Muppets Haunted Mansion: A Festa Aterrorizante

Muppet Christmas Carol is my favourite movie of all time and I absolutely love the Muppets (and the Haunted Mansion is one of my favourite Disneyland rides) so I was both excited and nervous to watch this special.

I really enjoyed the first half -- the songs are fun and quite catchy, there are some pretty good moments and jokes (the goat's appearances made me laugh out loud) but the second half was really strange and creepy -- and not in a fun way. It definitely doesn't deliver the same level of pure joy as Muppet Christmas Carol but, to be fair, that is a high bar to meet.

Also, not enough Rizzo.

(I also miss Steve Whitmire's performances but sounds like they're better off without him, here's a paragraph from Wikipedia on his dismissal: "Brian Henson stated that issues with Whitmire began in the mid-1990s, and said that Whitmire would make "outrageous demands and often played brinkmanship", and additionally stated that Whitmire would "send emails and letters attacking everyone, attacking the writing and attacking the director". He also expressed guilt for not dismissing Whitmire and recasting Kermit before selling the Muppets to Disney in 2004, because "I knew that it was going to be a real problem". Lisa Henson stated that Whitmire was opposed to having an understudy for Kermit and refused to train one, which became problematic when it came to "B-level performances, such as a ribbon-cutting," at some of which she said he was unwilling to appear. She also stated that he "blackballed young performers" by refusing to appear in shows with them.")

I was disappointed when I learned they were not going to capitalise on the fact that the parks were closed due to Covid, which would have been the perfect opportunity to film inside of the actual mansion at Disneyland. I was hoping for more of a backstage feel of the actual attraction featuring the muppets.

Overall this was cute and entertaining. The songs were good and the puppetry was alright. Unfortunately these later Muppet outings will never live up to what the original artists could deliver. Doubt that? Go and watch the original The Muppet Show, or The Muppet Movie. In this case, Kermit was all wrong. His voice was so far off as to be almost unrecognizable. Bring back Steve Whitmire! At least his Kermit voice was close to Jim Hensons. Miss Piggy was also off, not just the voicing, her character was missing all of its nuance. At least we had Dave Goelz there for Gonzo.

Matt Vogel might actually be the worst thing to happen to Kermit the Frog. Jacksfilms on Youtube does a better Kermit voice and he did it as a parody 🙄, Disney really isn't listening and neither is Jim Henson's son who clearly has have no respect for Henson's legacy.

Not the greatest output by our furry friends but it killed an hour and kept the kids quiet.

I'm aware the voice actor for Kermit has changed but I didn't realise we were now having to just ignore the fact it sounds like Kermy permanently has a cold.

I can actually do the voice better. Disney, if you're reading this, I'm happy to talk....