The Muppets

[Ben]

Pretty obvious we're going to get a heap of these through the summer, I would guess. Kind of surprised they didn't ship a Muppet or two out to the Pirates shoot last summer so that they could put a trailer out with Captain Jack and Kermit.

Then again, it seems the intention is to sell the actual Muppets movie (with Muppet footage) in the way of other films, rather than have Kermit and Co "invade" those other movies, like Lilo & Stitch.

I'm liking the approach, though! I wonder what the next one will be?

[Daniel]

Another trailer parody, this time the Green Lantern:

[Ben]

Nice! But something caught my eye: check out 0:41 for the shot of Kermit in The Muppet ShOw O...except, that's not a W next to the O - looks like an M or N. What could it be!?

[EricJ]

Particularly telling was their attempt at being fourth-wall audience-nudging funny, at 0:43
"Is this another Muppet trailer parody?...Why don't we just show them the real thing? What are we trying to hide?"

(As someone who's suspected all along WHY Disney's been falling back on au courant pop-culture movie parodies in lieu of actual footage of what they are trying to hide, my first response was "Uh....you don't really want me to answer that question, do you? "
And nice to see I'm not the only one getting nervous-Disney Lilo & Stitch flashbacks...Get your own movie, Kermit!)

The "Shouldn't we show the real movie?" joke could have been some long serial-teaser campaign, as with the Seinfeld teasers for "Bee Movie", and it's supposed to directly lead into next week's trailer of "Ta-da, here's our story!"
But, like Bee Movie...that's assuming they can escape their own self-fascination with name marketing, and that we were grabbed to care a lot MORE about the actual movie by this point.

[Dacey]

I'm a little confused by what you're going for. "Nervous Lilo & Stitch flashbacks?" That movie made a ton of money for Disney in the long run, and won them lots of praise, too.

And fourth wall humor is nothing new to the Muppets, which is one of the reasons these trailers have worked so well for me.

[Ben]

Yeah, these spots are bang on the money. If anything they know they have something great but are bringing it out in marketplace that has seen the popularity fade a bit. Better to hold back and really surprise than to spill it all early, especially when these spots are working so well. I don't think Disney are worried at all (or else they wouldn't have made the movie)...I actually think they're playing the smart game here, and they're spoofing other movies' trailers, not gatecrashing them as Stitch did.

[EricJ]

I'm a little confused by what you're going for. "Nervous Lilo & Stitch flashbacks?" That movie made a ton of money for Disney in the long run, and won them lots of praise, too.

Yes, but...that was AFTER the movie came out.
Before, Disney hadn't the faintest clue how to sell it, and thought showing us Stitch parodies of every other recognizable Disney jokes (with a few too-short out-of-context space clips at the end) would get us into the theater.
(I remember when fans thought L&S actually was going to be 90 minutes of Stitch crashing Disney classics, and went into fervors that Disney was "embracing Shrek"...And since they hadn't bothered to tell us yet who or what "Lilo" was, we thought that was another alien. Well, yes and no. )

Here, Disney knows they can sell The Muppets, period, a lot more effectively than they can sell Recycled Country Bears Knockoff, so keep the parodies going as long as they don't have to show the real thing.
Unfortunately, a couple seconds of the Mean Rich Guy plot sneaked into the last trailer....Oops. Although the trailer teases "Look, folks, we ALMOST got some plot!", which suggest they probably are rationing it out carefully.
(And why do I keep wishing they'll make some reference to Scooter's uncle J.J. Grosse?)

If anything they know they have something great but are bringing it out in marketplace that has seen the popularity fade a bit. Better to hold back and really surprise than to spill it all early,

Well, there's good AND bad "surprises", that's the point.

[Daniel]

From Jim Hill:

Hi ho! Kermit the Frog here! I sure hope you enjoy this “Being Green” trailer…and our other parody trailers—“Green With Envy” “Fuzzy Pack”. Now, after much ado—and Miss Piggy’s insistence that she get final cut—we’re finally ready for the world premiere of the official trailer for our upcoming movie, “The Muppets”. You can watch it everywhere on Monday June 20th at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure not to miss it!
– Amphibiously yours, Kermit The Frog

[Ben]

Disney hadn't the faintest clue how to sell it, and thought showing us Stitch parodies of every other recognizable Disney jokes (with a few too-short out-of-context space clips at the end) would get us into the theater.

Um, well I guess that worked out pretty good for them...

[Dacey]

Full trailer!!!

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=78775

[Ben]

I so want this to be greatness...but I'm not quite feeling it yet. Maybe they're being a little over the top with this one? I do like the references to The Muppet Show and that recreation of the title sequence. The magic does feel like it's back here, but some of those voices are still so off. It's like Steve Whitmire forgot how good he was in Muppets Christmas Carol and is going too light for the Frog, while I think I will never personally get to grips with Eric Jacobson's Fozzie.

Still, it seems that Disney has faith, and I hope that turns into audience acceptance!

[Bill1978]

Those mock trailers and the actual trailers have me generally excited about this movie. This looks like those great Muppet Movies of yesteryear. Not some retelling of a classic tale or focussing on one character. It looks like lots of fun, my sense of humour and above all it as musical numbres. Hooray!!!

The trailers have done a great job in getting me to remember the great self deprecating humour The Muppets use to have. And I've always found the Muppets more enjoyable when they are being themselves as opposed to acting.

[EricJ]

And I've always found the Muppets more enjoyable when they are being themselves as opposed to acting.

As for looking at what Segal's doing with them ("Look how much I remember the old 70's show!...I'm so in touch with my inner baby-boomer! Let's play the old theme song one more time!"), I've always found the Muppets more enjoyable when they were being themselves as opposed to being anybody else's.

[Darkblade]

Anyone think that the fart shoes were forced in? I cant help but feel that it was forced into the film.

[Ben]

Wha...?