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There's been a lot of attention made both online and in mainstream news outlets that Disney will be shuttering the 30-year old Muppet*Vision 3D attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park, obviously starring former Raw Guest Hosts The Muppets in Orlando, Florida. While it a fun attraction, it's a sensitive issue for Muppet fans as it stands as a testimonial to the late Jim Henson and the original Muppet troupe. The attraction was the last project Henson worked on and performed as Kermit the Frog before his extremely unfortunate early passing at 53 back in 1990. The attraction is being shuttered to make way for a new Monsters, Inc. section of the park. The Muppets characters, but not the existing attraction, will be moved to a planned re-theme of the Rockin' Rollercoaster, which has featured Aerosmith since its own opening in 1999.
Since everyone knows I'm a big Muppets fan, it seems like everyone sent me a link to the news and/or asked for my thoughts. In brief, I am extremely sad to see it go, but I also realize that it's not really an extremely popular attraction in terms of foot traffic at the park, so I understand why the beancounters want to raze it for something that will bring in more revenue. Just like pro wrestling, it's about what draws money. Disney hasn't put The Muppets in a position to do that in a long time.
To their credit, Disney has said they are looking at ways to archive the film and parts of the attraction for the future. I think the best case scenario would be what Universal Studios' theme parks did when they shut down Back to the Future - The Ride in favor of The Simpsons - they took the entire experience and translated it as much as possible into a BTTF DVD extra (and did a great job of it.) In this case, Disney would be well served to film all the animatronics and "live" components of Muppet*Vision3D involved, edit them into the existing film and then release it on Disney+ for anyone to stream anytime they wish. Sure, the 3D effects wouldn't be there, but that's far less important than showcasing the work of Jim Henson, Richard Hunt and the rest of the gang.
The film really represents the end of a magic era, so I hope it remains available to be seen somehow. They could always re-purpose the film in another theater elsewhere, perhaps using digital screens to replace the animatronics, but my gut feeling is that likely wouldn't happen as a BIG part of the experience is the environment you are sitting in - the literal Muppet Theater with all sorts of things happening all around you. It is pretty ironic that Disney made a movie about The Muppets having to save the theater and now Disney themselves are literally destroying the Muppet Theater, but that's life. If you hit the park, you have time to see the show before it closes sometime next year and it's absolutely worth seeing it at least once. There's your Muppet News Flash.
NBC released the first look at Stephen Amell's new series Suits: LA:
A number of props from Heels are being sold online. No word what means for a potential third season.
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