Yet Another Parody Trailer From A Beloved Source

September 15, 2011 4:37 PM

The Pig With The Froggy Tattoo

Subject Of Parody.

posted by hippybear (27 comments total)

I wonder how much longer they're going to be able to keep this going. The original puppeteers are dying, variously of diseases and simple old age. They managed to find a new voice for Kermit, but when Frank Oz inevitably dies, can anyone else really do Piggy? Oz is 67.

Meanwhile, the voice of Scooter died of AIDS in 1992. The Count is still alive, but he's 77. Big Bird is 77. Gonzo is 65. Floyd Pepper is 77. Or their voices are, anyway.

Will we maybe get a "next generation", the way Warner Brothers did it with Buster and Babs Bunny et. al.?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:49 PM on September 15, 2011

The Count is still alive, but he's 77

He's a vampire though so it's like he hasn't aged a day
posted by Hoopo at 4:51 PM on September 15, 2011 [5 favorites]

Will we maybe get a "next generation", the way Warner Brothers did it with Buster and Babs Bunny et. al.?

Except Tiny Toons never really had any of the same spirit or whatever that the original Looney Tunes had. If there's a true successor to the old school WB cartoons, it is Animaniacs and the associated characters.
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on September 15, 2011 [4 favorites]

I thought this stuff was supposed to be for children. I'm confused.
posted by Roachbeard at 4:55 PM on September 15, 2011

Chocolate Pickle, Eric Jacobson has been doing Miss Piggy since 2001 on a pretty much full-time basis, I believe.

As hard as it is to imagine, there really are people out there who can do those voices that well.

And to say that they "managed" to find Whitmire when his pre-Kermit characters were also charming and wonderful (<3<3<3 Wembley) is kind of ridiculous.

The Muppets are going to be fine.
posted by gracedissolved at 4:57 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Muppets are for everyone.
posted by mikeh at 4:57 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

WOCKA

WOCKA

WOCKA

...so glad to know how that's spelled for real. I'd always spelled it "Wakka" like Pac Man.
posted by not_on_display at 5:03 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just yesterday, holding the door open for my kitties as they came in for supper, I found myself saying, "One cat... two cats!"

The news that Big Bird is 77 makes me deeply sad.
posted by Trurl at 5:04 PM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

I thought this stuff was supposed to be for children. I'm confused.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? Yeah, I think so. It's like a Harry Potter kind of story. I haven't read it, but my six-year-old cousin is just TEARING through the books, so I guess whatever keeps the kids reading is good for them.
posted by Greg Nog at 5:05 PM on September 15, 2011 [4 favorites]

The scene in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo where the rapist gets kick-fucked with a dildo really hearkens back to the best traditions of Louisa May Alcott and Judy Blume.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 5:08 PM on September 15, 2011 [4 favorites]

I thought this stuff was supposed to be for children. I'm confused.

If you're smart (or at least, you're in marketing), when you're doing a reboot or remake of an existing property, you aim it squarely at everyone who is going to be nostalgic for it, because all the grownups will go and the ones that have kids will make them see it.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 5:09 PM on September 15, 2011

Senor Cardage, please add a spoiler tag for those who haven't read SuperFudge yet.
posted by Greg Nog at 5:10 PM on September 15, 2011 [16 favorites]

Chocolate Pickle: The Count is still alive, but he's 77.

Seventy seven SCINTILLATING years old, hah hah hah hah!
posted by Western Infidels at 5:15 PM on September 15, 2011 [6 favorites]

Senor Cardage, please add a spoiler tag for those who haven't read SuperFudge yet.

Either way, an ending was certainly ruined.
posted by hal9k at 5:15 PM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Pleasebegoodpleasebegood.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:36 PM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Count is still alive, but he's 77.

Christ, now it's gonna take me all evening to count that high with the proper intonation.
posted by cmoj at 5:46 PM on September 15, 2011 [6 favorites]

Oooh, ooh, I just thought of a joke:

Where does Mexican Fozzie Bear live?

Oaxaca, Oaxaca.


I'm here all week, please try the mole.
posted by pmcp at 5:52 PM on September 15, 2011 [16 favorites]

If there's a true successor to the old school WB cartoons, it is Animaniacs...

Ugh, no. A superficial similarity with almost none of the fluidity, heart or humor of the original.
posted by DU at 6:33 PM on September 15, 2011

DU: well, I don't necessarily agree with your assessment...

but they're a hell of a lot closer in spirit than Tiny Toons.
posted by hippybear at 7:02 PM on September 15, 2011

That's possible.
posted by DU at 7:38 PM on September 15, 2011

That Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trailer is just so fantastic. I'm happy this exists because it's fun AND because it'll draw more attention to the original. My favorite trailer since A Serious Man (guess I'm a sucker for editing on the beat.) The buzzing riffs at the end in shaking with bass in the movie theatre were better than whatever movie I was seeing I'm sure.

Seriously, make intriguing trailers Hollywood! INTRIGUE ME! Don't show me 75% of the plot, just intrigue me!
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:47 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

INTRIGUE ME! Don't show me 75% of the plot, just intrigue me!

I saw this film, Michael, last night and it was awesome. It's Austrian and by first-time director Markus Schleinzer. The trailer is pretty intriguing, I think, and basically the first two minutes or so of the film cut down to 1:30.
posted by dobbs at 8:41 PM on September 15, 2011

This made my day. MADE. MY. DAY.

wocka.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 8:51 PM on September 15, 2011

I really love that Muppet trailer, and they simply must make the song available for purchase.

As for the aging of their creators, I don't know.... I'm sure there's an entire generation of dedicated and talented puppeteers who grew up with the Muppets and have just as much respect for the Muppets as any fan does, so perhaps replacements will be found. They certainly won't be the same Fozzie or Big Bird or Count, but they can still stay true to the spirit of the original. We shall see. The only real thing to fear is that Disney (who I think still owns the Muppets) decides to meddle in the process and screws up the whole thing.

The trailer being parodied, as an aside, gives me a headache and makes me less likely to watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I'm sure David Fincher will lose plenty of sleep once he finds out.
posted by MShades at 4:50 AM on September 16, 2011

I don't know if there's a previously on the Fincher remake, but the trailer looks AWESOME. Hopefully, the entire movie will be overlaid with Karen O doing The Immigrants Song.
posted by whuppy at 5:35 AM on September 16, 2011

Christ, now it's gonna take me all evening to count that high with the proper intonation.

Sewunty-Sewun! Ah ah ah!
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:47 AM on September 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

they simply must make the song available for purchase

Yes, I would buy that song, especially if it were expanded to a full-length piece.
posted by hippybear at 12:59 PM on September 16, 2011