Word: muppeteers
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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None of this works. Kane talks through her nose, and Beckley overacts. Dewhurst is physically far more formidable than her assailant and so does not seem menaced. Durning, a mild fat man who was perfectly cast as the comic villain in The Muppet Movie, jiggles too much when he runs to be credible as an implacable avenger. Moss grew years ago on Director Fred Walton's spooky trips...
MOST effective are David Claris's colorful puppets, which represent most of the characters. Members of the company wave the muppet-like Rhinemaidens about in time to the music, and open their mouths as they "sing"--even "swimming" a little bit higher for the really high notes. Life-size dummies manipulated by two actors apiece "play" Siegmund and Sieglinde about as well as most opera singers; the hand gestures and postures brilliantly satire the declamatory incompetence of most heldentenors and dramatic sopranos...
...MUPPET MOVIE...
...wobbly way, as Kermit, the fast-talking fabric amphibian of TV's wildly successful Muppet Show, heads toward Hollywood to answer a Variety ad that seeks "all frogs wishing to become rich and famous." He collects many of his Muppet pals along the way-Fozzie, the apologetic bear: Gonzo, the not quite turkey; Miss Piggy, the karate queen in the lavender gloves; Dr. Teeth and his Electric Mayhem band; Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, the melon-brained mad scientist, and his twittering assistant Beaker. A human villain tries to kidnap Kermit to shill for his chain of French-fried frogs...
Statler and Waldorf, the old geezers who heckle the TV show, pop up long enough for Statler to say, "I've seen detergents that leave better films than this." This is too harsh, though even an addicted Muppet fan must admit that the movie has draggy stretches. The transition from the yank-'em-off-if-they-bomb lunacy of the TV show to the coherent narration of the film is not a complete success. Muppet magic remains a bewildering succession of wonderful bits, and perhaps the movie's best occurs when Rowlf...