It’s no secret that Disney has had a Muppets problem since acquiring them in 2004. Whether it’d be the films that have not aged well or the disastrous foray into primetime television, or, sadly, the fun yet forgettable Disney+ vehicle – nothing Disney has done with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, or The Great Gonzo has every really stuck.
The main reason for this is that Disney has been trying to tell the same story with The Muppets for 17 years. The film (excluding Muppets Most Wanted) and TV shows all seem to be some sort of reboot or relaunch of The Muppet Show, complete with cavalcade of celebrity cameos and an unending amount of eye-rolling dad joke level pop culture references.
Yet, there’s one tried and true Muppets formula Disney had not employed until this month, when they premiered Muppets Haunted Mansion on Disney+ – dropping The Muppets in an existing IP and letting them run wild in it. Like The Muppets Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island before it, Muppets Haunted Mansion pays loving homage to all the hallmarks and tenets of the iconic Disney attraction.
The premise finds Gonzo the Great and Pepe the Prawn heading to The Haunted Mansion to attend a Halloween challenge where they must survive the night at the house where the late magician MacGuffin was last seen. Upon being dropped off by their driver (Yvette Nicole Brown, Community), they are warned by a gravedigger (Darren Criss, Glee) not to enter or disturb the ghosts, unless they want to end up as permanent guests. The two disregard the warning and enter the house and are met by their host (Will Arnett, The LEGO Batman Movie), who sets them off on a spooky odyssey through the ghost-filled mansion.
The rest of the movie finds Gonzo and Pepe encountering all the classic scary moments in the ride – the stretching room, Madame Leota (played by Miss Piggy), the ghost banquet (featuring most of The Muppets as ghosts), the singing statues (which includes Pat Sajak and Craig Robinson), various ghosts (including Alfonso Ribeiro, the late Ed Asner, Danny Trejo, Chrissy Metz, Sasheer Zamata, and Jeannie Mai), and the ax-wielding Constance Hatchaway (Taraji P. Henson). The homages to the ride are seamlessly incorporated, shedding the desperation to make jokes fit, as in previous Muppet efforts. There’s even an incredible jump scare involving a celebrity cameo that really catches you off guard.
The use of Gonzo and Pepe as the stars of the special works way better than trying to shove every Muppet to the forefront, a mistake made in all of the most recent Muppet adaptations. Allowing two characters to do most of the dramatic and comedic heavy lifting while the other Muppets pop in for fun cameos is much more effective storytelling. The human actors are given actual roles here instead of appearing as themselves, geeking out over being in a Muppet vehicle, which is a nice change of pace as well.
This reviewer will avoid making bold proclamations about Muppets Haunted Mansion being the film that puts the Muppets back on the pop culture map and makes generations of new fans. It didn’t happen with the movies, the sitcom, or Disney+ series. What can be said about Muppets Haunted Mansion is this – it’s an entertaining Halloween special that can easily be revisited every spooky season for an hour of laughs and fun.
