill]

Talk to the Henson kids. It's my understanding that they nixed the "oversized" character meet & greets because the whole point of the Muppets -- or at least Miss Piggy, Kermit and the other originals -- is that they are puppets. They're not supposed to be costumes with people inside ... they're puppets operated by people. So ... those costumes were pretty much taken off the line, and when Kermit and Piggy appeared for GADGADD parades, they were "normal" sized.

The Henson kids have had no say in the Muppets since 2004, when Disney bought all rights to them. And before that, they would have had a carefully negotiated license as to what they can and can't do. But I also recall some animosity and legal issues between Disney and the Hensons after Jim's death, so there may have been things that were borderline.

Disney simply doesn't care about The Muppets. Don't get me wrong - I love Disney and I love The Muppets. I just wish The Muppets belonged to a company that cared about them. The filmmakers of "The Muppets" delivered one of the best reviewed movies of the year, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Does Disney care? If they do it's hard to tell.

Disney cared enough to make the movie, but it was Jason Segel, a huge Muppet fan, that sold them on it even being worth it. If Disney didn't care, they wouldn't have bought them. I think the problem was that they were unsure what to do with them after they did, or whether they were marketable. Several of the movies flopped.

The movie has renewed interest, and Disney is already getting the chickens lined up for a sequel, announcing the writers this week.

What Disney has never been known for is doing stuff in the parks in a timely manner.

 

[asianway]

Talk to the Henson kids. It's my understanding that they nixed the "oversized" character meet & greets because the whole point of the Muppets -- or at least Miss Piggy, Kermit and the other originals -- is that they are puppets. They're not supposed to be costumes with people inside ... they're puppets operated by people. So ... those costumes were pretty much taken off the line, and when Kermit and Piggy appeared for GADGADD parades, they were "normal" sized.

Considering Jim Henson himself signed off on the walk around versions for the "Here Come the Muppets" live show at MGM and the Henson kids no longer have any say in anything regarding the use of the Muppets as they sold the rights, this is one tall tale that needs to die.

 

[2goofykiddos]

Considering Jim Henson himself signed off on the walk around versions for the "Here Come the Muppets" live show at MGM and the Henson kids no longer have any say in anything regarding the use of the Muppets as they sold the rights, this is one tall tale that needs to die.

If the Henson kids had anything to say about this, wouldn't they have also banned the Sesame Street giant muppets from appearing at Sesame Place and Busch Gardens???

 

[dimndgal1]

I also wish that Sweetums came out for pictures, that would be awesome.

When I was a child, I was TERRIFIED of 'Jack' (as I called him).
When I hit my teens, I realized that (like me) he was just misunderstood...
Now, when I go to Disney, I desperately hope that there will be a moment where I can meet him.

I have to say I've done two of my dream M&G: Steamboat Mickey and Figment... Sweetums, Dug, and Maleficent would just complete my list!

That said, I wouldn't shy away from a chance to meet the whole Muppet cast...