I have a soft spot for the Muppets and watched all The Muppet Show episodes when they originally aired. (Yes, can you believe it? I'm THAT old!) It sparked my love of Vincent Price and Alice Cooper, and Kermit will always be an inspiration to me as a business owner. Keeping the show going amidst daily chaos is my life! So of course I had to watch Muppets Haunted Mansion. It was cute, but not my favorite. Let me explain...
***WARNING SPOILERS***
We get a peek at all the Muppets at their yearly Halloween party, but this story focuses on The Great Gonzo and Pepe the King Prawn. Both are invited to a haunted mansion on the 100th anniversary of the disappearance of The Great MacGuffin, one of Gonzo's heroes. It's the most haunted mansion in the world and Gonzo is up for the challenge! Pepe on the other hand, is there to party and meet celebrities. No one ever comes back from the party but Gonzo is confident that they will. After all, he's been shot of of so many cannons, this will be easy since he's fearless and "great".
It's based on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride and it references the ghosts from the ride and even how the ride always malfunctions, but you don't need to be familiar with it to understand what's going on. There's lots of ghost puns, a screaming goat, celebrities scattered throughout, and even two Muppet pigs referencing the Grady twins from The Shining that say "Come play with us forever..."
Everyone that comes to the mansion gets trapped by their fears. Gonzo gets trapped in a room where he sees himself grow old, he misses his friends, and worries that no one will care about him if he's not doing dangerous stunts. Pepe gets bewitched by a woman that wants to marry him to kill and eat him. While Gonzo faces his fear and is allowed to leave, Pepe gets drugged and stuck, but Gonzo goes back for him and they survive the night in the haunted mansion.
Clocking in at a little under and hour it definitely felt like a Muppets made for TV movie and not a movie movie. It was light, had a couple laughs, and meant for little kids. I give it 3 out of 5 Madame Pigeota crystal balls.
Here's the trailer...
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