The Return of Muppet Mirth and Mayhem

I have gone on at length (or perhaps overlength) about the importance of the classic Muppets.

I have also griped, grouched and complained about recent Muppet versions not being true to the classic vision.

We have finally gotten a new Muppet production that holds up to the SPIRIT of Classic Muppets.

Muppets Haunted Mansion made me extremely happy! 

First of all, the Haunted Mansion is, on average, my extended family's favorite attraction. (I think its in the top two of just about everyone in our Disney visiting horde) The references and  recreations were all spot on.

Now for the Muppet side:

This is how you do it!

The focus was on characters performed by their original developers.  Having many of the standard Muppets playing other roles in the Mansion made the variations from their creators' work fit more smoothly into the show.

There were original songs!  

Several performed by Muppets only!  

They were funny and catchy!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

And working "At the Dance" into the Mansion's ballroom was insanely inspired.

(With the return of Wayne and Wanda, woo hoo!) 

The story was ridiculously fun and silly, but it also had heart.  And you never knew which aspect would come into play in each scene.

Human guest stars were excellently used, but didn't take the focus away from the Muppets.

Bonus Disney points for having Imagineer Kim Irvine cameo cleaning Madame Pigota's crystal ball. 

It's Little Leota herself! 

And the daughter of the original Madame Leota (Toombs) also an Imagineer.

Based on the recent track record with new Muppets, I was worried about this outing.  Then I learned it had Kirk Thatcher writing and directing, and had optimism for the first time.  In his varied, creative Hollywood career, including the infamous "punk on the bus" in Star Trek IV where he also served as associate producer (you legally have to mention this whenever his name comes up)  he was one of the writers on Muppet Treasure Island, which I maintain is still the most Muppety of the post Jim Henson films.  Now it has some competition. 

He also directed multiple other quality Muppet films.

Even Brian Henson came back to visit the Mansion and perform his Muppets Tonight characters (a criminally underrated show that Kirk Thatcher served as Supervising Producer on and really had that classic Muppets vibe) for the first time in a long while.

Thank you Kirk Thatcher, for honoring the Muppet legacy in both its warmest and silliest aspects.

Disney, how about handing Mr. Thatcher the reins of this franchise and let him run with it for a bit?

Here's hoping this is just the start of a new age of quality Muppetdom!