RIP Tim Curry (1946 - 2026)

We lost another legend as Tim Curry has passed away.

Curry memorably played Long John Silver in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island a role he reprised for the CD-ROM game. 

It's been said that while Michael Cain treated The Muppets as fellow actors for The Muppet Christmas Carol, Tim Curry considered himself a fellow Muppet for Muppet Treasure Island.

At the conclusion of filming, Curry was given a Muppet caricature of himself as a gift, which you can see here.

He also provided voices for a number of characters in the Henson series Dinosaurs. 

He also actor contributed a Lemon-Stuffed Roasted Chicken recipe for Miss Piggy's cookbook, "In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy" and narrated A Sesame Street Christmas Carol.

 

In 1998, Curry starred in Madness Reigns, an unaired pilot produced by the Jim Henson Company, playing an exiled king. 

His numerous film credits include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Annie, Clue, Legend, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Stephen King’s It TV movie, and the 2000 feature film adaptation of Charlie's Angels.

He also provided voices for FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris, and The Wild Thornberrys Movie. 

His stage credits range from The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance to Spamalot.

But to us he'll always be "Professional Pirate" Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. 

You can read more about Timm Curry at Variety.

Tim Curry was 80.

RIP Drew Struzan (1947 - 2025)

Drew Struzan, the legendary poster artist behind many of the the Muppet theatrical films died yesterday. 

Struzan created the artwork for The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper.

A letter from Jim Henson posted on Drew Struzan’s website compliments him on his work:

We wanted to take a moment to let you know how knocked out we are with the painting for The Great Muppet Caper! You captured the essence of the Muppets and the excitement of the film and we congratulate you.

He also illustrated The Muppet Show Colorforms, the Muppet Home Video logo, the Tales from Muppetland VHS, BETA, Laser disc and CED covers, a set of McDonald' s Great Muppet Caper posters, and the Fisher-Price Muppet tray puzzles. 

Drew went on to illustrate the posters for The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Muppet Treasure Island as well. 

Struzan was also known for creating the iconic posters for Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Thing, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and countless others. 

Earlier this year his wife revealed that he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for an unspecified amount of time. 

The documentary Drew: The Man Behind the Poster included a 4-minute segment focused entirely on Struzan's work with the Muppets and Jim Henson which you can see below.

 

You can read more about his life at Variety.

Drew Struzan was 78.

RIP Cynthia Weil (1940 - 2023)

Songwriter Cynthia Weil has died.

The Grammy winner frequently collaborated with her husband Barry Mann and wrote / cowrote numerous hits including The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of this Place," The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin," and "You're My Soul and Inspiration," The Crystals' "Uptown," and Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again."

Her song for George Benson, "On Broadway,"On Broadway" was used on Kermit Unpigged:

 

Leslie Uggams sang her tune "Here You Come Again" with Lew Zealand (and his boomerang fish) on The Muppet Show:

 

But The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers biggest contribution to the Muppets, was writing the songs for 1996's Muppet Treasure Island which you can watch below. 

"Sailing for adventure"

   

"Something Better"

 

"Professional Pirate"

 

You can read more about her life via Variety. 

Cynthia Weil was 82.

Rare Muppet Clips Vol 4 #1!

We're back with another batch of rare Muppet performances.

Again, we do not own these clips, nor do we make any guarantees to how long they'll be available, so watch them while you can!

Dani Behr Interviews Kermit and Gonzo about Muppet Treasure Island (1996):

Canadian Sesame Street Intro (1991):

   

Target Commercial featuring Kermit and Miss Piggy (1993):

   

The celebrity version of  "Sing":

   

The Muppet Show Danny Kaye original ATV UK ending (1978):

The Muppet Show with Danny Kaye originally aired in the UK on Christmas Day December 25, 1978. The original ending includes a different Statler and Waldorf box gag singing ''We Wish You a Merry Christmas'' with Kermit and the gang joining along with the song.

The UK version also includes Kermit and Fozzie (portrayed as Santa Frog and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reinbear) promoting a James Bond film ''Diamonds Are Forever'' and a Morecombe and Wise Christmas Special that aired next in selected ITV regions.

    

We hope you enjoyed these rare Muppet clips. Join us next time as we present more rare Muppet videos. 

Rare Muppet Clips Vol 3 #5!

We're back with another batch of rare Muppet performances.

Again, we do not own these clips, nor do we make any guarantees to how long they'll be available, so watch them while you can! 

A Muppet Family Christmas nickelodeon promo: 

Kermit and Gonzo on Kermit's relationship with Miss Piggy (1996)

Kermit the Frog on Miss Piggy (1996):

 

 Miss Piggy interview on Kermit the Frog (2005):

 

BBC News' Christian Fraser Interviews Rowlf (Sep 2021):

The Making of The Muppet Christmas Carol:

We hope you enjoyed these rare Muppet performances. Join us next time as we present more rare Muppet clips! 

Rare Muppet Clips Book 2 Vol 6!

We're back with another batch of rare Muppet performances. 

Again, we do not own these clips, nor do we make any guarantees to how long they'll be available, so watch them while you can! 

CBS Read More About It: Tuesday Movie No Show (January 1986):

Read More About it segment from January 1986 that followed the Muppets' 30th Anniversary Special. Following this was Pre-Emption Tag for the CBS Tuesday Night Movies..

Rowlf "The Salesman" IBM Film (1966):

Siskel and Ebert Review Muppet Treasure Island (1996):

 

Below is the director's cut pilot for the unproduced series Muppets Spotlight (Early 200's):

Finally, to celebrate it's 40th anniversary here is The Great Muppet Caper's original theatrical trailer (1981):

We hope you enjoyed these rare Muppet performances. Join us next time as we present more rare Muppet clips! 

Watch Kevin Bishop On The Barretta Brothers

Last Sunday The Barretta Brothers welcomed Kevin Bishop, best know to Muppet fans as Muppet Treasure Island's Jim Hawkins.

 

Explore all the adventure below: 

Melissa's Voyage to Muppet Treasure Island: A 25th Anniversary Tribute!

Muppet Treasure Island: 25th Anniversary Tribute

By: Melissa Scopelitis

Last week marked the 25th anniversary of Muppet Treasure Island. On June 27th, 1995, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the UK set at Shepperton Studios by Muppet performer, Steve Whitmire.

 A few days earlier, I had graduated high school, and for my graduation gift, my father and I were going to be traveling to London for the first time. It was my first time on a plane, first time overseas, this was a big deal within itself. I had been corresponding with Steve throughout the filming as we were email pals for about 4 years at that point, he knew I was (and still am) obsessed with Tim Curry who was playing Long John Silver, and eventually, the conversation led to “well since you’re going to be in town anyway…” and the invite came. I could not believe it!! I was going to visit not just an actual film set, but a MUPPET film set!!

Fast forward to the actual day of, we had received a fax from Steve sent to our hotel that morning, with a cute little illustration of Kermit in Captain Smollett gear and instructions on what to do once we got to the studio gates. I still have the fax. My father and I had figured out based on some directions Steve had supplied, on how to navigate the British tube and railway system as we were staying in London, and get out to Shepperton, which was a good hour train ride outside of there. 

As a side note, random memory: I remember at one point, a good bulk of the crowd on the train got off at one stop for the Wimbledon tennis tournament. We arrived to the set and told security we were there to meet Steve. I think at first, we were just led onto a soundstage where some rehearsing was going on. We saw the huge Hispanola ship, and the elevated sets which in itself was very impressive. 

Finally, Steve came to greet us. This was our first time actually meeting in person. From there, we were given a tour of the various soundstages and the onset Muppet workshop where they were building the puppets and props. We got to meet Kevin Clash again who we met a few years earlier on the set of Sesame Street in NY. It was my first time meeting Bill Barretta, who later that afternoon had joined us for lunch in the cafeteria on set. We got to attend a screening of the dailies from that day, which is basically all the raw footage shot earlier that day, so there was some fun outtakes and bloopers we got to see.

Honestly, there’s a lot of details from that day that are hard to remember as it was 25 ½ years ago, I was 17, and am now 43. So I’ll give you my 3 major highlights of the day: One was Steve introducing us to Tim Curry, who I had met once prior in 1993 in NYC, after a play he did that ran for a brief time, which we talked about and Tim joked about. Tim was very warm and receptive, chatted with us for a few minutes, I did the fan girl thing of asking him for an autograph and getting a photo. Tim is such a good guy, he instructed my father to take a second shot “for safety” he said, because back then I was still using a regular 35mm film camera, not digital, and Tim wanted to make sure I got my photo. 

The next highlight was getting to meet Kermit the Frog. Steve had found a spare Kermit aka not in his MTI costume to grab for the photo. Steve told me to look at the camera and he would pose Kermit for me. I just remembered out of my peripheral vision seeing Kermit’s long skinny fingers slowly stretching over my shoulder. Steve did a bit of chat with me as Kermit, and I totally get now why guest stars, etc. talk just to the puppet, because I did the same thing, even reaching to shake Kermit’s hand that Steve was not manipulating forgetting oh yeah, he can’t move that on his own! The third highlight, was we got to witness the cast and crew presenting Tim Curry and Kevin Bishop with their own Muppet versions of themselves.

The Tim puppet as fans know, later showed up as part of the extras on one of the DVD releases of the film later on. It was a real treat to see their reactions, and at one point, Tim who went off to have a cigarette break in between filming, walked past us and asked “Did you see the puppet?” as he chuckled in disbelief that he now had his own mini-me version. In regards to those puppets, when I later on became an intern for the NY Muppet workshop as a college senior in 1999, I saw the original puppet patterns for the Tim Curry puppet.

I also later sent some of my on set photos to Kevin Bishop who was truly touched and so happy I captured those moments on film and shared them with him, even though they’re a bit dark as we were allowed to take photos, but were not allowed to use flash. Kevin told me he put them in his home office, which I’m delighted and very moved by that he loved them that much.

 

At this point we got to watch some of the rehearsal of the sword fight scene between Kermit and Tim Curry. And then sadly, it was time to go shortly after as we wanted to make sure we got our train back to London. Steve signed my little autograph book for me, and presented me with a MTI crew only baseball cap that I also still own, and still wear occasionally. I remember the next day, being so paranoid about getting the pictures developed, that we tracked down a one hour photo place somewhere near Trafalgar Square so I can get my photos developed as I was so worried the film was going to get destroyed going back through the airport to go home a few days later. 

But we got some great ones which I’m sharing here for all to enjoy, and I’m so happy to be able to share these freely now, since for many years I kept them kind of hidden away to avoid any issues with Disney, and out of respect for Steve and the Jim Henson Company.

Thank you for reading, and for Chris Stulz and Muppet Stuff for the opportunity to share my story!

For more Muppet fun and frolic, or to just say “Hi” and follow me on social media you can find me under:

Facebook: Melissa Scopelitis

Twitter: @MelissaY1

Instagram: @mscope2008

For my professional portfolio including other media projects and companies I’ve been involved with, as well as my volunteer and photography work, please visit: www.melissascopelitis.net

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!