Wocka Wocka Wocka

I will never stop loving the Muppets.

In point of fact, how could someone NOT love the Muppets? The jokes are witty, the songs are catchy, the stories make you a better, kinder person. The Muppets taught me that it's okay to be different, that laughter always helps, and that if you work together and stick with your friends, things will turn out just fine. I'm approaching finals week, have forty papers to grade for Monday and about 30 pages to write this weekend, I'm going Christmas shopping and have a lunch date tomorrow and am all stress-stress-stress all the time, but for a few hours tonight The Muppets just made me happy, for the first time in a few days.

The new movie is great. It really is. I consider myself a little bit of a Muppets connoisseur (read: huge nerd) and it was very enjoyable. It's actually a bit sad, because it's about the Muppets being split up and missing one another, which is something I've been feeling a lot recently about my friends from college, but they get together for one last show to save their theater. I won't tell you what happens (though you can probably guess..)! The celebrity cameos were hilarious as always (I was hoping for Steve Martin, but no luck), the songs were actually pretty good, and the jokes were plentiful. The new Muppet, Walter, is ADORABLE. His talent is whistling! I actually think this movie was aimed at original Muppets fans, because it was a lot about how people have forgotten the Muppets because, as the Bad Guy says, people want "a hard, cynical act for a hard, cynical world." Except we don't, of course. I went with five of my friends and it was such fun--we all ended up crying, too. And smuggled in a bunch of candy. Most people in the theater were probably my age, or older. And then we sang Mahna Mahna in the parking lot.

One of the many things I love about the Muppets is that they have such a wonderful combination of silliness, wittiness, and a bit of nostalgia. While I'll always love "Good grief, the Comedian's a Bear!" some of the songs mean more to me now that I'm older, like "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" from The Muppet Movie with lines like "It's not often you see a guy that green have the blues that bad," or "You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em. / There's something irresistible-ish about 'em. / We grin and bear it 'cause the nights are long. / I hope that something better comes along." The "Rainbow Connection" makes me tear up, and Statler and Waldorf always make me laugh.

The Muppets have been there for me throughout the years. When I get sad about missing home and have too much to write I listen to the songs and skits. The songs are awesome, in the movies and especially the shows, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" or Beverly Sills and "Pigoletto" (I mean, Pigoletto! that's awesome) or something low-key and sweet like Rowlf singing "Cottleston Pie". The Great Muppet Caper is my favorite of their movies, but I like them all. When I moved to Brooklyn, one of my friends got me The Muppets Take Manhattan as a housewarming present. The Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite Christmas movie. My ex-roommate sent me Muppets Yahtzee over the summer, and my old subaru was named Kermit.

Jim Henson died when he was 53, which is sad and too young for anyone to die, but as someone who spread such a message of hope and inclusion it somehow seems even more sad. But I'm so glad that his legacy is living on in the people who work on The Muppets now. At his funeral, Harry Belafonte sang "Turn the World Around," just as he did on the Muppet Show. I didn't really know this song before I listened to it awhile ago, but it really is perfect, and something that makes so much sense for Jim Henson.

I'm going to close now with a few of my favorite quotations from the Muppets, but before I do, let me just say: thank you, Muppets, for being such a happy part of my happy childhood, and still being around now that I'm a happy 24 year old.

Ah, a bear in his natural habitat. A Studebaker!

Fozzie: [going over check list] Wax lips?
Zoot: [checking his pockets] Man, I just had them!
Dr. Teeth: Did ya leave 'em in your other pants?
Zoot: I don't have no other pants!

Kermit (Bob Crachitt): Uh, if you please Mr. Scrooge, half an hour off hardly seems customary for Christmas Day.
Rats: No, no.
Scrooge: How much time off *is* customary?
Kermit: Why, uh... The whole day.
Rats: Yeah, yeah!
Scrooge: The *entire* day?
Rats: No, no. That's the frog's idea...

Kermit: Quiet! (everyone gets quiet except Janice)
Janice: Look, Mother. It's my life. OK. So if I want to live on a beach and walk around naked... Oh.

Rizzo the Rat: [falls down a chimney] Hey! I'm stuck! Get me out of here!
Gonzo: I knew you weren't suited for literature.

Life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending; we've done just what we've set out to do, thanks to the lovers, the dreamers, and you!