The Muppets (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Muppets |
| Original title | The Muppets |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| length | 103 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 0 JMK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James Bobin |
| script |
Jason Segel , Nicholas Stoller |
| production |
David Hoberman , Todd Lieberman |
| music | Christophe Beck |
| camera | Don Burgess |
| cut | James M. Thomas |
| occupation | |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
|
The Muppets is a 2011 American dolls film released by the Walt Disney Company . The film is based on the Muppet Show . The film premiered on November 12, 2011 and was released in Germany on January 19, 2012. The film had a budget of 45 million US dollars and grossed more than 165 million US dollars worldwide. The film also received an Oscar for best song for the song "Man Or Muppet".
action
The dissimilar brothers Gary and Walter live in the idyllic small town of Smalltown. While Gary is human, Walter is a doll figure. Walter, who has suffered more and more from his small height over the years, is a big fan of the Muppet Show because he feels understood by these characters. When Gary goes to Los Angeles for their anniversary with his friend Mary, an elementary school teacher, he spontaneously takes his brother with him so that he can finally tour the Muppet Studios. When they arrive in Los Angeles, they find that the old shine of the Muppets has long since disappeared. The studios are shut down and run down. During a poor guided tour, Walter breaks up with the group to see Kermit's old office. When he hears someone coming, he hides and witnesses a conversation between Statler and Waldorf, representing the Muppets, with the multimillionaire Tex Richman. He wants to buy the Muppet Studios, supposedly to open a Muppet Museum. In truth, however, he wants to have it torn down in order to get to the oil well running under the studio.
Walter, Gary and Mary then go in search of Kermit, the only Muppet who still lives in Los Angeles. Kermit lives secluded in an old mansion and mourns the days of the Muppet Show. Walter succeeds in persuading him to re-run the Muppet Show in order to raise $ 10,000,000 in donations. Paying them is the only way to dissolve Tex Richman's gag contract and thus avert the sale and the end of the studios. Together they set out to bring the old troop back together.
In some clips, the fate of the Muppets is shown. Fozzie works as the singer in a Muppets cover band, the Moopets, and is quickly convinced to try a comeback. Gonzo owns a thriving plumbing company. In reality, however, he never got over the end of the Muppets and has been waiting to get active ever since. The animal is a member of a therapy group who want to get their attacks of aggression under control with the help of yoga exercises and the renunciation of stimulus words (in his case, for example, "drums"). The actor Jack Black is a member of this group.
Miss Piggy works in Paris for Vogue as editor-in-chief of the plus size department. She and Kermit broke up years ago because Kermit could not reveal his feelings towards her, but put the show above everything. That's why she cancels at first and throws the Muppets out of their office. A dinner together with Kermit ends in an argument by giving her final rejection of a Muppet comeback.
Back in Los Angeles, the Muppets, with Gary's help, try to persuade a television station to broadcast their fundraising show live. By chance, there is a program gap of two and a half hours on the CDE station, but the Muppets undertake to win a well-known actor as a presenter. While Kermit tries everything to find a worthy presenter, the other Muppets, with the help of Walter and Gary, clean up the theater and start rehearsing for the show, which is supposed to go on the station in two days.
In the meantime, Miss Piggy has also realized that she is still attached to Kermit and wants to help him. She travels from Paris and takes over the leadership of the troupe, especially when looking for a moderator. Without further ado she, the Danish cook, kidnap Gonzo and the animal Jack Black and force him to host the Muppet show.
Gary and Mary's relationship falls into a serious crisis when Gary forgets her anniversary in excitement about the Muppet Show. Mary then drives back to her hometown. But the relationship between the two brothers also suffers, as Walter feels more accepted by the Muppets than in his human environment in Smalltown. Both recognize that they are at a crossroads in their life and have to decide whether they want to be human or muppet. Gary then leaves Los Angeles and rushes to Mary, while Walter accepts Kermit's offer to attend the show himself. The show starts at eight o'clock in the evening in front of an almost completely empty theater hall (only a few vagabonds are looking for a warm place to stay). Jack Black, tied to a chair, tries to call for help and persuade the audience to call the police instead of the donation hotline. Gary and Mary, who are watching the televsion, decide to return to Los Angeles to provide moral support to Walter and the other Muppets. The first donation is only received when a performed number (a stunt by Gonzo with a bowling ball) goes completely wrong, appears involuntarily funny and therefore makes you laugh. The number of spectators in front of the television begins to rise and new guests are arriving in the theater too. Tex Richman is alarmed and leaves for the theater to sabotage the show. He first manipulates the power supply, but is stopped by Gary and Mary. He then climbs onto the roof of the theater to completely destroy the electrical wiring. Of all people, his helper, Uncle Tödlich, who was previously subordinate to him, holds him back and throws him off the roof: He has recognized that he is a muppet at heart and not a mopet!
Walter suffers a fit of stage fright when he realizes that he should step on stage for the Muppets. Only Gary can persuade him to finally face his life and take a risk. As the last act of the evening, Walter is on stage as an artificial piper and has a brilliant success. In doing so, Tex Richman finally succeeds in sabotaging the show and interrupting the donation hotline just before the $ 10,000,000 mark is reached. In addition, it turns out that the display of the donation amount is defective and so far only about 100,000 dollars instead of almost 10 million have been raised and the Muppets were therefore far from raising the necessary 10 million dollars anyway. Tex Richman has now achieved his goal of buying the theater for good.
The Muppets then leave the stage in resignation and take to the street. There they are greeted by a maddening crowd, who congratulate them on their comeback and celebrate the former stars. Gary proposes marriage to Mary, which she answers with " Mah Nà Mah Nà ". In the end, Gonzo Tex caught Richman head-on with the bowling ball from the unsuccessful show. Then he surprisingly gives the Muppets the license to name and the studio back, but this has nothing to do with a head injury, as the press announced in a headline.
production
Puppeteers, actors and dubbing
| role | Puppeteer / Actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Kermit the frog | Steve Whitmire | Stefan Kaminski |
| Miss Piggy | Eric Jacobson | Christian Gaul |
| Gary | Jason Segel |
Hubertus von Lerchenfeld Manuel Straube (vocals) |
| Gary (young) | Justin Marco | Marcel Mann |
| Mary | Amy Adams |
Giuliana Jakobeit Kerstin Heiles (vocals) |
| Walter | Peter Linz | Patrick Bach |
| Walter as a person | Jim Parsons | Thomas Amper (vocals) |
| Jack Black | Jack Black | Tobias Master |
| Head of the therapy group | Kristen Schaal | Nana Spier |
| Miss Piggy's secretary | Emily Blunt | Bianca Krahl |
| old man | Mickey Rooney | Rainer Basedow |
| Selena Gomez | Selena Gomez | Gabrielle Pietermann |
| Neil Patrick Harris | Neil Patrick Harris | Philipp Moog |
| Restaurant service | Sarah Silverman | Claudia Urbschat |
| Veronica, Network Executive | Rashida Jones | Tanja Geke |
| Tex Richman | Chris Cooper | Jan Spitzer |
| Tourist guide | Alan Arkin | Jan Spitzer |
| Tramp Joe | Zach Galifianakis |
Olaf Reichmann Ulli Essmann (vocals) |
| 80s robot | Matt Vogel | Wolfgang number |
| Beaker | Steve Whitmire | Hartmut Neugebauer |
| Beauregard | Dave Goelz | Donald Arthur |
| Bobo | Bill Barretta |
Klaus Sonnenschein Thomas Amper (vocals) |
| Camilla the chicken | Matt Vogel | Michele Sterr |
| The animal | Eric Jacobson | Hartmut Neugebauer |
| Dr. Gold tooth | Bill Barretta |
Uli Krohm Thomas Amper (vocals) |
| Dr. Honeydew bunsen burner | Dave Goelz | Mogens von Gadow |
| Fozzie Bear | Eric Jacobson | Tom Deininger |
| Gonzo | Dave Goelz | Bernd Simon |
| Janice | David Rudman | Katrin Zimmermann |
| Uncle Deadly | Matt Vogel | Donald Arthur |
| Pepe the shrimp | Bill Barretta | Oliver Rohrbeck |
| Rowlf | Bill Barretta | Michael Rüth |
| Sam the eagle | Eric Jacobson | Norbert Gastell |
| Scooter | David Rudman | Christina Hoeltel |
| Danish cook | Bill Barretta | Hartmut Neugebauer |
| Sgt. Floyd Pepper | John Kennedy | Gerald Paradise |
| Lew Zealand | Matt Vogel | Andreas Mannkopff |
| Statler | Steve Whitmire | Thomas Reiner |
| Sweetums | Matt Vogel | Manfred Erdmann |
| Waldorf | Dave Goelz | Hartmut Neugebauer |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Whoopi Goldberg | Regina Lemnitz |
| Animool, drummer for the Moopets | Dave Grohl |
FFS Film- und Fernseh-Synchron GmbH was responsible for the German synchronization . Oliver Rohrbeck did the dubbing for the FSd Studio in Berlin , Ursula von Langen took over the FSd Studio in Munich. The two were jointly responsible for directing the dialogue.
The music recordings took place in the Jamzone Studio in Munich under the direction of Thomas Amper . Amper also did some of the vocal parts and was heard as part of the backing vocals .
music
In the film adaptation, both existing songs were used and new ones were composed. Old Muppet songs are, for example, Mah Nà Mah Nà from the Muppet Show or The Rainbow Connection, which was nominated in 1979 . The soundtrack was released on November 22, 2011. Sam the eagle, Rowlf, Dr. Speckschwarte and Beaker sing a barbershop version of Smells Like Teen Spirit , to which Jack Black complains, "You mutilated one of the best songs of all time." Former Nirvana member Dave Grohl has previously made a cameo as Animool. The song Man or Muppet won an Oscar for Best Song in 2012.
| title | German title | Artist | composer |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Muppet Show Theme Song" (featuring Joanna Newsom ) | "Muppet Show Theme" | The Muppets | Sam Pottle , Jim Henson |
| "Life's a Happy Song" featuring Feist and Mickey Rooney | "Everything is great" | Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter | Bret McKenzie |
| "Pictures in My Head" (produced by Bret McKenzie) | "Memory" | Kermit and the Muppets | Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis, Chen Neeman |
| "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" | "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" | Simon | Paul Simon |
| "Rainbow Connection (Moopets Version)" | "Pechoolo Casino" | Fozzie and the Moopets | Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher |
| " We Built This City " | "We Built This City" | Starship | Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, Peter Wolf |
| "Me Party" | "Alone with Me" | "Amy Adams, Miss Piggy" | Bret McKenzie, Paul Roemen |
| "Let's Talk About Me" (featuring Nathan Pacheco ) | "I am Tex Richman" | Chris Cooper | Ali Dee Theodore , Bret McKenzie |
| "Man or Muppet" | "Are you a man or a muppet?" | Jason Segel, Walter, Muppet Gary and Jim Parsons | Bret McKenzie |
| "Smells like Teen Spirit" | "Smells like Teen Spirit" | The Muppets Barbershop Quartet | Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic |
| "Forget You" | Forget you | "Camilla and the chickens" | Christopher "Brody" Brown, Peter Hernandez, Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine |
| " The Rainbow Connection " | "Lucky Rainbow" | Kermit, Miss Piggy, the Muppets | Williams, Ascher |
| "The Whistling Caruso" | "The Whistling Caruso" | Walter | Andrew Bird |
| "Life's a Happy Song (Finale)" | "Everything is great (finale)" | Walter, Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Uncle Deadly, Scooter, Fozzie, Marvin Suggs, Chris Cooper, Statler and Waldorf, Bobo the Bear, Beaker and the Muppets | McKenzie |
| " Mah Nà Mah Nà " | "Mah Nà Mah Nà" | Mahna Mahna and the two Snowths | Piero Umiliani, George Shearing, George David Weiss |
Costumes
With Miss Piggy playing an editor for Vogue, clothing and fashion play an important role in the film. Several well-known designers worked for the production, who designed costumes for the Muppets. Thus contributing Kermit times a tuxedo from Brooks Brothers . In the scene where Miss Piggy sings The Rainbow Connection , the doll was fitted out by Zac Posen . In the film, she also wears the striking shoes with red soles by Christian Louboutin , which were specially designed for the doll.
Marketing and controversy in advance
The presenter Eric Bolling criticized the film in advance in the Fox Business Network because he was critical of large companies: basically, the Muppets were "communist propaganda". The attack caused a lot of malice and led to the creation of a popular Twitter hashtag called # #GOPMuppetHearings . He also gave the Muppets-makers extensive opportunities to promote the film at Fox's expense. Of Miss Piggy, they said, "The charge is almost as laughable as if we were to say that Fox News actually broadcasts news."
continuation
On May 1, 2014, the sequel Muppets Most Wanted , also directed by James Bobin, but without any contribution from Jason Segel, was released in German cinemas. He justified this by saying that he had "done his job to bring the Muppets back into the limelight". The script was written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. The US theatrical release was in March 2014.
Reviews
The Muppets received consistently positive reviews. Of 204 Rotten Tomatoes critics evaluated , the film received 96% positive ratings.
David Kleingers ( Spiegel Online ) praised the film. He wrote that The Muppets was "a brilliant cinema comeback"; the puppets danced again with the "verve of the early days". Kleingers highlighted the "great as always Amy Adams" and Jason Segel's collaboration on the script.
“Because it's not just the charming, subversive humor of the plush freaks that irritates the diaphragm and warms the heart: the satirically exaggerated musical interludes exude pure joie de vivre, as do the cameos of well-known show greats. All of this makes “The Muppets” one of the happiest films in recent years. Conclusion "Applause, applause, applause !!!" An all-round successful comeback of the craziest show troupe in the world. "
Sight & Sound praised the abandonment of fashionable gadgets such as CGI in the film technology or the abandonment of bringing smartphones or the Internet into the action - this is what sets the film apart from other current remakes in a positive way. In contrast, the uncynical plot and the present mixture of idealism and pop culture wisdom showed how timeless the Muppets are as characters. There remains the uncomfortable feeling of seeing a film that is critical of capitalism and that was produced by the Walt Disney Company .
Albert Baer paid tribute to the film:
"It is [], and that in the best sense of the word, anachronistic, gorgeous old-fashioned cinema, far from all the new-fangled frippery that Hollywood has repeatedly stormed us with in recent years."
Web links
- Official website
- The Muppets in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Muppets atRotten Tomatoes(English)
- The Muppets (The Muppets) USA, 2011 on TV Wishlist
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for The Muppets . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2011 (PDF; test number: 130 618 K).
- ↑ Age rating for The Muppets . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ The Muppets. Retrieved December 4, 2019 .
- ↑ German synchronous files
- ↑ a b c Sophie Mayer: Film Review: The Muppets , Sights & Sounds 6/2012
- ↑ Melissa Magsaysay, Booth Moore and Adam Tschorn: Movies: Designs that build character ( February 22, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ) , The Chicago Tribune December 18, 2011
- ↑ Jeremy Stahl: Are the Muppets Communists? , December 5, 2011
- ↑ David Haglund: The Muppets Hit Back at Fox News , Slate January 30, 2012
- ↑ Critique collection on rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ David Kleingers: The Felt Heroes Are Made of , article from January 19, 2012.
- ↑ Cinema.de
- ↑ The Muppets are back .