Celebrate Muppet Treasure Island's 25th Anniversary!

Shiver My Timbers! It's hard to believe, but Muppet Treasure Island turned 25 today. 

It grossed $34 million on a budget of $31 million having the biggest opening weekend gross for a Disney film in February. 

Muppet Treasure Island received generally positive reviews from critics:

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 70% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Though less Muppet-centric than the original trilogy, Muppet Treasure Island is an energetic, cheerful take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure, with typically solid gags." 

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "A-"

Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised the playfulness of the Muppets as keeping "the story amusingly off-kilter. The mood is perfectly in keeping with the notion of the Muppets as contemporary children dressing up and improvising their own versions of classic tales."

Ken Tucker, reviewing for Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a B+ noting that "the film is notably handsome in a dark, foreboding way. The Muppet action blends seamlessly with the human actors, and adults will be kept giggling with wittily anachronistic jokes about codependence, water-skiing, and Henry Kissinger."^[

Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four. While he was favorable to Tim Curry's performance, he summarized the film as being "less cleverly written, and for moi it's a near miss."

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four writing that the film was a "boring Muppet adventure that doesn't successfully meld the Muppets into a conventional buried-treasure story. I wanted the Muppets to play themselves rather than phony pirate-related characters."

The film has been released on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and most recently on Disney+.

In the UK version, lines which contain the word "bloody" have been redubbed:

Billy Bones' line "How does she bloody do that?" changed to "How does she bloomin' do that?"

Black Dog's line "Billy's dead and he hasn't got the bloody map." is redubbed "Billy's dead and he hasn't got the bloomin' map".

Long John's line "Where's the bloody treasure?!" became "Where's the blasted treasure?!"

To promote the film, Disney produced Muppet Sing Alongs: Muppet Treasure Island a direct to VHS special.

Muppet pirates Clueless Morgan, Mad Monty, and Polly Lobster are prominently featured in the video. Oly two songs from the movie are included, while seven new songs were created just for the release:

Sailing for Adventure
I'm a Little Pirate
There Was an Old Pirate
Old Bad Polly
I'm a Rock
Truffle Shuffle
Real Pirate
Cabin Fever
Let the Good Shine Out

Clueless Morgan and Polly Lobster were later featured several spots UK spots on Muppets Tonight where the pair work as bartenders seen through the eyes of the never seen cross-dressing, Mr. Callahan.

The Muppet Treasure Island Soundtrack features an instrumental score by Hans Zimmer with songs written by the husband and wife pop songwriting team Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann known for "On Broadway" Running with the Night" Somewhere Out There" "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and the theme to "Christmas Vacation." among many other hits. 

The film's ending includes the Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers song "Love Power" which was released as a single and music video:

McDonald's released a set of Happy Meal Toys, which we featured in a 2014  "Throwback Thursday."

Activision turned the film into a CD-ROM game for Windows PCs.

You can watch a complete walkthrough of the game below:

As part of their Muppet line, Palisade Toys released a few Muppet Treasure Island action figures including Kermit as Captain Smollett, Cabin Boy Gonzo and Rizzo, Sam Eagle as Samuel Arrow and even an exclusive Ghost Samuel Arrow figure.

There were also many other product tied to the film including plush dolls, View-Master Reels, plates, and bedroom sets!

Like Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island is also considered one of the best adaptations of the "Treasure Island" story. 

And, as the AV Club pointed out 25 years, later with many of us stuck inside due the pandemic, "Cabin Fever" has become an anthem of sorts. 

Finally, take a look at the Making of Muppet Treasure Island in this rarely seen Disney Channel special.

D23 is holding many Muppetational events this week to celebrate the milestone as well.

Today there's A two-part “Cabin Fever” Watch Party!

 

At 3PM EST Set sail with a special look behind the “seas” with a panel of some of the swashbuckling crew that brought this high-seas adventure to the big screen! Join Director Brian Henson, Puppeteers Dave Goelz and Bill Barretta, Jim Hawkins actor Kevin Bishop, and host Leigh Slaughter, Vice President of Muppets Studio, as they share stories about bringing Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic pirate tale to the screen in the most Muppetational way!

Then at 7PM EST join the Twtitter "Watch Party" by watching the film while following #D23MuppetMayhem

Happy 25th Anniversary Muppet Treasure Island!