And so, to eulogize.
Through all of my trips to Walt Disney World, the true constant for me has been MuppetVision 3D. I can only count a few attractions among the number that I’ve done every single time I have ever been there. This is one of those things.
I’ve always felt a bit of a kinship with these characters, one that I feel runs deeper than my connection with other IP. Kermit in particular always spoke to me, as the oldest child in a family of boys. I have always been just holding myself and everything together, and I think the Muppets speak to me on that deeper level. I was thrilled with the rebooted films, and now, with any screen time these characters get.
I have held for several years now that the best piece of Muppet media was this exact show. It doesn’t focus on some celebrity, or another special guest star. The only characters featured are the Muppet crew. I think this show is - was - unique in that aspect. It’s so tightly paced. As I watched the last show, I recited every memorized line by heart, and I still laughed. It’s that good. Precious few things still make me laugh when I know them that intimately.
Now, more than ever, the world needs kindness, strength, and humor. The kindness to do a favor for a friend who feels that they can’t do anything right. The strength to ignore hecklers and naysayers, to be yourself anyway. The humor to laugh at yourself, no matter where, no matter when, no matter how. MuppetVision 3D had all of that in spades, and more.
I hold out hope that this show is resurrected someday, in its full glory, in Sunset Showcase. It seems unlikely, but the possibility remains. Meanwhile, though, I will be satisfied with the memories that this show has given me. So thank you, to Jim Henson, to the Muppets, to the cast members who ran this show every day for three decades.
I would finish this by remarking what a cute ending tonight was, but that sells both the show and tonight short. Instead, I’ll say that this kind of foolishness is, and has long been, exactly the right kind of foolishness for myself and for so many others.
Goodnight, folks.