Great Muppet Movie Ever Script Reviews

Details about The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever have hit the web.

News about Jason Segal's planned Muppet Movie has been hitting the `net this week. I'm told that the working title for the film is The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever and AICN has (spoiler alert) posted the first review of the new Muppet Movie's script. For those who don't want to read too many details of the film's plot, visit Tough Pigs for a spoiler free review of the script.

Where The Wild Things Are Trailer

The trailer for Where The Wild Things Are is now available online in high definition.

Sorry it's been so long since my last update...the hotly anticipated trailer for Where The Wild Things Are (see previous post) has finally hit the web and wow. I can't wait to see this. You can check it out on YouTube, or in high definition at Apple.com.

27/3/09 Update: Sayraphim Lothian shares an account of her work as a refurbishment technician maintaining the the monster suits on movie's set in her blog (link via Puppeteers Unite).

Neko Rahmen

Neko Rahmen Taisho is a feature film based on a popular Japanese comic/animation property.

Neko Rahmen is a popular Japanese anime series and manga about a cat named Taishou who runs a ramen shop. It's being adapted in to a Japanese feature film with Taishou being realized as a puppet. If you check out the trailer for Neko Rahmen Taisho you'll see that it looks kind of stupid, but also kind of awesome.

I want to see this.

First Look at "Where The Wild Things Are" Creatures

A series of skateboards provide the first look at the monsters of Where The Wild Things Are.

The film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are (see previous post) has been hotly anticipated for a long time. The film's original teaser was released back in 2000 and the movie's troubled production history has been widely reported. Now as the Wild Things prepare to finally move to the big screen we get our first complete look at the movie's creatures.

Update on The Hobbit

Director Guillermo del Toro is directing the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit.

While doing promotion for the new Hellboy II Blu-Ray, director Guillermo del Toro provided some minor updates on his upcoming two-part adaptation of The Hobbit. He reports that filming will commence in 2010 and last an entire year. del Toro - who's well-known for his love of practical effects like animatronics and puppetry - also says he's planning to break new ground in puppetry:

"We will be pushing them to the edge of technology where we will fuse animatronics and CGI into a seamless new art form in creating creatures." While Hellboy II had a lot of recognizable puppets, del Toro says that The Hobbit will feature more of a seamless mix. "You will see some mind-boggling mixture of CGI / puppetry like never before. "

You can read the full report here.

Spike Jonze Talks About Where The Wild Things Are

Acclaimed director Spike Jonze is adapting the children's classic Where The Wild Things Are in to a feature film (photo via Ain't It Cool News).

There's been a lot of online nervousness and speculation about Spike Jonze's feature film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are (see previous post). Very little information and even fewer images from the film have been released (click here for one Kanye West accidentally posted to his blog earlier this year), but AICN's "Moriarty" has seen a rough cut of the film and sat down for a wide-ranging, unfettered interview about it with director Spike Jonze.

What I found especially interesting in the interview was reading about the approach that's being used to realize the Wild Things onscreen. Jonze insisted on making the movie as real as possible and filmed most of it on location in Australia using performers in body suits (made by the Creature Shop) with non-articulated faces, which will be animated in post production. Very little of the film has been actually finished yet, but Moriarty has nothing but good things to say about the work-in-progress.

Where the Wild Things Are is scheduled to be released late next year.

Via I Watch Stuff.

Dante's Inferno Now on DVD

The feature-length toy Theatre film Dante's Inferno is now available on DVD.

Dante's Inferno (see previous post) - the feature-length Toy Theatre film from a team that includes Paul Zaloom is now available to order on DVD. While it's the type of indie film that's probably not for everyone, I had a chance to catch this at last year's Puppeteers of America festival and really enjoyed it. It's available to order online for just $13.99 at www.dantefilm.com.

Get Ready For More Cats & Dogs

A sequel to the 2001 family film Cats & Dogs is headed in to production in Vancouver.

Remember Cats and Dogs?

I've always thought it was a great little family film and its villain Mr. Tinkles has to be one of the funniest animatronic puppet characters ever created. Recently word has been spreading that a sequel called Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is headed in to production. I was excited to hear that Brad Peyton (see previous post) is helming the sequel. Also good to hear is that Dave Barclay is once again supervising the animatronic characters for the film, although this time they'll be built by Lee Romaire Studios.

I'm not sure whether the sequel is intended to be a big budget theatrical film or not; evidence suggests that the producers might be cutting some corners (note: this is not the case, see my note below), when you consider they're hiring a relatively inexperienced (albeit very talented) director and have decided to forgo rehiring the Creature Shop, which created the animatronic characters for the original. However, Brad Peyton is has a really distinct vision (his short film Evelyn the Cutest Evil Dead Girl is fantastic), Dave Barclay is one of the best animatronic puppeteers in the world and Lee Romaire's studio is able to do really interesting work even with a limited budget (see previous post). Add all those elements together and this low-profile film has the potential to be something special.

Hopefully we'll hear more about Cats and Dogs 2 as it moves through production.

15/10/08 Update: After posting this, I got an email from someone who is actually working on the film in Vancouver who assures me the budget for this is actually quite a bit bigger than the original and it's being planned as major release for next year.

Lili at the Santa Monica Puppetry Festival

Leslie Caron with puppets Renaldo the Fox and Carrot Top in the 1953 MGM musical Lili.

The inaugural Santa Monica Puppetry Festival kicked off today in Santa Monica, California and runs through Sunday. The festival is paying tribute to actress Leslie Caron and 1953 MGM puppet-themed musical Lili (better known as Carnival - the title of the film's stage adaptation) with a special screening of the movie followed by a discussion with Ms. Caron moderated by film historian Leonard Maltin.

Leslie Caron will also be leading an audience sing-along of the Academy Award-winning song "Hi Lili, Hi Lo" from Lili as part of the festival's Celebration of Puppetry. Also appearing on the bill is Mallory Lewis (who has taken over the role of Lambchop from her late mother Shari) and three legendary marionette puppeteers - Bob Baker, Tony Urbano and Rene Zendejas.

A Celebration of Puppetry Takes Place Saturday night 7:30 p.m.; the special screening of Lili is Sunday evening at the same time. Both events take place at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Visit www.santamonicapuppetryfestival.com for more details.

Update: Check out this classic interview with the puppets from Lili with a young Alan Cook on YouTube. In it Alan briefly explains some of the history behind the Lili puppets and their original puppeteers.

Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant

Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant is the latest product of Rich Evans and Mike Stoklasa's "Orange" universe.

I'm still playing catch up with stuff since I was MIA here for awhile last month, but one of the (many) things I've been wanting to mention - and looking forward to watching - is Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant. It's the latest in a series of "Oranges movies" that began as a high school art class project by Rich Evans and Mike Stoklasa. The film tells "the harrowing tale of Professor Charles Sunkyst and his fateful encounter with the diabolical Dr. Eggplant."

I haven't seen it yet (only the trailer) but it looks like it's a fun little indie movie that Rich and Mike have obviously poured a lot of time and energy in to. There are a couple of great, tongue-in-cheek videos on YouTube explaining how they built their elaborate sets on the cheap; visit the Red Letter Media YouTube Channel for those and bunch and of other Oranges videos. If you like what you see consider why not buy Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant on DVD?

Via Tom's always-interesting Puppeteers Unite Blog.

Fraggle Rock Feature Film Going Ahead

The Jim Henson Company's planned feature film version of Fraggle Rock is moving ahead.

First, the good news: The Weinstein Company has given the go-ahead to the Jim Henson Company's Fraggle Rock feature film, which has been in development for a couple years (see previous post). This makes a lot of sense because the Weinsteins want to develop family-friendly franchises and Fraggle Rock is already an established and much-loved family entertainment property. Also, they have the money and clout to make sure the film gets a good release and is properly promoted.

Now, the bad news: It's being directed by Cory Edwards. His first movie was Hoodwinked, which was also produced by the Weinsteins. It drew a respectable $50 million or so at the box office, but the animation was horrible, the script wasn't much better and watching it I got the feeling the filmmakers were a little out of their depth (or perhaps in way over their heads). Pulling off puppets and humans interacting believably in a movie is surprisingly difficult so you have to wonder why filmmakers with better track records or more experience were passed over. Hopefully the Henson Co. will maintain a strong say in how things get done and this will do a beloved show like Fraggle Rock justice.

Update: My favourite blog post about this so far has to be Fraggle Rock to Stop Being Fond Memory, Become Sad Future.

More on Cartoon Network's Jib and Crash

Puppets Jib and Crash will be promoting movies during interstitials on Cartoon Network beginning this weekend.

Jib and Crash (see previous post), are the puppet stars of a new series on Cartoon Network that features interviews with celebrities and publicity for upcoming movies. The segments were devised by Cartoon Network's ad sales promotions marketing group and will air as interstitials during commercial breaks on the network. Look for Jib and Crash to make their first appearances on Cartoon Network beginning this Sunday.

Thanks to Wes for the heads up!

Midnight Marionettes in Toronto

Peter Jackson's cult classic Meet The Feebles screens as part of the Midnight Marionettes series this weekend in Toronto.

The Fox Theatre in Toronto is reviving its Midnight Movies at the Fox series by screening a couple great puppet movies this weekend in an event they call "Midnight Marionettes". Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds Are Go is being shown Saturday night, followed by Peter Jackson's Meet The Feebles on Sunday. Both films start at 11:30 p.m. and prizes from The Watcher Comics and Hammer Skateboard will be given out a both screenings.

Go See Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segal writes a Dracula puppet musical in the new feature film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend go see Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It's a great comedy with a great cast, including Russell Brand who almost steals the movie. Especially neat is that the finale involves a Dracula puppet musical called A Taste For Love featuring puppets built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop as well as Scott Land, James Hayes, and B.J. Guyer.

The Dracula finale involves about 30 puppets and is really elaborate. A large team of puppeteers worked on the sequence including Carol Binion, Tim Blaney, Julianne Buescher, Leslie Carrara, BJ Guyer, Drew Massey, Michelan Sisti, Kevin Carlson, Victor Yerrid and Sean Johnson among others (I've missed some names, but I'm just listing them from memory). The film's star Jason Segal was trained for the role by Henson and does a great job performing Dracula himself in the finale.

The team behind the movie obviously had fun working with puppets; after making the movie Jason Segal sold a pitch to Disney for the next Muppet Movie, which will be directed by "Sarah Marshall" helmer Nick Stoller.

30/02/08 Update: I read online today that in addition to Henson, the puppets used in the musical were also built by Scott Land, James Hayes, and B.J. Guyer and I've updated my original post accordingly.

Where The Wild Things Aren't

There's trouble brewing in post-production on Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are.

I don't know if you've heard or not yet, but Spike Jonze is directing a film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are featuring puppets and hybrid animatronic/CG characters from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Spy reports from early screenings have indicated that the movie is a dark, brilliant and extremely faithful adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak book, so naturally Warner Brothers is rumoured to want to either extensively reshoot it, or scrap the movie altogether and start over.

I really hope Warner doesn't mess with the movie. Chances are they're looking for a fuzzy (or at least Harry Potter-esque) family movie and didn't get it, which begs the question why did they hire Spike Jonze to direct in the first place? Oh well, at least Forest Whitaker's kids liked it.

Via I Watch Stuff.

Jim Henson Biopic in the works

A biopic of Muppet creator Jim Henson is preparing to go before the cameras this summer.

A report hit the web today that Empire Films is planning a biographical movie about Jim Henson called "Henson". According to the Muppet Newsflash, Empire plans to start production later this summer with a budget of $30-million and a release planned for sometime in 2009. No director or cast is attached to the project yet, but Empire is anticipating hiring "a major director, such as Penny Marshall" to helm the project with a "notable star cast in key roles".

Assuming he's a character in the script, they should totally cast David Cross to play Frank Oz. Speaking of which, would it be too weird to have Frank Oz directing this? Assuming he'd want to that is. There's no word yet on whether or not the filmmakers have sought or secured the co-operation of the Henson Company, Disney and/or Sesame Workshop, each of which owns bits and pieces of the trademarks and copyrights on The Muppet characters and Jim's other work. Disney's cooperation especially (they own Kermit the Frog) would seem to be prerequisite to doing a film like this properly.

Josh Harnett Gets Ready For Bunraku

Josh Harnett will star in a new movie called Bunraku.

Actor Josh Harnett - who's been on a good run in Hollywood acting in blockbusters like Sin City and Pearl Harbour - is headed to Romania to shoot a new film called Bunraku, which he describes as taking place in a "weird kind of papier-mâché world...that doesn't look like anything like you've ever seen before." The Guy Moshe-directed film plans to utilize a "puppet / Oragami style" with puppeteers controlling 4-foot-tall puppets alongside computer-generated special effects. Look for Bunraku to hit theatres sometime in 2009.