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Muppet fans are a passionate bunch. For example, if you release a movie that makes Lorne Michaels look like a genius, and Jim Henson seem like kind of a tool, they will voice their displeasure. Now these lovers of felt are rising up to condemn the actions of the Muppets’ current corporate overlords: the Walt Disney Corporation.
It was just announced that Disney World’s Muppet*Vision 3D will be closing for good, and the space it occupied will soon be home to Monsters Inc. Land. The original attraction, which opened back in 1991, featured a 3D film starring the original Muppet gang, as well as live characters like Statler and Waldorf. And it was all housed inside of a detailed replica of the he Muppet Theater.
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At least we’ll always have these blurry, non-3D YouTube videos to enjoy:
In an effort to placate Muppet-lovers, Disney’s announcement also included news that their Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster would be reworked to include the Muppet characters, replacing its current theme: “driving through heavy L.A. traffic to catch an Aerosmith concert you happened to get free tickets to and were too polite to refuse.”
It didn’t work. The news has angered legions of Muppet fans (and bummed out at least a few dozen Aersomith listeners), with reactions ranging from floating implications that the souls of Disney World executives are forever damned, to warning Disney to brace themselves for Muppet January 6th.
A big reason why passions are running particularly high with this attraction specifically, is that it was the last project that Jim Henson directed before he died in 1990. He also performed several of the Muppet characters in the film, including Kermit the Frog. For a lot of fans, it isn’t just a fun Disney World attraction, it’s a piece of Muppet history.
Sure, theme park real estate gets changed around all the time, but if Muppet*Vision 3D is the last contribution from one of the most beloved creative minds of the 20th century, wouldn’t it make sense to preserve it? They can’t find somewhere else to celebrate a 23-year-old Billy Crystal cartoon?
People are also annoyed because this isn’t exactly the first time that Disney has “mistreated” the Muppets.
As we’ve mentioned before, Disney and the Muppets haven’t been the best combo. The Henson family even accused the Mouse House of “outright theft of Jim Henson’s legacy” — a statement that was made a week before Muppet*Vision 3D had opened.
Disney has only owned The Muppets for the past 20 years, but they just keep fumbling the iconic characters. First there was the 30 Rock-esque TV show that explored Fozzie Bear’s sex life. Then, after two solid big-screen efforts (Muppets Most Wanted was especially funny), the film franchise fizzled out completely. More recently, the enjoyable streaming show The Muppets Mayhem was canceled after just one season.
The only way things could be worse for the Muppets is if they were Aerosmith.