I have never, ever understood the charm and appeal of the Muppets or the alleged genius and imagination of Jim Henson. Who the hell thinks "The Muppets Take Manhattan" (1984) is interesting at any level? Or "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992)? It's not. But great for kids? Only if you also like feeding your kids raw sugar and twinkies.
Let's start with the Muppets themselves. They are cloth dolls-- sock puppets, really-- with a very, very limited range of expression. In fact, the range is one. The designs are not remotely interesting-- and I absolutely deny that this is a characteristic of products intended to appeal to children. Like I said, only if you think sugar is nutritious. Or that Barbie dolls encourage the child's imagination.
I remember being a child. I remember that a lot of TV programming was like junk food: it gratified the immediate desire for entertainment with slap-dash action shorts, but the impression was neither deep nor lasting. But I insist that certain cartoons and short films I saw as a child made a deep impression on me and when I later viewed the same products as an adult, I was not betrayed. These cartoons and short films really were fresh, original, and imaginative, in a way that Disney is not, most of the time, and the Muppets are not ever. Don't believe me? Look up the cartoon version of "Justice in the Jungle". Oh wait-- I cannot locate it anywhere. Not a trace. But another great children's movie, "Skinny and Fatty" is available.
Kermit is a dweeb in the true sense of the word, which is a lot less of an interesting thing to be than you might think. He is bland and not particularly curious about anything. He never expresses insight or a playful imagination. He never does anything really funny or mischievous or daring. In that sense, he is a true reflection of the mind of Jim Henson, his doppelganger. In "The Muppets Take Manhattan", he helps create a Broadway show about-- wait for it-- wait for it-- wait for it-- come on-- what do you think a really creative writer or artist would come up with as a theme for a movie about Muppets creating a Broadway show? Right: never, ever the theme of creating a Broadway show. And becoming famous. Becoming a star. Living your dream. In other words, the most exhausted, empty, flavorless clichés left on the bottom shelf of the idea closet in some alcoholic Hollywood producer's toilet.
There's nothing artistic in the Muppets. It's all just material production, including the utterly pedestrian musical numbers in "The Muppets Take Manhattan". Instantly forgettable. Dull. Lifeless. Lots of puppets mugging and swaying and going up and down and that's about it. This is what we offer our children instead of real stop-motion animation?
The reason is simple. People saw the Muppets and immediately rose up as one and demanded more Muppets. No. The TV network saw Muppets and realized: cheap production costs! Have you seen what it cost to do hand-drawn animation? Or stop-motion? Even those crappy, repetitive Saturday morning cartoons are not cheap.
Let's promote them like crazy and see if the suckers will bite. And they did.