Muppets from Space

Muppets from Space is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Tim Hill (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Jerry Juhl, Joseph Mazzarino, and Ken Kaufman. The sixth theatrical film in "The Muppets" franchise, it is the first Muppets film to not be a musical and the first film since the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson to have an original Muppets-focused plot. It stars Jeffrey Tambor, F. Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Pat Hingle, Rob Schneider, Andie MacDowell, Josh Charles, Hulk Hogan, and Ray Liotta, alongside Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Bill Barretta, and Frank Oz. In the film, Gonzo attempts to discover his origins after having nightmares. After he and Rizzo the Rat are captured by government officials during his search, Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppet gang must save them.
The film was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1998 and released in the United States on July 14, 1999, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the last Muppets feature film to have the involvement of Oz prior to his retirement from Muppet performing the following year and Jerry Nelson prior to his own retirement, the last Muppet film written by Juhl prior to his death in 2005, the last Muppets film to be released theatrically until "The Muppets" in 2011 as well as the last theatrically released Muppet film before the franchise was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004.
Plot.
Gonzo has always been identified as a "whatever"; but, after having disturbing dreams of abandonment and rejection, including him being denied entry to Noah's Ark, he begins to realize just how alone he is in the world. One day, Gonzo tells Kermit that he is getting tired of being referred to as a "whatever". After an alien race appears to be trying to send him a strange mysterious message through his bowl of Kap’n Alphabet cereal, Gonzo realizes that he may not be so alone after all and later that evening, he climbs to the rooftop to watch the sky. Suddenly, he is struck by a bolt of lightning, which allows him to communicate with a pair of cosmic knowledge fish, who reveal his origins as an alien from outer space.
Unable to convince Kermit and his friends of the aliens' existence, Gonzo is lured by Agent Barker into the clutches of K. Edgar Singer of C.O.V.N.E.T., a top secret national security facility, whose mission is to investigate threats of extraterrestrial attacks, disguised as a cement factory. Singer is aware of the aliens' attempts to communicate and thinks that Gonzo is the key to convincing his superiors that aliens do exist. Gonzo and Rizzo are taken to C.O.V.N.E.T. by Agent Barker.
Rizzo's antics cause himself to be flushed down a tube by wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and ends up having to go through C.O.V.N.E.T.'s rat training and medical research held by Dr. Tucker, alongside other Muppet rats. After Miss Piggy interrogates Barker, she, Kermit, Fozzie, Pepe, and Animal go to rescue Gonzo and Rizzo from C.O.V.N.E.T., using inventions from Bunsen and Beaker such as a door in a jar, a rubber duck that emits temporary invisibility spray, and mind control gas.
An alien channeling his voice through a sandwich asks Gonzo where the alien ship can land, and Gonzo suggests a beach known by the name of Cape Doom, unaware that Singer's assistant Agent Rentro (Bobo the Bear) is listening. The gang arrives at the military base to rescue Gonzo and Rizzo. They use the invisibility spray to enter, but when Fozzie washes his hands upon exiting a restroom it wears off, attracting the attention of a female guard, who Animal chases away.
Meanwhile, Rizzo frees Gonzo from the dissection table while the other rats attack Dr. Phil Van Neuter, which is witnessed by Singer and General Luft. Luft feels that his time has been wasted and angrily leaves. Upon discovering from Rentro that Gonzo is heading for Cape Doom, Singer prepares the Subatomic Neutro-Destabilizer to use on the aliens. Rentro tells Singer that his car has been impounded because of unpaid parking tickets; they use the company car—a cement truck.
The Muppets rescue Gonzo, then go to Cape Doom where a crowd of alien-happy spectators await their arrival. After an hour-long wait, the ship comes to Earth and the aliens, who all resemble Gonzo, explain that many years ago they lost him, but now welcome him back into the fold. Singer shows up and tries to kill the aliens, ultimately failing to do so (Rentro having removed the weapon's battery) and is laughed at. Gonzo considers going into space with his long-lost family, but chooses to stay with the Muppets with his family's blessing. Singer is invited by the aliens to go with them and leaves as Earth's ambassador.
As the movie ends with the Muppets watching the stars from the roof, Gonzo tells Kermit he wonders why his family asked him to build a Jacuzzi. Pepe and Rizzo look at each other and chuckle, because they had pretended to be the aliens and asked him to do it earlier.
Cast.
Muppets performers.
Due to scheduling conflicts, Oz only provides the voices for his characters; on-set puppetry was provided predominantly by Peter Linz (Miss Piggy), John Kennedy (Fozzie Bear and Sam Eagle), and Rickey Boyd (Animal). In addition, Whitmire, Boyd, Kennedy, Linz, and Drew Massey made on-screen cameos as hippies at Cape Doom.
Production.
For the second time since "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996), Frank Oz was not available for most of the film's production. As a result, his characters were performed on set by other Muppet performers, with Oz later looping his voice in post-production. For most of the filming, Peter Linz, John Kennedy, and Rickey Boyd performed his characters, with Linz performing Miss Piggy, Boyd performing Animal and Kennedy performing Sam Eagle and Fozzie Bear. Kennedy and Linz's voices can be heard in some scenes used in the film's theatrical trailer.
"Muppets from Space" would mark the first appearance of Scooter since "Muppet*Vision 3D" (1991). His voice was performed by Adam Hunt, the brother of Scooter's initial performer Richard Hunt.
The film's visual effects were provided by Illusion Arts.
Writing.
An earlier draft of the story was written by Kirk Thatcher called "Muppets in Space". In the screenplay, aliens abducted Kermit because they believed him to be their leader, leading the other Muppets to attempt to save him. A set of Welch's Jelly Glasses were produced based around this theme. According to the production notes featured on the DVD, the film was inspired by Gonzo's song in "The Muppet Movie" (1979), "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday".
In a 2009 interview, co-writer Joseph Mazzarino revealed that he left the project before shooting started, due to changes made to his draft. Mazzarino stated that his draft included parodies of "Men in Black", "Contact" and "Alien", and that Randal Kleiser had been selected to direct the film. However, shortly before shooting began, The Jim Henson Company fired Kleiser from the project, as they felt he was not "bringing enough vision", with Mazzarino subsequently hiring Timothy Hill as the new director of "Muppets from Space", and the parodies from his draft were removed.
Mazzarino also disliked the revised ending of the film, and explained that in his draft Gonzo did not turn out to be an alien. Instead, the aliens were getting signals from episodes of "The Muppet Show" and made themselves to look like Gonzo, as they considered him to be the "ultimate being". In the end, they would reveal their true forms, and Gonzo would remain a "whatever", with his real family being the Muppets.
Music.
"Muppets from Space" was the first Muppet film to not feature original music, opting instead for a soundtrack consisting primarily of classic soul and funk tracks.
Some tracks were remade by contemporary artists, such as "Shining Star" by the Dust Brothers featuring Jeymes, and "Dazz" by G. Love and Special Sauce, recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. The band was in the studio recording with Little Milton on the "Welcome To Little Milton" record. The band got a call from Jason Brown, their manager, while in the studio, to record a song for the movie. Will McFarlane, who was a Shoals/Malaco studio regular, and former Bonnie Raitt guitarist, played with the band on the song. Parliament's "Flash Light" was updated by George Clinton as a duet with Pepe the King Prawn named "Flash Light (Spaceflight)".
Two soundtracks were released featuring music from the film. The first album, Muppets from Space: The Ultimate Muppet Trip, consisted of the classic soul and funk tracks featured in the film and was jointly released by Sony Wonder, Epic Records, and Sony Music Soundtrax a day before the film's premiere, while the other was an album containing the film's score, which was composed by Jamshied Sharifi with additional work by Rupert Gregson-Williams. This album was released by Varèse Sarabande on August 13, 1999.
Earlier drafts of the film contained original music, including the song "Eye 2 the Sky", written and recorded by Ween, which was not included on the soundtrack. This song was intended to be sung by Gonzo. Gonzo's performer Dave Goelz had also recorded a new rendition of "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" for this film, a song which had originally appeared in "The Muppet Movie". This song was also dropped, but was included on the "Muppets from Space" soundtrack, also sung by Gonzo.
Release.
Marketing.
To promote the film's theatrical release, "Muppets from Space" was accompanied with a marketing campaign with promotional tie-ins such as Wendy's and Travelodge. For the film's home video release, the pizza restaurant chain Sbarro promoted the film with six figurines in a set, along with Muppet pizza boxes and bags.
Home media.
On October 26, 1999, the film was released on VHS and DVD with supplemental features such as a blooper reel and an audio commentary by Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, and Rizzo. It was released alongside "The Muppets Take Manhattan" on a double feature DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on June 9, 2008. The film received a Blu-ray release on August 16, 2011 also alongside "The Muppets Take Manhattan", with all of the special features from the DVD included.
Reception.
Box office.
"Muppets from Space" was released on July 16, 1999 in 2,265 theaters and grossed $7 million during its five-day opening frame. At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $22.3 million worldwide against its $24 million budget, making it commercially unsuccessful.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 57 reviews, with an average score of 6.17/10. The site's consensus reads "If "Muppets from Space" lacks the magic and wit of its cinematic predecessors, this pleasingly silly space romp is funny and clever enough to make for better-than-average family entertainment."
Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film a two-star rating (out of four) and concluded his review by saying that "maybe "Muppets from Space" is just not very good, and they'll make a comeback. I hope so. Because I just don't seem to care much anymore." Conversely, Robin Rauzi of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film a positive review, stating that "twenty years after "The Muppet Movie" and 30 after the beginning of "Sesame Street", there is still life in these creations of felt, foam rubber and fake fur. With care, they will easily entertain and educate a third or fourth generation of children. The magic is back."
Michael Wilmington, reviewing for "The Chicago Tribune", praised the puppeteers' performances, but remarked "[t]his picture isn't goofy or dreamy enough, however engaging it may be to re-encounter the intrigues of Miss Piggy, the wistfulness of Kermit or the weirdness of Gonzo. Or relax into the period funk soundtrack (including the O'Jays' "Survival," Earth, Wind and Fire's "Shining Star" and many others)." Lawrence Van Gelder of "The New York Times" felt the "Frenetic movement and loud music overwhelm warmth and compassion, and the balance of character, plot, irreverent humor and innate decency that made some of the earlier Muppet movies so welcome is lost."
In a 2000 interview, Frank Oz described the film as not "up to what it should have been," and "not the movie that we wanted it to be."