New trailer for 'The Muppets' plays game with audience, iTunes
Our first look at some old friends seems very promising
There's gonna be a whole lotta Muppet goin' on this November
Well-played, Disney.
You know, I give the generic poorly-scripted romantic comedy a hard time in print, and that seems very, very mean of me. After all, they can't help it. The audience will pay to see the same formula a bazillion times over, and if they don't have to try any harder than they already are, then why bother?
Jason Segel and Amy Adams, though, are fairly appealing, and in this case, I'm willing to give "Green With Envy" a chance. After all, James Bobin is directing and his work on "Flight Of The Conchords" was always sharp and funny, so I'll give him a chance.
I'm having a hard time understanding what the hook is, though. Doesn't look like anybody body-switches or gets amnesia or is aging backwards or anything that might typically motivate a sort of high-concept riff on the romantic comedy. Is this really just as simple as "Love struck meets star struck when a small town couple (Amy Adams, Jason Segel) head to Hollywood and discover their dreams of hitting the big time may cost them the one thing that matters most - each other"?
Look at the trailer and tell me what you think:
Ooooohhhhh! There are Muppets in it!
I love that Disney went the distance with the iTunes page and really pretended this is a different movie. They've got a huge brand here, and reintroducing the Muppets to people is important. I think this is a very gentle, funny way of doing it, and right away, it feels correct. It feels like the spirit that the Muppets have always embodied.
Boy, I hope they get this one right.
"Green With Envy"… er, I mean "The Muppets"… will open in theaters November 23, 2011.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupStormshadow4life
May 23, 2011 at 4:33PM EST Reply to CommentWould have been much better if you didn't spoil the gag from the get go :(
May 23, 2011 at 4:52PM EST
May 23, 2011 at 4:38PM EST Reply to CommentJeffrey Wells is not going to be happy with Jason Segels giant face.
Steven Flores
May 23, 2011 at 4:50PM EST Reply to CommentI was about to get really upset once that stupid New Radicals song was playing because I hate that fucking song. Then came the Muppets and made everything better.
Dryden Ha, that's the moment that sold me. Exactly right choice of terrible song to get the joke across.
May 23, 2011 at 8:59PM EST7s Tim
May 23, 2011 at 5:22PM EST Reply to CommentThat would have been so funny. Luckily, it wasn't. Thanks again, HitFix!
Megalodon
May 23, 2011 at 8:30PM EST Reply to CommentWell for one, thanks a whole lot for ruining the surprise/punchline. For another, I'm not sure that this is "the spirit that the Muppets have always embodied" quite the way I would hope. There's too much acting - or should I say overacting - on the part of the human cast, and too much focus put on them. Perhaps that's just the way the misleading trailer made it seem, but I would rather see a MUPPET movie with some human characters thrown in for a different flavor, than a dinky, hammy human romance with muppets trying to have their own stories on the sidelines. It is a MUPPET movie, right?
May 24, 2011 at 12:49AM EST Reply to CommentWhy did you have to ruin the joke before we could see it first?
Mulderism
May 24, 2011 at 1:16AM EST Reply to CommentGreat. Thanks for the spoiler alert jackass. At least you were surprised.
drew
May 24, 2011 at 1:22AM EST Reply to CommentI suspect if I posted a story about a romantic comedy with Jason Segel and Amy Adams, not one of you would have clicked through.
Sorry, but there's no way to win with this one. I'm sorry you feel the need to call me names and abuse me over a Muppets trailer, but in a world where a story no one reads does no one any good, it's either blow the joke or post something none of you would read.
Please, though... call me more names over it.
I. S. I've never heard of an advertisement having spoilers. How emotionally invested can you get in marketing? I would have turned off after ten seconds if I hadn't known where it was going.
May 24, 2011 at 2:04AM ESTMulderism C'mon dude, you're a writer aren't you? You could've easily written something that would have had the same effect without spoiling the surprise.
May 24, 2011 at 2:36AM ESTIt wasn't your surprise to spoil. Yeah, it's just a trailer but you ruined it for me and others too it seems.
I knew you wouldn't be apologetic and would write a sarcastic response.
But WTF eh? It's just a $^$% trailer...
drew I'm not apologetic. You are correct.
May 24, 2011 at 1:44PM ESTBut by all means, call me some more names. It's worth it over a movie trailer.
Mulderism Well since we're still on the topic, Nordling at your old alma mater AICN managed to come up with a little writeup that DIDN'T ruin the surprise: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49752
May 24, 2011 at 2:42PM ESTMaybe take a cue from him and think before you write and spoil someone else's surprise. Your ego could use a little downsizing.
May 24, 2011 at 4:11PM EST Reply to CommentNo kidding. Lucky I'd already seen this on CHUD, where they conveyed the urgency without spoiling the surprise. Still, Anyone who was following the film would know it was the Muppets trailer as soon as they saw Jason Siegel. That said...I'm not crazy about it. I think the Muppets are strongest when they're being genine and sentimental, not slick and "Mormon Cool"...
7s Tim
May 24, 2011 at 5:02PM EST Reply to CommentNot name calling, but you dropped the ball. Not a big ball. A wiffle ball, let's say. I can't speak for other commenters or readers, but the problem probably comes from that fact that we could expect more from you. Don't always agree, but I respect your opinions of movies. Can't make tomorrow's Attack the Block showings, but based mostly on your strong recommendation, pointed others I know toward it. Again, you aren't a jackass, but you did willfully spoil a cute joke, and one that you seemed to enjoy yourself. As a reader, I find your attitude towards those of us who were spoiled on this, who turn to HitFix for much of their entertainment commentary and news and possibly much of the movie related content because of your abilities, to be insulting. It is only a trailer, you are right. My question to you is, were the hits you got with "Muppets" in the title more important than respect for your readers?
drew We live in a world, unfortunately, dominated by SEO demands. If I had run this with no mention of what it was, no one would click on it. I didn't go out of my way to ruin the joke, but I did have to run the piece with a headline that indicated what it was.
May 25, 2011 at 5:40PM ESTI'm not trying to be insulting, but when people begin by calling me a jackass, I'm not going to turn around and treat them with a civility they are unable to muster themselves.
Mulderism I disagree. CHUD and AICN (and maybe others) wrote spoiler-free teases to get people to watch the trailer. I didn't check out CHUD but the AICN talkback had a lot of replies. So people apparently fell for it and were pleasantly surprised.
May 25, 2011 at 8:35PM ESTAlso, the editors will sometimes update their pages and/or headlines if a spoiler slips through. Nobody's perfect.
I don't agree with the policy of giving out spoilers just for the sake of page hits. You need to find a middle ground.
Mulderism Further: Not that I'm trying to tell you what your policy should be. Just a suggestion.
May 25, 2011 at 8:37PM EST7s Tim Drew, I get what your saying, I really do. Thing that got to me was it seemed you were treating all readers who were a little put out as if we were calling jackass and trying to be insulting. But the more Mulderism gets irked, the more I feel embarassed to be the same company. Stop "helping", dude.
May 26, 2011 at 6:51PM ESTMulderism
May 25, 2011 at 4:24PM EST Reply to CommentYes, an apology is definitely in order. We're waiting.
May 25, 2011 at 5:16PM ESTdrew And you can keep on waiting. You have been nothing but rude, and I owe you absolutely nothing in exchange.
May 25, 2011 at 5:40PM ESTMulderism @Nathan, I agree that this was not as bad as say, spoiling the ending to a movie.
May 26, 2011 at 6:06PM EST