Hey, Cinderella!

Hey Cinderella! (1970)

Starring Belinda Montgomery, Robin Ward, Joyce Gordon, and Pay Galloway

with Puppeteers Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and Jim Henson 

Directed by Jim Henson

Written by Jon Stone and Tom Whedon

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

The Muppets on Puppets

 The Muppets on Puppets (1970)

Starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Juhl, Don Sahlin, and Rowlf the Dog

Directed by Tim Steele

Written by Jerry Juhl

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

The Muppets Take Manhattan

 The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Skeeter, Rowlf, Rizzo the Rat, and the Muppets

with Puppeteers Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, and Jerry Nelson

Also Starring Juliana Donald, Lonny Price, and Louis Zorich

Directed by Frank Oz

Written by Frank Oz, Tom Patchett, and Jay Tarses

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Great Muppet Caper

 The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Starring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the Muppets

with Puppeteers Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, and Richard Hunt

Also Starring Diana Ring and Charles Grodin

Directed by Jim Henson

Written by Tom Patchett, Jay Tarses, Jerry Juhl, and Jack Rose

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: b

The Muppet Movie

 The Muppet Movie (1979)

Starring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie, and all the Muppets

with Puppeteers Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and Dave Goelz

Also Starring Charles Durning and Austin Pendleton

Directed by James Frawley

Written by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

 Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

Featuring the vocal and puppetry talents of Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Marilyn Sokol, and Jim Henson

Directed by Jim Henson

Written by Jerry Juhl

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Muppets Haunted Mansion

 Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)

Starring the Muppets, Will Arnett, and Taraji P. Henson

Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher

Written by Kirk R. Thatcher and Kelly Younger

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

The Muppet Christmas Carol

 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Starring Michael Caine and the Muppets

Directed by Brian Henson

Written by Jerry Juhl

Click here for my current Letterboxd review

Click here for my prior RyMickey's Ramblings review

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

 It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)

Starring The Muppets

And Joan Cusack, David Arquette, and Whoopi Goldberg

Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher

Written by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Follow That Bird

Follow That Bird (1985)

Starring Carroll Spinney (Big Bird, Oscar), Jim Henson (Kermit, Ernie), Frank Oz (Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover), Cheryl Wagner (Miss Finch puppetry), Sally Kellerman (Miss Finch voice), Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Linda Bove, Emilio Delgado, Sonia Manzano, Alaina Reed, Loretta Long, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, Alyson Court, Benjamin Barrett, Waylon Jennings, Sandra Bernhard, Chevy Chase, and John Candy

Directed by Ken Kwapis

Written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story

I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2015)

Directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker

***This film is currently strewing on Amazon Prime***

Much like Mickey Mouse, there's an iconic nature to Big Bird, the lovable childlike yellow bird whom huge portions of the world spent watching as kids.  The innocence of Big Bird stems from Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who has been inside that huge costume since Sesame Street's inception and continues voicing and bringing him to life today.  I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is a lovely documentary that gives voice to the man inside that costume and how his life drastically changed when Jim Henson spotted him at a puppet expo in the late 1960s.

It's tough not to have a smile on your face the whole run time of I Am Big Bird (except for the surprisingly gut-wrenching moment when Big Bird sings at Jim Henson's funeral -- oh man, that nearly got me).  Sure, Spinney has some difficult moments in both his personal and professional life that are chronicled here, but he seems to be a genuinely sweet, mild-mannered, and soft-spoken guy who has lived in an exemplary way, desiring to bring joy to the youth of America and around the world.  This sense of happiness oftentimes had me wondering what exactly the point of the documentary was -- I mean, there's very little dramatic tension -- but then I realized that the point is for people like me to be able to appreciate someone who had great impact on their life.  Through interviews with Spinney, his wife, children, fellow Sesame Street cast members (Luis!  Maria!), and puppeteers, we get a great picture of the man who created not only Big Bird, but also Oscar the Grouch.

As I said, there's very little emotional impact here and writer/co-director Dave La Mattina jumps around in Spinney's personal time line in a way that felt slightly odd to me, but I Am Big Bird still was a joy to watch.  I can't see how anyone who grew up watching Sesame Street on weekday mornings wouldn't get a kick out of seeing the man behind the puppets they love.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Muppets Most Wanted

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Starring Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and a whole mess of Muppets

Directed by James Bobin

I was inevitably prepared to be a little let down while watching Muppets Most Wanted after the genius that was The Muppets (the RyMickey Award winner for Best Movie of 2011) -- a film that provided the resurrection and "rebirth" of the Jim Henson-created franchise of characters whom I've loved since I was a wee lad.  I wasn't quite prepared to be let down as much as I was, however.

It's not that Muppets Most Wanted is particularly bad in any way.  It's just that the heart that permeated throughout the humor of The Muppets isn't present this time around.  Granted, Muppets Most Wanted is a completely different beast -- it's a caper adventure with the Muppets trying to solve a crime spree across Europe -- and nothing like the nostalgia trip of director and co-writer James Bobin's first venture with the felt characters.  (Like Bobin, co-writer Nicholas Stoller returns for this flick as well.)  Still, if you're going to drop the emotional aspect, the humor needs to be pumped up and Muppets Most Wanted doesn't adequately succeed in that department.

After having successfully returned to the Hollywood scene thanks to their last movie, The Muppets are trying to decide what to do next to capitalize on their revitalization.  They meet with Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) who in a job interview to be the Muppets' manager suggests that the crew travel across Europe on a world tour.  Despite Kermit's misgivings, our favorite frog is outvoted by his friends and they agree to hire Dominic and head over to Germany to start their tour.  Little do the Muppets know that Dominic is a crook who works for the criminal mastermind known as Constantine.  With the exception of a mole on the right side of his face, Constantine is a dead ringer for Kermit so when Constantine escapes from a Russian gulag run by the hard-nosed Nadya (Tina Fey), he switches places with Kermit and, in a rather Superman/Clark Kent-ian manner, none of the Muppets (except for Walter, introduced in last year's The Muppets) notice a difference.  With Kermit being re-captured and taken back to the gulag, Constantine and Dominic set out on a mission to snatch the Crown Jewels of London, stealing a bunch of other valuable goods along the way as the Muppets travel across Europe.

The plot, while somewhat of a rehash in tone of The Great Muppet Caper, is actually humorously developed, but the film lingers around too long at 110 minutes.  Trimming twenty minutes would've done wonders for Muppets Most Wanted.  [As much as I love Sam Eagle, his lengthy bits with Ty Burrell as CIA and Interpol agents trying to track down the criminals could've all been left on the cutting room floor without me feeling the least bit depressed.]  Without the touching nostalgia of The Muppets and relying strictly on laughs, the flick is guilty of the typical 21st century "movie crime" of being a comedy that overstays its welcome.

Much like the rest of the film falling short of its predecessor, Bret McKenzie's songs don't quite have the same impact as his wonderful, ingenious, and Oscar-winning numbers from the first film.  Granted, there are a few moments thanks to McKenzie's music where the film really comes to life -- the 1970s-inspired "I Can Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)" sung by Contantine (the best moment in the film by far and an early frontrunner for Best Scene of 2014), the power ballad "Something So Wrong" performed by Miss Piggy and Celine Dion (!), and the opening self-referntial number "We're Doing a Sequel" -- but overall they're not as inspired as his first venture into the Muppet realm.

I must confess, though, that perhaps I'm being way too harsh on this.  Any Muppet movie is better than no Muppet movie and maybe if this was the first Muppet movie in over a decade (like the last one was), I'd have felt a little differently.  However, 2011's The Muppets was so fantastic that I can't help but feel let down on this one.  A second viewing with a little perspective at the end of the year perhaps will be necessary to be certain that the rating below is the rating I want to give the film.  But for now Muppets Most Wanted is just...okay.  And that one word -- "okay" -- is the most damning one in the whole review.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Muppets

The Muppets (2011)

Starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, and all your favorite Muppets of yore

Directed by James Bobin

If they're searching for methods to help drug addicts get over their cravings, search no further than The Muppets -- a movie that put me on a euphoric high quite like (I'd imagine) any type of illegal substance.  A smile will never leave your face during its running time -- unless you find yourself tearing up at the sentimental musings of a frog made of felt like I did at times.

I was worried about this one.  I had such high expectations.  I tried to avoid everything other than those parody trailers that, while certainly humorous, admittedly made me cautious for fear of trying to "hip up" the Muppets in some way (and after some recent failed attempts since 1992's Muppet Christmas Carol, I was even more on edge).  My worries were unfounded, however, as Muppet-lover Jason Segal has co-wrote a glorious ode to some favorite characters of my youth.  The nostalgia factor is certainly working overtime here, but that's not the only thing carrying this to greatness -- it's a genuinely well-made and charming flick as well.

Echoing their "true life" story, the Muppets in The Muppets have faded from the public's favor after a very successful run from the mid-seventies through the 1980s.  This loss of popularity caused the Muppets to split up, all heading their various ways and leading to the near abandonment of the once great Muppet Studios in Los Angeles.  This doesn't sit too well with Walter, a Muppet himself, who has always found himself out of place in the small town of Small Town, forever living in a world inhabited by humans including his brother Gary (Segel) -- and, no, the movie offers no explanation as to how Walter and Gary could possibly be related despite the fact that one is made out of fabric and the other is made out of DNA -- just go with it.  When taking a trip to the deserted and dilapidated Muppet Studios in LA with Gary and Gary's gal Mary (an absolutely adorable Amy Adams), Walter unwittingly stumbles onto a plan by oil tycoon Tex Richman (the slimy Chris Cooper) to raze the studios and drill for oil underneath unless the Muppets can raise ten million dollars within two weeks.  This sets into effect the whole point of the movie -- a Muppet reunion to have a telethon that will hopefully save the Studios and reinvigorate the public's love for this adorable creatures.

The story is simple and perhaps runs a tiny bit thin during the hunt to track down Kermit's Muppet pals, but none of that really matters in the end because the film is so goshdarn amusing and pleasant that you can overlook a tiny flaw here or there (and they really are tiny because the flick overall is pretty spectacular).  Right from the beginning, Jason Segel, his co-writer Nicholas Stoller, music supervisor Bret McKenzie, and director James Bobin (the latter two worked on HBO's short-lived Flight of the Conchords of which this flick sometimes has a similar vibe) set up a charmingly corny self-aware breaking-the-fourth-wall kind of vibe where the routine task of brushing one's teeth can elicit wonderfully funny and beguilingly whimsical music numbers to take flight.  Segel and his human co-star Amy Adams are game for this happy-go-lucky vibe with their "aw shucks" demeanors playing splendidly next to the old school showmanship of the Muppets who rightfully take center stage throughout much of the film.  Similarly, Chris Cooper deliciously hams up the scenery as the nefarious oil tycoon villain providing the perfect counterpoint to the squeaky clean demeanor of everyone surrounding him.

And the Muppets themselves...they've provided so many great memories for this reviewer and their eponymous movie is just one more winner to add to the list.  Sure, their voices may have changed a little bit (Fozzie's stuck out the most to me as not quite getting the vocal tones right), but they're still the same characters we all grew to love when we were kids.  Gonzo's still goofy, the Swedish Chef is still incomprehensible, Fozzie's still producing the worst jokes imaginable, Miss Piggy's still bossy, and Kermit's still the (perhaps) reluctant, but ever lovable, ringleader of the gang.  Their storyline and the ensuing reunion of sorts was surprisingly touching and absolutely believable.  [There's a moment towards the beginning of the film where a sullen Kermit remembers his heyday that was nearly gutwrenching in its genuine sadness.]  It never feels like we're watching puppets -- even when we're following new and unknown Muppet felt creation Walter whose wide-eyed exuberance and optimism fits right in with older characters we've known and loved for decades.

One can only hope that The Muppets is a successful revival of the Muppets themselves.  Jason Segel has proven that he truly is a fan of these crazy creatures and his love is blatantly evident onscreen here with genuine care to honor Jim Henson's creations.  As soon as I saw Walter and Gary watching the original Muppet Show at the beginning of the film, I knew Segel was building upon the past rather than taking the Muppets in a completely different direction.  And when the shot of Jim Henson sitting next to Kermit popped up in a scene, this sense of tradition became even more obvious.  Kudos all around to all involved in The Muppets for crafting quite simply the most enjoyable time you will spend in a movie theater in 2011.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Movie Review - Labyrinth

Labyrinth (1986)

Starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie

Directed by Jim Henson

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I don't know how I never watched this as a child of the 80s, but I never did.  I must admit that I'm a little upset I've waited so long to partake of this trippy flick, because, for the most part, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Labyrinth is the weirder, drugged-up cousin of Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz (and, let's be honest, those too stories are already on the nutty side), complete with Jim Henson muppetry magic and a freakish performance from David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King who has fallen in love with the teenaged Sarah (Jennifer Connelly).  As part of his scheme, Jareth kidnaps Sarah's infant brother and forces her through an elaborate labyrinth in order to find him, seemingly hoping that Sarah will long leave the real world to spend her life with him in the strange realm he calls home.

The obvious high points of the film are the elaborate, intricate sets and the fantastic puppetry from Jim Henson Studios.  Both are of an amazing caliber and make the film certainly worth watching.  Admittedly, everything else about the film -- especially the overacting from David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly -- is simply middle-of-the-road, but oddly enough, it doesn't really matter in a film like this.  Films like Labyrinth are about whimsy, charm, and magic and Labyrinth has all these in spades.  One is able to look past the flaws and simply enjoy the film as it unfolds.  Is it a masterpiece?  Certainly not, but it's a film that I absolutely plan on visiting again sooner rather than later.  Sometimes, simply being "fun" is reason enough to like a flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Starring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat, Fozzie Bear, and Michael Caine
Directed by Brian Henson

Everyone's seen this story before (and we've seen this story retold this year), but at least with the Muppets we get some comedy thrown into the mix as well.

It's been a few years since I've watched this one and I completely forgot that three of the songs on the film's soundtrack don't make it into the actual film at all -- two of them it was right to remove, but the haunting melody of "When Love Is Gone" certainly would've added emotional oomph to the flick and should have been left in (it's included in the "director's cut" on the dvd).

Anyway, my favorite part of the movie has to be Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Rizzo the Rat as Rizzo the Rat, both playing our narrators for journey. Humor abounds from these two and it's a nice addition to a story we all know well.

My slight qualm with this version is that Michael Caine isn't quite as mean as I'd like my Scrooge to be. He's certainly fine in the role, but he's not as harsh as I'd hope.

Still, an incredibly amusing version of the tale. And who doesn't love the frickin' Muppets?

The RyMickey Rating: B+

Movie Review - Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985)

Starring Big Bird, Oscar, Bert, Ernie, Mr. Snuffleupagus, The Count, Cookie Monster, and a bunch of other furry creatures
Directed by Ken Kwapis

Laugh all you want, but when I saw that this was available On Demand, memories of my childhood came flying back into my mind. I grew up on Sesame Street (none of this Spongebob crap) and looking back on this quality movie (I'm totally serious), it's easy to understand why this institution has been around for forty years (I'm talking about Sesame Street, not me).

The story revolves around the idea that Big Bird should be living with other birds and not with people. So, adoption director Miss Finch takes Big Bird from Sesame Street and places him with the Dodo family. Unfortunately, the fit just isn't right and Big Bird runs away from the Dodos and begins his trek back home. Meanwhile, all his friends from Sesame Street venture out onto the road to find him.

For me, this is simply nostalgia, but this is honestly a decent flick. Yes, it's incredibly simple, but there's a good story here, told lovingly by the Jim Henson folks. I see Jim Henson's name pop up on the screen during the credits as a performer and I realize that he provided me with much enjoyment as I grew up (and I can only hope his Muppets live on in this techno-crazy age).

Is this superb cinema? No. But it's definitely a quality kids pick that kept me entertained for 85 minutes.

The RyMickey Rating: B-