STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM “The Muppets”

Ever think about the implications with humans living in a world with puppets?

Directed by James Bobin, and written by Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller, The Muppets is the story of brothers Walter and Gary, Walter being a Muppet who leave their small town of… Smalltown, California to go to Los Angeles to see their childhood idols, The Muppets.

Once they get there, they learn that the Muppets have retired and disbanded, and the Muppets Studio is about to be sold to an evil oil man who wants to tear it down for the oil underneath it.

They end up at Kermit the Frog’s mansion, where they convince him to hold a telethon to raise money to save the theater. You know what that means: time to bring the band back together.

I was unaware of the tone of the Muppets in general, so what surprised me was that the film was equal parts hilarious and tear-inducing emotional. The latter completely me off-guard I ended up crying in the theater during “Pictures in My Head.”

The story is really about a coming-of-age tale of Walter and Gary; Walter wants to be part of and accepted among the Muppets crew, and he’s doing whatever he can to get in their good graces. However, Gary is distracted with making his brother happy that it causes his girlfriend grief and frustration. She’s not in the wrong; the film portrays Gary as someone who needs to grow up, and be more independent, a quality that Walter needs to learn as well.

I was aware of the film when I saw the trailer. I know the Muppets by name (at least the famous ones) and I have seen The Great Muppet Caper when I was very little, but I have no childhood attachment to them. Regardless, it looked like a fun time, so I gave it a chance.

The Muppets created a brief resurgence of the franchise, and it’s not hard to see why. The characters are hilarious (despite the human characters being cast aside), the comedy is clean and spot-on, and they’re still as relevant as ever.