Jim Hill
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Okay, that already sounds funny, doesn't it? But just wait 'til you see what's going on behind-the-scenes as this particular sequence in the "Muppet Movie Ride" attraction is being filmed. Our director (Indeed, the host of the entire attraction) is the Great Gonzo. Dressed in a beret and jodhpurs (with his trusty script girl -- Carmella the Chicken -- at his side), Gonzo shouts stage directions to his cast through a megaphone. Rizzo is sitting behind the camera, while Scooter works the boom mic.
This sequence's truly brilliant touch? Fozzie Bear is in charge of the sequence's special effects. But -- in true Fozzie fashion -- things aren't quite going according to plan. Fozzie holds the power cord from the studio's generator (which is evidently powered by two rats running inside an exercise wheel) in one paw and the extension cord that leads to all the electrical equipment in Bunsen's lab in the other. But every time the Bear tries to plug one cable into the other, someone on set accidentally throws the switch.
The consequences were supposed to be as dazzling as they were comical. Fozzie's eyes light up, his bow-tie spins around wildly and his fur stands on end as the electricity surges through his body. With smoke pouring out of his wiggling ears, the world's worst comic shouts "Wacka-wacka-wacka!" And our theater car rolls on into the next sequence for the ride ...
You get the idea here? Dozens of audio-animatronic Muppets looking just like they did on the TV shows or in the films. Only in three dimension -- cavorting just a few feet away from our theater car.
The idea of working with audio-animatronics really excited Jim Henson. To be honest, it was one of the main reasons that Jim decided to try & merge with Disney: The possibility of telling new stories with the Muppets that would make full use of all the snazzy theme park technologies that Walt Disney Imagineering had cooked up over the years.
Henson -- who'd always been a heavy-duty technology nut (Remember Waldo, the "Spirit of 3D" who's featured so prominently in "Jim Henson's MuppetVision 3D"? That computer generated character -- who's full name is Waldo C. Graphic, by the way -- was originally created for 1989's "The Jim Henson Hour." Jim pushed for the development of Waldo because he became fascinated with the entertainment possibilities that grew out of CGI characters interacting in real time with the traditional Muppet family) -- thought that using AA with the Muppets could move the fun to a whole new level.
Why? Well, listen to the explanation that Jim gave to "Disney News" back in the spring of 1990 as part of an interview with Disney publicist John McClintock. In particular, pay attention to how excited Henson sounds:
"This is a form of technology I've never been into before, and it's as if these characters were designed to be audio-animatronics," (Jim) now says enthusiastically. "When we try to do a live person or a cartoon character as an Audio-Animatronic figure, we're changing medium. We're trying to turn a person or a cartoon character into something plastic or fabric. But when we take puppets into Audio-Animatronics, we're staying in the same medium. These characters were created in these three-dimensional forms, so we should be able to use them in park attractions in a way that will still look very authentic."
After you read this, that's when you realize that "Jim Henson's MuppetVision" -- with its 20 or so Muppets that make appearances in the show through the magic of Audio-Animatronics -- was really just a test. A dry run, if you will, for all the fun stuff that Henson wanted to try & do on the Muppet Movie Ride. When Jim could create room after room full of Audio-Animatronic pigs, frogs and bears who were ready to do his zany bidding.
Speaking of which, let's get back to that description of sequences from the Muppet Movie Ride, shall we? After all, the sci-fi scene was sure to be a big hit with all you Miss Piggy fans out there.
Why for? Because that sequence in the proposed Disney / MGM attraction was going to take you on the soundstage where a big screen version of "Pigs in Space" TV show was being filmed. And our theater car was going to roll right through the middle of the set where the intrepid crew of U.S.S. Swinetrek was locked in mortal combat with a scurvy bunch of space pirates.
Sorry. Excuse me. I mis-spoke myself there. The above sentence has a teeny tiny typo. I didn't really mean to write "space pirates." I meant to type "space pie-rats."
Rats. As in Rizzo and all his relatives.
So picture -- on one side of the soundstage -- a full-sized version of the U.S.S. Swinetrek. Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork and Piggy -- all dressed in spacesuits & wearing clear plastic helmets -- stand on the exterior of their spaceship, laser pistols blazing away. On the other side of the soundstage ... Well, picture a space-going Spanish Galleon. Covered with rats who are dressed as -- well -- space pirates. Striped bandanas tied around their heads, cutlasses in their teeth. Also with laser pistols a-blazing.
Our theater car goes right through the thick of the battle. With laser blasts flying all over the place, rats swinging on ropes -- just out of reach over our heads -- as the rodents try to board the Swinetrek. It's a wild, wild scene.
And maybe even a little dangerous. For -- as we 'round the corner and head off to the next soundstage -- we see Statler & Waldorf in their golf cart. (These two elderly hecklers were supposed to have been a running gag for the Muppet Movie Ride. Literally. At various moments in the attraction, Statler & Waldorf were supposed to have rolled up next to our theater car, offered a few caustic comments, then zoomed off into the darkness again.) It seems that a stray shot from one of those laser pistol has sliced the curmudgeons' golf cart right down the middle. The only things that's now keeping the vehicle from falling apart is that Statler & Waldorf are now holding hands.
Funny, right? It gets better.