The Muppets are back in the globe-trotting, star-studded musical comedy adventure Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted,” available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD, DVD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and On-Demand August 12th, 2014, from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Starring Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, and Tina Fey, this must-own family film makes its in-home debut with THREE versions of the film: The Original Theatrical Cut, the Statler and Waldorf Cut, and The Unnecessarily Extended Cut, featuring hilarious bonus content, plus more music, more mayhem, and more Muppets!
Now Muppet fans can experience this laugh and song-filled caper like never before on Blu-ray Combo Pack in an all-new “Unnecessarily Extended Edition,” featuring 12 minutes of exclusive scenes not seen in theaters! Also included on Blu-ray and Digital HD are additional hilarious bonus features, including Statler and Waldorf’s version of the movie, and the laugh-out-loud gag reel, “The Longer, Longest Blooper Reel in Muppets History.”
Starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo, Animal, Ricky Gervais (“The Office”) as Dominic Badguy, Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”) as Jean Pierre Napoleon and Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) as Nadya the Prison Guard, “Muppets Most Wanted” also features very special guest appearances by Tony Bennett, Sean Combs, Rob Corddry, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Salma Hayek, Ray Liotta, Ross Lynch, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christoph Waltz, and more!
Michael Wermuth - Just this past December, Disney released the last of the theatrically-released Muppet movies on Blu-ray (the upcoming Muppets Most Wanted doesn’t count yet). Most of the theatrical Muppet films have had three DVD releases total, some with more bonus features and some with less. Many of the Blu-ray releases have included most of the bonus features from the original DVDs (the majority of which were left off of the 2005 releases) plus additional bonus features (and in two cases carrying over the "Pepe's Profiles" interviews from the 2005 releases). But after all these releases, is there anything left to include as bonus features?
So what is there, exactly? Well, the "original trilogy" of Muppet films (the ones Jim Henson did) all lack audio commentary. Don't know why the Henson films get the shaft in this department while all of the others have commentary. There’s all kinds of commentaries that could be done, from the performers and other people involved to commentaries by the Muppets themselves. In fact I'd even be interested in seeing an official commentary track recorded by Muppet fans.
And there's also deleted scenes, depending on what deleted scenes still exist. Even though deleted scenes from The Muppet Movie most likely no longer exist, there is additional footage from the 1987 UK VHS release. There’s a lot of deleted scenes from The Muppets not on that Blu-Ray (there’s proof of that in the various trailers). I would be surprised if none of the deleted scenes from Muppets From Space exist, since that movie came out shortly after DVDs had become popular and deleted scenes common for inclusion. While it may not be that common a DVD feature, I’d like to see drafts of the movie scripts on DVD or Blu-ray. Trailers would also be great, for the films that have not had their trailers on DVD. What I’d especially be interested in is seeing the original theatrical trailer for The Great Muppet Caper (the only Muppet movie where no theatrical trailer has surfaced online at all... On that note I’d also like to see the official The Muppets Take Manhattan trailer, though the teaser trailer would be nice as well).
And speaking of The Great Muppet Caper, why must every release of that film lack movie-specific features? That’s the one that Jim Henson directed, one of my favorites, and the only features on the DVDs are Muppet material with otherwise nothing to do with the movie (though the Blu-ray does have two songs as “Frog-E-Oke”, the closest thing to Caper-related bonus features). So most likely no behind-the-scenes footage exists, but there could be a photo gallery, the clip from The Secrets of the Muppets where Jim Henson describes how the bicycle scene was done, and of course there’s the special The Muppets Go to the Movies.
When it comes to movie-specific features for the other movies, The Muppets Go Hollywood should be a no-brainer for another release of The Muppet Movie (hopefully the use of all those celebrities wouldn’t be a problem for a commercial release). The Muppets Take Manhattan could include the “I’m Gonna Always Love You” music video and maybe also the six-minute behind-the-scenes special that aired on HBO. Back when The Muppet Christmas Carol was released I recall seeing a number of interviews with the Muppets about it which aired between programming on Disney Channel (I don't think this is even noted on Muppet Wiki). There was a behind-the-scenes documentary for Muppet Treasure Island produced for that movie's DVD, but why not also include "The Making of Muppet Treasure Island" special that aired on The Disney Channel in 1996? Or the entire "Muppet Sing-Alongs" video promoting the movie (as opposed to just one song clip)?
Ryan Dosier - Tomorrow sees the release of The Great Muppet Caper and Muppet Treasure Island on a dual Blu-ray. The odd pairing doesn't make much sense, but there's no denying that putting two in one will probably sell more copies than individual releases. The release tactic is frustrating for Muppet fans, because we know both of these films deserve individual releases and it makes displaying the Muppet movies in chronological order incredibly difficult. (Or is that just me?)
The bonus features for the release are incredibly sparse. In fact, the only feature for The Great Muppet Caper is two "Frog-E-Oke" tracks. Would it have been too much to ask for new commentary from the Muppets or the Muppet performers? Why not include The Muppets Go to the Movies, the TV special produced to tie into the film? It's incredibly disheartening that Jim Henson's feature directorial debut gets so little in the way of bonus features. Muppet Treasure Island fares slightly better, with one "Frog-E-Oke" track, old Brian Henson commentary, the old "Tale Behind the Tail" feature, and a "Let the Good Shine Out" music video from the Muppet Treasure Island sing-along tape. Why they didn't just include the whole tape, I'll never know.
The release is presented with both films on one Blu-ray disc and two individual DVDs, which is a great deal for the price and very handy for those who want the new release but don't have a Blu-ray player handy. The disc menus are very, very well done--especially Caper--and give the release some legitimacy. In fact, the menus for these films are better than the Blu-ray menus for the recent Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Movie Blu-ray releases.
Overall this release is worth your time for the gorgeous high-definition presentation of both of these wonderful films. If you own them on DVD already, I highly recommend upgrading to the Blu-ray if you have the ability. Plus, it comes with DVD copies so it's a win-win. The sparse bonus features are incredibly frustrating, but Muppet fans are unfortunately used to that by now. This release will be a great addition to any Muppet movie collection and makes a great Christmas gift for the Muppet fan in your life!
This past weekend the annual Dragoncon was held in Atlanta, Georgia. For the past few years Dragoncon has had an uncanny ability to attract Muppet performers and personalities for panels and appearances. This year was no exception, as Karen Prell, Kathryn Mullen, and Michael Frith all appeared to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock. Of course, since Karen Prell and Red Fraggle are basically inseparable, Red Fraggle was also there--and so was Mokey Fraggle! This is the first time Kathy Mullen has performed Mokey since Fraggle Rock ended. Check out the video below for a purely delightful appearance!
As you'll certainly remember, The Great Muppet Caper and Muppet Treasure Island are coming to Disney Blu-ray on December 10th. We've already seen the (lackluster) cover art for the dual release, but now, thanks to our friends at StitchKingdom.com, we have information on the bonus features included! First of all, as expected, both films are restored and remastered for Blu-ray high definition, which is incredibly exciting. The "Classic Bonus Features" included are "The Tale of the Story Beyond the Tail" and "Muppet Treasure Island Audio Commentary." The new bonus features include Frog-E-Oke sing-along, a rediscovered music video of "Let the Good Shine Out," and an exclusive preview of Muppets Most Wanted. Some pretty exciting stuff there, but very little bonus content for The Great Muppet Caper which is insanely disappointing.
Ryan Dosier - With the major success of 2011's The Muppets both in theaters and in home entertainment release, it should come as a surprise to no one that Disney is re-releasing the other Muppet movies on Blu-ray. Disney's expertise lies in using new home entertainment formats to preserve its franchises, so it's nice to see the Muppets get the Blu-ray treatment too. We saw it first with The Muppet Christmas Carol last fall and now The Muppet Movie is finally releasing in high definition glory. I was extremely lucky to receive a copy of the Blu-ray early from Disney, and I'm happy to say that it is a very worthwhile release.
I'm going to carry on in this review assuming that everyone reading knows the story of the very first Muppet movie. Everyone knows how Kermit sang "Rainbow Connection" and set out from humble swamp beginnings to become a movie star in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit befriends Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, the Electric Mayhem, Rowlf the Dog, Scooter, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, and the divine Miss Piggy and sweeps them all into his dream. Along the way there is laughter and singing and loving galore. If you've never seen The Muppet Movie... well, you're crazy and you should amend that immediately.
The Muppet Movie possesses some really gorgeous visuals on the new high definition transfer. Just like every other Muppet movie Blu-ray, the colors here are simply astounding. Kermit's green shines, the Electric Mayhem radiates neon beauty, and the entire movie looks like it was crisply fine tuned to perfection. The most spectacular sequences in The Muppet Movie are even more spectacular on Blu-ray. The "Rainbow Connection" moment is especially gorgeous, as is the beautiful scenery shown during "Movin' Right Along" and "America." The Blu-ray transfer is wonderful and a magnificent step-up in visual quality. The sound is also amped up a notch for high definition. I noticed some little dialogue asides that I had never heard in my countless viewings, so I think that's saying something.
The bonus features for the release are quite good, but there could have (and arguably should have) been so much more. As with the Blu-ray releases of The Muppets and The Muppet Christmas Carol, once again, the Disney Intermission feature is present. When you pause the movie, the Muppets do things to keep you entertained. In this case, the new "Frog-E-Oke" feature plays on a loop. Which brings me to "Frog-E-Oke," which at first I disliked, but after awhile I enjoyed. The feature is basically just animated, repurposed music videos for "Rainbow Connection," "Movin' Right Along," and "Can You Picture That?" The effort the graphics and design team put into these videos is great, but no new Muppet material was shot. It would have been nice to see some new stuff, but the feature is decent.
The other bonus features are not new, but they are excellent. My favorite by far is the Jim Frawley Camera Tests, first seen on the first DVD release of The Muppet Movie. If you haven't seen these infamous camera tests, they are hysterical, 100% ad-libbed bits with Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, and Sweetums out about London to see how the puppets look in the real world. Jim Henson and Frank Oz are bafflingly funny in these bits and I was laughing like a fool for 14 whole minutes. Another awesome (albeit short) feature is Doc Hopper's Commercial, which is the original footage from the commercial Doc Hopper shows Kermit and Fozzie. It's hilarious, charming, and a beautiful tribute to the late Charles Durning. The final feature is the "Pepe Profiles" piece spotlighting Kermit that was new on the 2005 DVD release. It's still funny, but not nearly as funny or sharp as the Muppets are eight years later.
Overall, the bonus features are fun and Muppety, plus there is a new, moving menu on the Blu-ray home screen with foam cut-out Muppets. It's pretty adorable and well done. But there are some huge missed opportunities on the bonus feature side. Audio commentary with Jim Frawley, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire would have been incredible. Or even commentary from some of the Muppets would have been nice. However, the biggest oversight is the lack of The Muppets Go Hollywood TV special made to promote the movie. There is no better place to release this special than alongside The Muppet Movie, and it's a major shame that it is not included.
But on the whole, The Muppet Movie Blu-ray is well worth your time. The release is only $20 (currently), which is more than fair for spectacular high definition transfer of the Muppets' greatest film. The bonus features could have been more impressive (although I say that about every Muppet release), but what is here is wonderful. Owning the Jim Frawley Camera Tests is yet another reason to buy this release. You won't want to miss your opportunity to own The Muppet Movie in high definition!
I'm most excited about having Jim Frawley's camera tests which are a fantastically fun feature starring Kermit, Fozzie, Sweetums, and Piggy as Jim and Frank and Richard goof around in real world settings. The camera tests were available on the first DVD release of The Muppet Movie but not the most recent, so it's great to see Disney bringing them back. The Doc Hopper camera test feature is a never-before-seen as far as I know. What a wonderful tribute to the late Charles Durning. I can't wait to see it!
The theatrical trailers can be seen on YouTube and a few other places, but it will be nice to have them as well. I had no idea that outtake footage from the movie existed, so I'm thrilled to see that listed as one of the features. I can't wait to see what those contain, considering Muppet outtakes are the best. The Pepe Profiles inclusion is interesting--it's a fun little feature from the 2005 DVD release.
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