Sweedish Chef disappeared from Muppet Vision 3D

AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
brightlillstar said:
What do you mean by this?

How would a technological Muppet differ from any other animatronic?
Click to expand...

It seems I wasn't specific enough, as several got the wrong impression.

What I meant was, I don't want to see screen/videos of Muppets. I want to see real, moving Muppets - via AA's.

That was the great tragedy for theme parks when Henson died. If he had lived, we would have seen The Great Muppet Movie Ride, or something similar.

Basically, AA's have been used in two ways - one, to recreate live people (Great Movie Ride, etc.) and to bring 2-D animated characters (Pan, etc.) to life. Both of these have inherent limitations - no matter how "good" an AA of a "real life person" looks, they always have that slightly waxy appearance, and are obviously AA's (no matter how well done). With animated characters, you are taking a 2-D (even if the film was 3-D) vision and trying to make it in reality which also has mixed success.

With the Muppets, they are already "fake", i.e. they are made of fabric and other materials and they "exist" in the real world. Kind of like the difference between Jabba in the "Special Edition" of Star Wars, which was CGI, and Jabba in ROTJ (which was a huge puppet). Even though Jabba in ROTJ isn't as mobile, or have a full range of expression, he's more "real", because he actually existed as a physical object that if you had been there you could have touched (or, if you were Carrie Fisher, bent down behind with crew members to sniff illegal substances).

With the Muppets, they are already fully-realized physical beings, that would need NO transformation externally (i.e. they could still be made out of fabric, etc.) to be "alive" as AA's. Hollow one out, fit the electronics in, voila, it's an AA. Of course I am vastly oversimplifying it, but basically they won't have to translate the entire structure into an AA as they have with other AA creations.

I just wanna see the Muppets we know and love jump around and move and entertain us. ;)
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
I dont agree with removing muppet vision, restore it? yes. Remove it? No. Its funny, I think Muppet vision (for its age) is one of the least outdated attractions IMO because it was so well done. I would love to see a live muppet show as well but I really think it needs to be a 2nd attraction. The studios needs more family friendly attractions and the Muppets are a great choice.
Click to expand...

The reason I feel it's dated is the huge middle segment introducing the CGI character. It just has a very large focus. When you break it down, there is a significant chunk of that show that has nothing to do with the Muppets. I'd rather see a brand-new Muppet experience, with AA's, as I said above.

I really like the film, but the last few years that section feels like it's dragging like the English Patient, and I see others in the audience getting shifty in their seats. When "WOW A 3-D CGI CHARACTER!" was new, it was different. I guess at the least I'd like to see the film redone, minimizing him and adding more Muppet-y goodness.
 
Tom

Tom

Beta Return
AEfx said:
It seems I wasn't specific enough, as several got the wrong impression.

What I meant was, I don't want to see screen/videos of Muppets. I want to see real, moving Muppets - via AA's.

That was the great tragedy for theme parks when Henson died. If he had lived, we would have seen The Great Muppet Movie Ride, or something similar.

Basically, AA's have been used in two ways - one, to recreate live people (Great Movie Ride, etc.) and to bring 2-D animated characters (Pan, etc.) to life. Both of these have inherent limitations - no matter how "good" an AA of a "real life person" looks, they always have that slightly waxy appearance, and are obviously AA's (no matter how well done). With animated characters, you are taking a 2-D (even if the film was 3-D) vision and trying to make it in reality which also has mixed success.

With the Muppets, they are already "fake", i.e. they are made of fabric and other materials and they "exist" in the real world. Kind of like the difference between Jabba in the "Special Edition" of Star Wars, which was CGI, and Jabba in ROTJ (which was a huge puppet). Even though Jabba in ROTJ isn't as mobile, or have a full range of expression, he's more "real", because he actually existed as a physical object that if you had been there you could have touched (or, if you were Carrie Fisher, bent down behind with crew members to sniff illegal substances).

With the Muppets, they are already fully-realized physical beings, that would need NO transformation externally (i.e. they could still be made out of fabric, etc.) to be "alive" as AA's. Hollow one out, fit the electronics in, voila, it's an AA. Of course I am vastly oversimplifying it, but basically they won't have to translate the entire structure into an AA as they have with other AA creations.

I just wanna see the Muppets we know and love jump around and move and entertain us. ;)
Click to expand...

YES! And this is a step better than what I was saying, because they wouldn't have to pay puppeteers.

It would be an opportunity for them to interweave their "living character" type shows (Crush, Monsters) with actual AA's instead of video. They could do The Muppet Show, and then certain characters would have voice actors backstage for interaction with the audience.

For example, Kermit would be pre-recorded and always do the same thing (introduce the show, characters, etc), ala Mike in Monsters. Then, throw in some ancillary characters whose voices don't have to be PERFECT and they can be puppets or "live" AAs with voice actors. They can do jokes, talk to audience members, etc.

SO much potential with the Muppet franchise. That's a brand that they're seriously under-utilizing. They're not going to make a comeback with a bad TV movie, and then one Christmas movie 5 years later. Put them on ABC (since Disney owns it). Bring back the Muppet show, since there's no evening family TV anymore. Put something exciting in the parks.
 
brightlillstar

brightlillstar

Member
AEfx said:
The reason I feel it's dated is the huge middle segment introducing the CGI character. It just has a very large focus. When you break it down, there is a significant chunk of that show that has nothing to do with the Muppets. I'd rather see a brand-new Muppet experience, with AA's, as I said above.

I really like the film, but the last few years that section feels like it's dragging like the English Patient, and I see others in the audience getting shifty in their seats. When "WOW A 3-D CGI CHARACTER!" was new, it was different. I guess at the least I'd like to see the film redone, minimizing him and adding more Muppet-y goodness.
Click to expand...


So just animatronics of Muppets. A la Statler and Waldorf? I think that could be fun.

ETA: I'm really not into the "Spirit of 3D" thing. I agree it could use a more Muppety refurb
 
bigm23

bigm23

New Member
Working.

Just returned from our trip and was worried he wouldn't be working after reading all the things. Everything in the Muppets was working including the chef and cannon.
 
216bruce

216bruce

Well-Known Member
We were there last weekend (10th-13th) and the chef was working fine as were the penguins. The print of the film looked pretty good too. Everything seemed to be working OK except for a stray light that seemed mis-aimed or mis-programmed up by Bean Bunny's theater box. No big deal and first timers/non-nitpickers wouldn't notice it.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom