THE MUPPETS Garners Critical Acclaim, Cash, and Support

Well, it's official... The Muppets is a smash-hit.  In its first five days in United States theaters, the first Muppet feature film in 12 years raked in $42 million, which is a huge grab and already a larger sum of box office receipts than Muppets From Space made in its entire run. This $42 million put The Muppets at a comfortable, absolutely respectable place at Number 2 in the United States box office, coming in behind Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which even Disney expected to beat The Muppets. Yes, it's a shame that dancing frogs and singing pigs couldn't beat abs and sparkly vampires, but let's take a look at what we did beat, shall we?

The Muppets beat out new releases Arthur Christmas and Hugo along with already-released Happy Feet 2 and Puss in Boots. For those keeping track, that's an animated Christmas movie with good reviews, an epic, 3D family feature from Martin Scorsese with excellent reviews, the sequel to one of the biggest family films of the past few years, and a spin-off film from one of the most popular family film franchises of the past decade.

I think that it's very fair to say that The Muppets has surpassed everyone's expectations (I know it has surpassed mine) as a film, as a critical darling, as a money-maker, and as a franchise relaunch. I have seen the movie five times, with five very different groups of people, and every time the audience reactions, but during and after the film, intrigue me to no end. I saw kids singing "Mahna Mahna," I heard teenagers humming and singing "Life's a Happy Song," and I saw every single person with a big smile on their face. It just does not get any better than that.

But, the question on everyone's mind, and rightly so, is... What's next? Where do the Muppets go next? What do they do now? What does Disney think? Well... I don't know. Honestly, not a clue. But here's a brief little story from Reuters and Yahoo! with quotes from Dave Hollis, Vice President of Motion Picture Sales and Distribution for Disney, that talks a little bit about how happy Disney is, and how excited they are to make more Muppet stuff:

In second place, audiences welcomed the Muppets back to theaters for the first time in 12 years.


New Disney movie "The Muppets," starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy and their puppet friends, took in a strong $29.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters in three days. The five-day holiday weekend haul reached $42 million domestically. Two international markets added $1.6 million.


Disney bought the rights to the Muppets in 2004, and the media, entertainment and consumer-products giant is eager to interest a new generation in the characters.


"It's hard to have anyone argue we didn't bring them back," said Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president for motion picture sales and distribution. The movie's performance "exceeded expectations," he said.


The Muppets starred on a weekly television show in the 1970s and early 1980s plus a series of films, the last being 1999's "Muppets from Space."


Critics loved the new Muppets movie, with 98 percent giving it a favorable review, according to aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences awarded an A rating on average, according to exit-polling firm CinemaScore. The movie cost about $45 million to produce.

And, as if all that weren't enough... the critics really can't stop raving about how much they love The Muppets. Rotten Tomatoes has The Muppets ranked at an unbelievable 98% fresh rating, meaning that, of 130 reviews, only three were not singing the praises of The Muppets. It doesn't get better than that. And we realize that you don't have time to read 130 reviews (I don't either, but darn if I haven't tried), so our good friend James Carroll created a gorgeous graphic for us to use that compiles some of the best quotes from some of the best reviews of The Muppets. Check it out below (and click to make it bigger and readable)!

This is just an unreal time... to be a movie-goer, to be alive, and to be a Muppet fan. Got two hours free and about ten bucks? Why not go see The Muppets again? I promise you won't regret it. And just wait... I'm willing to bet that next weekend, Kermit and Walter and the gang will hold the number 1 spot in the U.S. box office. Cross your fingers, Muppet fans!!







The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Muppets on a Budget

Do you find yourself pinching pennies in these tough economic times? Of course you do! We're in a recession, man, a recession! I bet you find yourself cutting corners whenever you want to splurge on some good, quality entertainment. Why, I bet you even frequent reality TV shows for entertainment purposes. Is that not disgusting (unless, of course, there's a Muppet appearance).

Luckily for you, The Muppet Mindset is here for you and your family's Muppet needs in these hard times. We know it may seem unwise to spend your hard earned dollars on a life-size accurate replica of Rizzo instead of food for your children, but we here at the Mindset want to give you the opportunity to do both. Yes, by saving money using our patent-pending system of steps, you can have your Rizzo fix and your kids can eat too (unless you just don't want them to... in which case I might have to call child services).

Below is our step-by-step guide on cutting corners and saving money when buying your Muppety goodies.

5.)   MAKE YOUR OWN HALLOWEEN COSTUME
We here at The Muppet Mindset understand your desire to dress as your favorite Muppet to go trick-or-treating with your kids and embarrass the heck out of them, but we also understand your desire to not spend upwards of $50 on a single costume for one day of the year. No amount of embarrassing your kids is worth that--especially when the costumes don't look that great.

Instead, why not make your own costume? Imagine the fun you and your family will have costuming each member as a different obscure Muppet character! Imagine... Dad as Sweetums, Mom as Hilda the Wardrobe Lady, Son as Lew Zealand, Daughter as Annie Sue Pig, and even Schnookums the family dog as Big Mean Carl (Rowlf would just be too easy). The beauty of each of these costumes is that they can be made just from objects lying around the house. Sweetums is just the brown living room rug cut up and draped around Dad, I'm sure Mom has some clothes just like Hilda's lying around somewhere, a dabble of Rogaine on Son's lip will have him sprouting a Lew Zealand mustache in no time, Daughter just needs a quick perm, and Schnookums can just be wrapped in that ugly bath rug.

Not only have you saved money, but you've spent quality time with your family as well! And isn't that what Halloween is all about?

4.)   DON'T GO TO THE MOVIES
Why should you? With the rising prices of movie tickets and the decreasing amount of Muppets in movies, what's the point? You might as well save up your money so that when The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made or Fraggle Rock: The Movie are finally released in theaters, you can spend all the money you would've spent seeing movies now on tickets to see these movies at every available showtime the day they're released!

Although if enough people completely boycott seeing movies in favor of this idea, it could cause a complete destruction of the film industry and then Disney and Lionsgate wouldn't have enough to produce either movie therefore making any effort to save money to see them completely useless... Well, maybe you should still see some movies. Might I recommend a nice Disney feature?

3.)   DON'T BUY INDIVIDUAL COMIC BOOKS
Every month, BOOM! Studios releases a Muppet comic book or two. Later this month we're slated to receive "The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson" #4 and "Muppet Peter Pan" #2, but why buy individual books when you can just wait for the trade paperbacks containing all four issues of the series? (If you're like me, you just have to have the individual issues for collector purposes... but thankfully not too many people are like me.)

If you find that the wait for these might kill you, perhaps you and your family can draw your own interpretations of the Muppet comic books. Draw what you think might happen, then when they're finally released you can compare notes and possibly sue BOOM! for infringing on your story rights without permission! See? You're even making money with this one!

2.)   GET A JOB
If you really can't afford a $3 comic book once a month, perhaps you should consider getting a job? Not that I really have room to talk... but hey, I'm in school! I don't have time for a job! What's that? How do I have time to update the Mindset daily? ...Look! A squirrel!

1.)   SELL EVERYTHING THAT ISN'T MUPPET RELATED
If you find yourself so desperate and starved for Muppet stuff, it's time to find a pawn shop. Such frivolities as desk chairs, pillows, winter coats, and can openers aren't needed in lives so fulfilled by Muppet goodness. Sell these items and you'll soon find yourself with enough spending money to purchase any sort of Muppet thing you could want! Just... don't sell your computer and remember to check The Muppet Mindset everyday!

This has been a special Muppet Mindset financial aid report! We don't really condone doing any of these things (except perhaps getting a job), so please don't sue us when they don't work or when your dog channels Big Mean Carl and eats a bunny rabbit whole.

As always, keep your eye on The Muppet Mindset for exciting updates every day!