Muppet Treasure Island (1996) was directed by Brian Henson. It's based (obviously) on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Tim Curry plays Long John Silver, and does a good--and serious--job of it. Kermit the Frog plays Captain Smollett, and he too does a good--and serious--job of it.
The film doesn't work too well. Unlike The Rocky Horror Picture Show--also starring Tim Curry--it never became a cult classic, and it never became a children's favorite either. Incidentally, although it's supposed to just be good fun, it's relatively violent, and I think it would frighten younger kids.
I know this film was produced 20 years ago, but there are actually parts about the religion of the inhabitants of the island that are stereotyped and not funny. (OK--they are spoofing the religions of Oceania, and Treasure Island is in the Caribbean. Still, I don't think they'd put those scenes into the movie today.)
Believe it or not, what saves the film is the fact that Treasure Island is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. The Muppets don't really graft onto it well. There's Muppet mayhem, and then director Henson remembers that he needs to move the plot forward, so things happen, and then there's more Muppet mayhem. I loved the Muppets, and I still do. However, Treasure Island just isn't their place.
One problem is that the film doesn't work well on the small screen. There are many "big production numbers" (as Kermit would say), and there are so many Muppet figures on the screen that they just look like a moving mass. Maybe, on the large screen, it would work better.
P.S. We found Muppet Treasure Island on a home-made VHS cassette in a cabinet we rarely use. It's apparently been sitting there for 20 years, waiting for us to watch it. Now, of course, we'd buy it on DVD. But that was 1996, and DVD's had just been invented a year earlier.
The film doesn't work too well. Unlike The Rocky Horror Picture Show--also starring Tim Curry--it never became a cult classic, and it never became a children's favorite either. Incidentally, although it's supposed to just be good fun, it's relatively violent, and I think it would frighten younger kids.
I know this film was produced 20 years ago, but there are actually parts about the religion of the inhabitants of the island that are stereotyped and not funny. (OK--they are spoofing the religions of Oceania, and Treasure Island is in the Caribbean. Still, I don't think they'd put those scenes into the movie today.)
Believe it or not, what saves the film is the fact that Treasure Island is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. The Muppets don't really graft onto it well. There's Muppet mayhem, and then director Henson remembers that he needs to move the plot forward, so things happen, and then there's more Muppet mayhem. I loved the Muppets, and I still do. However, Treasure Island just isn't their place.
One problem is that the film doesn't work well on the small screen. There are many "big production numbers" (as Kermit would say), and there are so many Muppet figures on the screen that they just look like a moving mass. Maybe, on the large screen, it would work better.
P.S. We found Muppet Treasure Island on a home-made VHS cassette in a cabinet we rarely use. It's apparently been sitting there for 20 years, waiting for us to watch it. Now, of course, we'd buy it on DVD. But that was 1996, and DVD's had just been invented a year earlier.