Behind the scenes production
Return to the big screen
As a well-known group of figures of puppets in the United States, the “muppets” have been popular on the screen since they came out of the hands of Jim Hansen in the 1950s. The "Big Frog Muppet Show" in the late 1970s made it popular all over the world. Later, these puppets collectively participated in the performance of "Sesame Street". It's just that because of the development of CG technology in recent years, traditional puppet shows have gradually lost their charm and appeal to the audience, and have gradually faded out of the public eye. However, such a classic screen image will always return to the screen every other time, and these puppets are no exception.
In 2008, Jason Siegel and Nicholas Stoller, the two "muppet fans", had the idea of recalling the puppets on the big screen, so they contacted Disney's Christine Bull (Kristin Burr), they told Disney their idea of making a puppet movie. Subsequently, the Disney company set up a project for the film and asked them to write a "commercially valuable" script. After two years of writing and editing, they wrote a script containing plots of conspiracy theories, human love, and doll brothers. Needless to say, this script, which is both entertaining and emotional, is deeply loved by Disney. So the film "Muppet" officially entered the preparatory stage of shooting. It’s not enough to have a script. Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller need to find a reliable director. Entering the range of their choice is James Popin from the United Kingdom. Pobin has never made a feature film, but he is a master at making talk shows and TV series. The famous "Ali G Solo Show" and "String Flight" series came from his hands. Siegel sent an e-mail to Bobin, in which he simply asked: "Do you like puppets?" Bobin said: "It is such a simple sentence that made me the director of the film. Actually, Who can not like puppet shows? In the entire English-speaking world, these puppets are not only images on the screen, but also a cultural symbol. Whether for children or adults, for TV shows or Movie screens, these are the most precious treasures. I probably started watching these shows when I was 5 years old, and now when I am in my 30s, these puppets have intersection with me. How could I give up this directing movie? Where is the opportunity?"
In addition to having a soft spot for the theme of puppets, another reason that attracted James Popin to the crew is the non-CG production method of the puppets. James Popin said: "I don't like CG very much, because in the process of shooting a CG movie, I can't see the final effect of the film. The actors need to perform in front of the green screen, imagining that there is something in front of them. But the puppets are different. I can see such a small thing from the camera lens. For example, I can see the emotions of Comey Frog, the texture of Miss Pig’s clothes, and Foz. The fur of the bear can feel the emotions and feelings of these puppets. Such a feeling that allows me to enter the heart of the character is an experience that CG characters cannot bring. Moreover, the real puppets appear in front of the camera, letting me view the scene. With restrictions, this limitation creates a sense of space in the film, which is very important to me, because the lens of the film always gives the audience a certain sense of space. If it is a CG animation, you can rely on post-production to make the animation. The characters and the real actors are seamlessly matched, but this also makes the film lose its beauty."
Muppets, real people, music and humor
The two protagonists of the film are Amy Adams and Jason Segal, who have been in the limelight these years. They played a pair of boy and girl friends in the film. The other protagonists are naturally all kinds of puppets. They are dubbed by Eric Jacobson and Steve Whitmiller, who have contributed their voices to these puppets for more than 40 years behind the scenes. Speaking of working with the puppet, Amy Adams was very excited. She said: "It is really a wonderful experience to be able to work on a movie with the character I saw when I was a child, because I never imagined it. I can have this opportunity. Moreover, these puppets still look so cute, and they are still so energetic and infectious in the story. It is really exciting to see these puppets and the voice actors behind the scenes in person. "For the new version of the puppet movie, Steve Whitmiller said: "I am very pleased to see the characters from decades ago still being so loved by others. After all, we have participated in these roles. In the process of creation. Eric Jacobs and I are still doing the old work, dubbing the puppets. Although this is not new, we still love these puppets very much, they are like our family Generally cordial.” In addition to these puppets and voice actors, those who play small supporting roles and runaways in the film are all first-line Hollywood stars, such as Emily Blunt, Selena Gomez, Jack Black, Reese Cooper, Alan Akin, Ubi Goldberg, etc. Speaking of such a star lineup, James Popin said: "Thanks to the appeal of the puppets and the influence of Disney, these actors will come to the crew and play some roles with few lines. Their appearance makes the film full of It’s a pleasant surprise. Because in the final movie, you can not only see the puppets you saw when you were a kid, but also countless old actors and new generation star idols."
For puppet movies, the most important thing is music and humor. Because whether it is a TV show or a movie of the puppets, or their performance in Sesame Street, music and humor are always the magic weapon to win. Knowing this, Jason Siegel naturally did not dare to take these two elements lightly. He said: "The past puppet movies, strictly speaking, can be called musicals, and those beautiful songs are accompanied by them. A generation grows up. For example, the Rainbow Connection is enough to be considered a classic. So we hired James Popin, a director who has filmed musical comedies, to direct this film, with the purpose of allowing him to check the film on the music. . His kind of laughter, noisy style and performance of the puppets can be regarded as seamless.” Regarding the humorous elements and jokes of the film, Jason Segel said: “In previous puppet movies, Jokes always take up most of the time, but in this movie, jokes take the second place because we emphasized the development of the plot. Although the number is less than the original number, but in absolute numbers, the jokes are still not Less. And when we wrote the script, we paid attention to the style of the jokes, because this is a puppet movie, so the jokes we wrote are in the same style as the jokes in previous puppet shows, I think this is us Pay tribute to the previous puppet show." In the
trailer
, more than 120 puppets were used in the film.
·Because of some vulgar humor elements in the film, the film was classified into PG level by MPAA instead of the pollution-free G level. This is the second film in the Muppet series to be classified as PG. The previous one was "A Christmas Adventure with Dolls" in 2002.
·The original name of the film was called "The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time" (The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time). The current title of The Muppets, if translated literally, is called "Muppets."
·Miss Pig wears 12 sets of clothes in the film, which is more than any role, including the role of a real actor.
·The biggest doll in the film, Thog, is 9.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide (2.9 meters high and 1.2 meters wide).
The shoes that Miss Pig wore at the end of the film were made by Christian Louboutin, and the clothes were made by Zac Posen. Both of these are well-known designers in the contemporary fashion industry.
· The suit that Comey Frog wore when she met Miss Pig in Paris was made by the famous Brooks Brothers. This 200-year-old clothing store is one of the oldest clothing stores in the United States.
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