Over the vacation I was exposed to the monstrosity that is The Muppet Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of a young girl who finds out there’s no place like, um, Hollywood as she journeys to Oz to fulfil her dreams of super stardom. With cameos from Kelly Osbourne and Ashanti, the film drained all the magic out of the story and left me feeling distinctly dissatisfied. Was I just getting too old for this? I decided to revisit some childhood favourites, The Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol and realised it’s not me that’s changed, it’s them!
The wonderful thing about these two Muppet films is the way human actors are integrated so seamlessly. They interact so naturally with the puppets that you completely forget that the majority of the characters are not real, living creatures; they are, quite simply, brought to life before our eyes. Surprisingly, both films are relatively true to the novels which they are based on (ok, no Captain Smollett wasn’t a frog in Treasure Island but you do get a real sense of the books. Honest).
There are some great comic moments in Muppet Treasure Island. The dying Billy Bones’ words to Jim Hawkins never fail to make me smile (‘Beware running with scissors or any other pointy object! It’s all good fun until somebody loses an eye!’) There’s some good old fashioned slapstick and catchy songs thrown in for good measure.
So we’ve got the laughs covered but do the films have heart? All I can say is, I’ve seen a lot of film versions of A Christmas Carol and as yet I haven’t come across a portrayal of Tiny Tim that is more endearing than the small green frog of the Muppet film. Half the time they’re stage school brats; the prospect of their death doesn’t really strike fear into your heart, but somehow Kermit junior manages to capture the innocent, wide-eyed vulnerability of Tim without it being too sentimental. Michael Caine is so convincingly moved by the journey he is taken on by the spirits that you find yourself, rather embarrassingly, on the verge of tears in a film which stars a frog, a pig, a rat and a… whatever that thing is.
Many films are advertised as ‘fun for the whole family’ but there are very few which live up to this label. These Muppet films, however, do have a genuine all age appeal; perfect for re-living those childhood moments.
